prop problem for naps and other q's

[cat_hud]

Hi just a few q's and advice wanted if poss pls:

My ds is 5wks old (2 young for great expections i know! but trying to get on2 some sort of routine), we have fallen into the AP routine of holding ds till he falls asleep and don't know how to get back out! Ds falls asleep on either me or partner but wakes as soon as but down in crib which results in short naps (sleeps well in car seat + pram when out and about also). This is how our days have been looking so far: (sometimes only goes 2.5hr between feeds)

bf 6am (or anytime up2 7am)
a (always try to winddown at 1hr mark so he can have 1.5hr for nap)
s 7.30am (all naps aided by prop )

bf 9am
a
s 10.30am

bf 12pm
a
s 1.30pm

bf 3pm
a
s 4.30pm

bf 6pm
a bath
s bedtime when he settles (tried cluster feed now but he won't eat later on if fed now is this ok?)

bf 9pm (wakes by himself)

bf 1am
bf 3.30am
bf 6am to start day again

Tried sh/pat but he wasn't interested, i am going to try calming him in my arms then settling him down in crib when awake with some white noise and maybe my hand on him? (he is swaddled also)

Is he having too many day naps as it can take up2 1hr to settle him at NW's?
If you have a day out (i did yest!) and he sleeps nearly all day should you reduce his morning/afternoon nap times to compensate for long naps?

Also, because he wakes for the 9pm feed is this causing any problems for his NW's?

When will i know that he'd not hungery for his 1am/3am NW feed and just needs re-settling? He always cries straight after naps/sleeps so i usually feed (if 2.5-3hrs have past).

Cheers
Cath

[brenda2]

love those cheeks!! 

i think you are doing well, he's only 5 weeks old so still young to be able to self soothe and put himself to sleep. 

your idea of calming him in your arms and then putting him down drowsy but awake to fall asleep in his crib is right on, but it may take him a while to learn this so keep at it and be consistent.  we had a noise machine and it was wonderful.  a hand on him or shh pat, whatever works for him is fine.

babies this age sleep a lot, so as long as he's sleeping reasonably well at night don't worry yet about too much day sleep.  babies figure out night sleep first between 03 mo and day sleep later between 3-6 mo, so he's still learning all of this!

i don't know what you mean by "prob"...

cluster feeding at this age is fine and may help the NWs for food - not sure what you mean by not doing this because then he won't feed later...usually dfs are at 10 or 11, 9 is a bit early.  how long is his nap at 4:30?  i would feed him directly when he wakes up, then short A time, bath and top up with bf again and into bed about an hour after he woke up.  this may help him to sleep past the 9 pm time.

3 night feeds for a newborn are normal.  i think DD was about 3 mo when she finally went to a df and 1 night feed but many babies are older. 

[cat_hud]

Sorry meant prop!

We tried feed at 6pm then top up at 7.30ish (before he got too OS after bath), then DF at 10.30pm but he won't take it (also tried EBM as thought bottle would be easier), think he was full from cluster feed. Also by cluster feeding and no DF he was waking at 11pm-12am for next feed which meant 3 NW's.

Wonder if i change 6pm feed to 7pm so that he wakes at 10pm for next feed instead of 9pm? (After 9pm feed he usually sleeps til 1-1.30am, so a good 4hr stretch there).

-4.30pm nap lasts till next feed at 6pm. (Currently no catnaps, all full naps if he settles in time for it to count as one!)

Is he too OS at activity time and thats why it takes long to settle him? Maybe naps should be longer?

Cheers
Cath

[brenda2]

prop...ok, what's the prop?  holding him only or something else too?

if you feed at 3pm, really the next feed should be at 6 pm.  i would try feeding at 6, topping up at 7:30 and df at 10:30 again - give it a few days and see if he'll take it.  then if he doesn't at least you've tried.  i know the df doesn't work for every baby, but it was such a great thing for us, right up until 8 mo it really saved the NWs for food.

OS is a possibility, it dsoens't take much for them to get OS.  naps shouldn't be longer than 1.5 hours...or until the next feed at the 3 hour mark.  if you let him sleep through the 3 hours and feed alte he'll not get the calories during the day and wake more at night.

[cat_hud]

Great nite last nite! (only hope i'm not speaking too soon  )

Settled him in mine/dad's arms and patted his bum, then when looking sleepy and on the way to dreamland we put him in his crib and played the white noise, worked like a dream!

Started today at 7am so can do evening feed at 7pm instead of 6pm (gonna see how we get on with that before i try cluster + DF again as i've changed his routine so many times he won't know if he's coming or going! bless him) He's just gone down for his nap in the same way as last nite 

His routine has 4 1.5hr naps in it because no cluster/catnap in between, is this ok? When do we start to drop a nap, at 3months old?

Cheers
Cath

[brenda2]

that's great!  the falling asleep in his crib rather than in his arms should make a big difference too - he won't wake to be rocked to sleep again.  it will certainly be a big help in the future

4x1.5 hour naps is fine for now.  at 3 mo he should have 3x1.5 hour naps and a catnap for a total of 4 naps still.  at 4 mo (some babies take a bit longer...we didn't drop a nap until almost 5 mo) he should ave 3x 1.5 hour naps or 2x1.5 hour naps and a catnap (total 3 naps).