Hi, I am hoping someone can help or at least provide some encouragement to DS and me. We have been on 3 hours EAS since about 6 weeks of age, then around when he was 3 months, he started sleeping less and less during naps and also eating less and less, so for about 3 last weeks we have been trying to transition to a 4 hour EAS. The E part went very smoothly, he eats every 4 hours and one DF. We aim to start the day at 7 AM, have two 2 hour naps and he also takes a 30 min catnap in the evening. After two weeks of clock watching and struggling, we do have something that resembles a routine, BUT things do not seem to work out for us very well. My DH says that I am a perfectionist, but I am the one spending 24/7 with the LO so I don't trust his opinion too much.:-)
here is our sleep problems: DS cries when he passes 40 min mark during day naps, he can settle himself back to sleep, but it takes him half an hour or even longer, so I pat him and try to help (sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't). He definitely needs long 2 hour naps, especially in the morning, because otherwise he is tired and passive. He is an angel baby with reflux on Zantac, so he doesn't really cry except for when he tries to settle himslef back to sleep. He goes down for naps very easily.
Another problem is with our night time sleep. We put him down at 7:30 p.m. (after about 2 hour A time) but he takes a long time settling down for sleep, the last few nights he even cried. Usually he is asleep at 8:00-8:15 p.m. I feed him at 10:30 (it's technically not a dream feed, because he wakes up, but he goes back to sleep promptly after eating). He wakes up at some time between 1:30 and 3:30 a.m. and puts himself back to sleep, after some 10 - 15 mins of fussying (every once in a while I offer him breast, but he only takes a few sucks and sleeps, so I assume he is not hungry). Then he wakes up at 5 a.m. and usually goes back to sleep (sometimes with a bit of patting from me), but after 5 a.m. he doesn't sleep very well - his deep sleep periods last about 15 mins and the rest he is fussying and puts himself back to sleep. He generally wakes up between 6:30 and 7 and I feed him right away.
So, I am wondering what I am doing wrong that he cannot pass his 40 min mark of sleep during the day time naps. Every once in while he sleeps for 1.5 hours without stirring (never 2 hours!), but I don't do anything different, at least nothing major. Also for the night time - why does he wake up between 1:30 and 3:30? It doesn't seem to be hunger... He sleeps in our room, maybe he wakes up from the sounds that we are making? I welcome any ideas and suggestions, I would love to get some Y time, because now I spend my days patting and shushing... Thanks a lot!
Our EAS looks like this:
7 (or 6:30 AM) E
7:15 A
8:50-9 S (I extend his nap twice)
11 E
11:15 A
1 p.m. S (I extned his nap twice)
3 p.m. E
3:15 A
Around 5 p.m. S
5:30 A
6:40 E
7:30 BT
8-8:15 S
10:30 DF
