Can someone explain shift in NWs for me?

[Mjaz]

Hi!  LO is almost 4 months; 3 weeks early.

I am trying to understand - if there's an explanation - the shift in his NWs - in order to understand whether or not I need to do something about them - or just go with it till he starts to sleep better himself.

From 8wo- to about 13wo, Elijah was sleeping for 8 and 9 hour stretches at night - at the minimum 7.  For the past couple weeks he has been waking up every 4 hours, almost to a T!  He is always hungry - takes a full feed and goes back to sleep.  So he goes to bed at 6:30, wakes at 10:30, 2:30, and then if we're lucky, around 6 (a lot of times it's 5).  Which may not sound so bad (wink, wink Wendy ) but I just want to understand why such a huge shift, a shift that seems backwards!

If this is simply developmental and I'll soon get back my 8/9 stretches - OK!  If this is becoming some sort of habit where he's eating through the night on schedule and I need to do something about it - then I want to tackle it.

Thanks very much - don't know what I would do without a place to come and seek support!

Melinda

[Mjaz]

Thanks, Jane.  Yes, he takes a full feed and is now eating 40+ ounces a day!  If it's a GS, he's been going through it for 2 wees now.  The DF always backfired on us - he always woke up and had trouble getting back to sleep.  Now that he's waking at 10:30, it pretty much is a dream feed! 

This morning he was up, happy and wide awake at 4:45.  UGH.  I fed him and put him back down, as I do not want him to think it's OK to get up at 4:45.  I then woke him at 7, but he doesn't want to eat! 

Does it make sense to you that he went from being such a good sleeper to such an erratic one?

Thanks,
Melinda

[* Paula *]

Can you post what your current routine looks like so that we can have a look at it?

E - how much
A - how much
S - how long

Is your lo draining every bottle through out the day?  If so I would add an extra oz to each feed to see if your lo takes in more calories during the day.

[Mjaz]

Sure, I am always more than happy to get advice on my EASY.  We do not have a definite routine yet b/c we are just starting to overcome 45 minutes naps.

Friday looked like this: (he's since gotten sick and everything is out of whack!)

Wake: 7am
E: 7am, 4 oz (b/c he was up at 4:45 and was not that hungry)
A: 7:30-8:20 (1:20 total)
S: 8:20-10:15 (1:55 total)
E: 10:30, 6 oz.
A: 11-12:10 (1:40 total)
S: 12:10-1:05 (55 min. total - with nanny - I think it was probably closer to 45!)
E: 1:30, 6 oz
A: 2-2:20 (1:15 total - I asked nanny to shorten next nap if previous was crummy)
S: 2:20-4:15 (1:55 total)
E: 4:30, 6 oz.
A: 5-6:30 (total 2:30 - I know, loong)
S: 6:45

NWs: 10ish, 1:30ish, 4:30ish

I have tried to give him more during the day, but he can't taken 7 oz.  He either refuses or spits it up.  If he does not do 2 hours naps, I will make sure he gets a catnap of 30-40 minutes in the 4-5pm hour.  But when he takes those long naps, I'm never sure what to do about the last A time - it seems sort of crazy to give him another nap and he never really seems to need it. I have tried a later bedtime - same NWs.  I am wondering if he's getting too much sleep in the day time? 

Any help would be greeaattly appreciated.  I would love to get a routine down that works!

Thanks,
Melinda

[* Paula *]

Looks like he is taking good feeds through the day, although the first feed is probably small due to the night feeds.

I think your EASY routine looks good.  Personally I would still aim for your lo to have a cat nap in he evenings.  An overtired lo can lead to more night wakings.  I would aim for at least a 30 minute cat nap to tide your lo over to bedtime.  Even if it means that your bedtime is slightly later than normal.  At least your lo will not be OT when going to bed.