Author Topic: 4 weeks old trying to start routine  (Read 7628 times)

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Offline Chloevalentine

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4 weeks old trying to start routine
« on: August 16, 2016, 02:49:12 am »
I'm trying to start a little more of a routine. According to the sample schedule which looks good lo doesn't seem to nap for long stretches more like a few 1 hour naps. But my issue has been this. He seems to wake around 430 from nap to eat but then he's tired again around 6 and it just seems late for a nap since we've been doing bedtime routine and feed at 7 but that hour from 6-7 is tough. Any tips?
Also we are still waking around 11/12, then again around 230 and 530 just thought we'd be getting longer stretches. He's even taking 6 oz bottles?!

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2016, 07:12:16 am »
He seems to wake around 430 from nap to eat but then he's tired again around 6 and it just seems late for a nap
How about put him down at 5.30 for nap instead of 6pm?  being awake from 4.30 to 6pm seems a bit long for 4 wk old, the guidance time is just 1hr A time.  If he slept 30 mins and woke at 6pm you can still go for BT at 7pm.  Otherwise if he slept the 1hr as you said he does for naps then perhaps you can do BT a bit later at 7.30?  Mine did not have a 'normal' BT at 4 wks I just did whatever fitted in with his last nap.

Also we are still waking around 11/12, then again around 230 and 530
Seems normal to me.  I can remember when mine was a few weeks older being asked about his feeds at a health check and weigh in and I said he was going about 5hrs between one of his night feeds (so something like 10pm and 3am), the HV said that's great but don't tell any of those mums in the waiting room!  Basically if/when a LO can do a stretch of longer than 3hrs between E at night then they will, but it's not something I would expect to happen, I think we were just lucky and quite unusual judging by the HVs reaction (and I was surprised to hear this was classed as sleeping through the night!).  I'm not aware of anything you can do to stretch those night feeds at this age, 3hrly E seems right.

Our routine probably became a bit more predictable between 5-10 weeks but even then it was only loosely predictable.


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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2016, 23:54:32 pm »
Same problem today his last nap was 3-4 pm he ate at 415 and I tried to put him down for a nap by 515 and he never fell asleep. So we started bedtime routine early and I tried to feed him early around 640 but he fell asleep after 1 oz then woke up at 730 finished the feeding and back into bassinet.

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2016, 16:48:50 pm »
I wonder if you need to try for the nap a bit earlier? Perhaps missing the sleep window and he's OT by 1hr 15?
I also remember though the last nap of the day was the hardest with my LO.  It won't last for ever.


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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2016, 21:08:51 pm »
But his other naps he usually starts showing signs by 1 hour 1 hour 15 mins and i put him in the swing and he's asleep in 15 mins do his A time is usually about 1.5 hours. I think it's just that witching hour. Last night he was up most of the night but not necessarily looking to eat I think he just wasn't sleeping. Normally he eats every 3 hours in dark room and goes right back to bed each time. Hoping that won't go on again tonight. He's actually taking a good nap now from 3-5. Still sleeping. What gets me is this. If he wakes up from nap at 5 he's due to eat at 530 (every 3 hrs) but then he'll be tired by 630 but not due to eat until 830. So what do i do?

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2016, 07:08:55 am »
Evening feed are often clustered. It doesn't have to be a cluster exactly as the book says, you can feed at 5pm (so it is a bit early, 2.5hr instead of 3) and again at 6pm ready for him to go to sleep if you think it will help.  It does of course depend how long he takes to eat, if it's taking a long time then one appears to almost run into the other.  Once he's asleep I'd let him wake for a feed if that is 8pm or 8.30 that's fine. I'd probably treat it as a night feed so straight back to bed and to sleep after eating (change of nappy if needed).  DF or NF at around 10 or 10.30pm and night feeds thereafter every 3 or more hours.

Mine was still feeding every 2.5hrs at 4wks. I remember it because it was during that week I was given a BW book and read about the 3hrly E. I started to stretch him just a few mins at a time aiming to get closer to 3hrs from that point.  The 2.5hr feeds were frequent, by the time one was finished, the nappy changed and a nap had the next feed came back around before the blink of an eye.
Even when his feeds were 3hrly and he was bigger we often had a very short gap between the last day feed and the BT feed. I just always gave him the pre-BT feed no matter how recently he had eaten, then the NF/DF around 10pm.


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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2016, 11:05:56 am »
Thank you that's exactly what I was not sure of! I've been treating it that way and it's working out ok. Sonetimes I do stretch the last A time just a bit by the time we do bedtime routine and he finishes the bottle. I haven't been doing the 10pm dream feed though and he's been sleeping through fine. It's actually his longest stretch. Last night he ate around 7/730 and straight to bed and didn't wake until 2 then again at 6. But at 6 I'm not able to put him back down he's awake and happy so we are just starting our day a bit early.

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2016, 18:11:20 pm »
Last night he ate around 7/730 and straight to bed and didn't wake until 2
Well that is considered sleeping through the night - that's 7hrs!!  Amazing!


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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2016, 10:18:10 am »
And last night I couldn't get him to sleep until 930! Lol how do I get him to go back to sleep after his 530 feeding? He's not wide awake but moving around for a bit then wakes.

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #9 on: August 19, 2016, 10:24:37 am »
how do I get him to go back to sleep after his 530 feeding? He's not wide awake but moving around for a bit then wakes.
I assume you mean in the morning.  Mine was also hit and miss at getting back to sleep at that time. Well, you can keep shushing until WU time which isn't always possible as Lo can end up very frustrated and mum can end up exhausted before the day even starts.  I ended up just accepting the 5am mornings until he was much older, I think he was down to 1 nap when he started sleeping a bit later. I felt like I'd tried everything.


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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2016, 10:55:47 am »
When that last feeding comes earlier like 4/430 it's not a problem to get him back and then he sleeps until next feeding at 7/730 which is perfect. I'm trying to figure out how I can get him to feed earlier or sleep a bit later feeding at 6 instead of 5/530

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2016, 11:21:15 am »
Are you talking about night feeds?


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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #12 on: August 19, 2016, 11:26:35 am »
Yes I'm sorry. I'm delirious lol

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #13 on: August 19, 2016, 11:29:02 am »
I managed to get him to stay asleep but it's very light sleep the entire time. I keep going into the room because I hear him on monitor but he's asleep when I go in just moving a bit making noise eyes shut.

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Re: 4 weeks old trying to start routine
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2016, 18:06:46 pm »
If he is sleeping perhaps don't go in unless you hear a cry?  Some babies (mine) are quite noisy sleepers.
I would think you could do a NF or DF at 4.30am if you really prefer that time and if it's a better sleep following it.