Hello, Im new here and desperately need some advice.
My 6 week old boy was previously a good napper (taking 1.5-2hr naps) up until about a week or so ago. I dont really know what went wrong. I can tell that he is overtired and possibly overstimulated (but its hard to tell). He goes down for his initial nap quite easily, i try my best to do a proper wind-down routine and I usually start with the shush-pat while holding him to settle him and put him down while in stage 2, or I put him down awake and relaxed and he will fall asleep on his own. The problem is he wakes from his naps anywhere from 20-45 mins in, I usually try and see if he will fall back to sleep on his own but he either looks around for a short while and then cries, or he will wake up crying (sometimes due to gas pains or so I think). Another problem is that when trying to resettle him and send him back to sleep with SP he will start giving hunger cues like hands to mouth or doing the hunger cry (cough/wa,wa,wa), but it has been less than 1.5-2hr since his last feed so I'm pretty sure he's not really hungry (not to mention that I have tried feeding him due to the cues and he will only eat maybe 1/2-1 ounce if that) I try the pacifier and he gets angry that there is not milk coming out (I formula feed him). Also he starts giving sleepy cues around 45 min but he takes so long to eat that I usually don't put him to nap until around 1-1.15 hr and awake time turns out to be about 1.30, as the day goes on though the awake time extends as he only naps very short times and will usually not go back to sleep until after the next feeding when he is very tired and also does not eat efficiently and is falling asleep. I am trying my best to follow an EASY routine but it is just not working out as he ends up being awake for so long before feeds and ends up falling asleep after feeds. In regards to being overstimulated most of the time when he is awake he is "wide eyed", when not crying or giving hunger cues. I also have a 25 month old who loved to be in his face and around him which I really try to limit to avoid overstimulation. Am I missing something here? I have tried to put him to start WD sooner, around 45 mins when I see his first or second yawn, in which he will usually fall asleep at about 55 mins, but this still hasn't helped lengthen his naps. I was going trying to do wake-to-sleep when his naps were 45 mins but then he started to wake up after 30 mins before I could get to him, sometimes to poop/burp/pass gas and it is difficult to get him back to sleep after that. I am just completely at a loss here, I feel like I am spending a majority of my day trying to get him to nap and it is just getting worse. He is always giving hunger cues but I know he is not hungry, and when its time to eat he is so tired he takes forever to eat and is constantly falling asleep during in which he wont burp effectively and ends up waking up from nap to spit up or crying. I don't know if im overfeeding him or overstimulating him or what...I just feel hopeless as I know he is very tired but he just won't nap. At night he wakes up to feed at about 1-2 and around 4-5 and will usually go right back to sleep. I do the cluster feedings and dream feed but sometimes, like last night, he will get fussy and when trying to put him down to sleep after/between feeds he will wake up when set down or after a few minutes, and we will continue with the vicious cycle for hours (8pm-12am) until he finally falls asleep in my arms (I just give up at this point and let him sleep in my arms for at least 1/2-1hr) to be sure he wont wake up from jolts and is in a deep sleep. At night he does make baby noises and moves a lot but I don't respond unless he full out cries, I usually try the pacifier first but if it doesn't work i feed him and back to bed. I know this is a lot but I feel like it has just been getting progressively worse and I just want to make sure that my LO gets his much need beauty sleep. PLEASE HELP!
