My lo is 5 weeks old and her days are all over the map, there is almost no consistancy. There are two main problems- one is her personality and one is medical (move me if needed).
Keira can be pretty stubborn and likes things *her* way. She also has reflux and throws up about once a day. These two things have caused her routine to be anything but routine. Pretty much from birth Keira put herself on a 4 hour schedule. We have tried changing it to a 3 hour EASY to help with her reflux and that just messed her up completely- she really fought it. So we allowed her to go back to a 4 hour EASY. However, lately she has been all over the place. She doesn't wake up at a consistant time so her days are never the same. I have tried to consider the first feed to be a night feed and then wake her at 8am or so and start the day but she will fight it and it just ends up causing more problems. The same thing happens at night when I try to tank her up with some cluster feeds- it just wrecks the evening. The other problem is that her reflux messes up her routine as well. When she does throw up she is hungry again an hour or so later and then she is usually overtired after eating and I struggle to get her back to sleep. She also has a hard time settling herself because she doesn't feel great and often gets the hiccups and then she really can't sleep. These issues also cause problems when she wakes at the 45 minute mark- she often can't get herself back to sleep. I usually leave her be when she is just fussy and not really crying. However, often the fussiness turns into real crying and then she is past the point of me being able to get her back to sleep. Another problem, one I created myself, is that she often can't fall asleep without her paci but then she will wake up when it falls out. The reason I started giving her the paci at naptime was because I had read that sucking on a paci helps with reflux- and it does seem to calm her immediately.
Here is what today looked like- I'll actually start with last night:
8pm Eat 2.5oz
8:30-9:45pm Bed- Fussy
9:45pm Eat 1oz
10pm Bed
10:30pm Attempted a DF, just ended up waking her up and it took till about 11pm for her to settle
11pm-6:30am Asleep
I know- how can I complain when she sleeps like that at night.
6:30am Eat 4oz
7-10:30am Nap- Had to wake her at 10:30am
10:30am Eat 4oz
11:45-1pm Nap
1-1:30pm Fussy
1:30pm Eat 2.5oz
2-2:30pm Nap
2:30-3:30pm Fussy
3:30-4:45pm Asleep- in swing
5pm Eat 2.5oz
5:30pm Threw up
5:45-6:30pm Nap
6:30pm Eat 3.5oz
7:30pm Put her down for the night, it is 7:45pm now and she is still fussing
I don't know what to do this evening. I don't want to try to wake her (if she is even asleep by then) and feed her at 8pm but I am afraid that she is going to wake up on her own by 10:30pm and want a feed.
So, I guess my main questions are:
1. Should I try to make her days consistant by waking her every morning at the same time regardless of when her prior feed was? And if so, how do I keep her from fighting it?
2. What do I do when she throws up and it completely destroys her routine?
3. Should I go in when she is fussy and help her go back to sleep or wait until it becomes real crys?
4. Should I keep letting her have the paci or should I try to break her of it?
Thanks for all the help ladies!
