4 week old night times

[Mreichow]

Hello! This my first time posting but I've found the boards very helpful.

Here is my question/concern. My 4 week old dd is maybe textbook/touchy. We are working on a good day easy schedule and are pretty consistent with a 7, 10, 1 etc eat time. She's ready to go back to bed around 45 min after she wakes up. Then for her morning, midday and afternoon naps she can sleep until the next feeding with some help from me getting her through transitions. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, she starts to lose it. Some days I can get a catnap from her some days not. Sometimes she'll sleep in my arms or swing. That's when I can't figure out what to do. We will sometimes cluster feed at 6 and a bigger bottle around 8 and them bedtime. I've been thinking she needs an earlier bedtime but I also want her to eat enough.

Then we let her sleep and she wakes between 11 and 12 to eat. So we consider that a dream feed although she's not necessarily sleeping she usually goes right back to sleep. Then the rest of our night is out of our hands. She will wake sometime between 2-4 and eat. She is so difficult to get back down at that point. Sometimes we are in there for 2 hours.  The she stirs the rest of the night and wakes up often. Eventually she's up by 6:30 to start the day. We get very little sleep from that waking until the start of the day.

Any ideas on bedtime? Any ideas on the early morning troubles? Maybe I need to wait it out a bit since she is still so young. Any ideas are appreciated! Thanks!!   

[Erin M]

Your first stretch sounds pretty typical for her age, which makes me wonder about her feeds at the other parts of the night.  Are you burping her well at those feeds?  Is she eating any differently?  Is she taking good feeds at that point or just trying to get back to sleep?

[Mreichow]

Sometimes she eats a full 4oz bottle, sometimes not. Everything at that time of night is pretty inconsistent. We burp her frequently but I think she may have reflux issues. She spits up a lot, even when sleeping. We've tried all of the preventative measures like inclining her crib and keeping her upright.

During that early morning waking she is usually pretty awake. When she stirs after its like she just can't get back to bed. We generally put her down but then have to go in shortly after to settle her again. I was wondering if there is day night confusion, but she does well the rest of the night. I've been trying to encourage full feedings at night so that she can make it a bit longer, but I also want to be aware if her cues if she's not hungry.

I know these are random thoughts. Sorry if they are not very helpful...

[Erin M]

Everything at that time of night is pretty inconsistent.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much how 4 week olds can be, as hard as it is for their horribly sleep deprived parents.  You might try an earlier bed time if she's super fussy in the evening (putting my dd1 down earlier for bed was one of the best things I ever did as she actually slept through a good part of what used to be her fussy time) -- if nothing else, it should let you get some more sleep earlier in the night so you're a little bit better rested.  If you put her to bed earlier, you can try a dream feed (or just wait for her to wake and see how long of a stretch you get). 

Does it seem like some sort of discomfort -- I know you mentioned some reflux symptoms (and have you see this: Reflux 101 - General reflux information) -- does she seem particularly gassy at that time?  Day/night confusion would definitely be a possibility at her age -- if it is that, babies generally grow out of it around the 6-8 week mark.  Is there anywhere that she will sleep consistently?