Hey, I need your advice.
So, my first son, now 3 years old, had problems sleeping from the start. I couldn't get him down for his nap, it took him over an hour to fall asleep at night. The only positive thing was that he only woke up once during the night. Because he had problems settling during the day I started him on easy when he was 2 months old but I used a paci to help him fall asleep. So he started waking up during the night for the pacifier and his naps only lasted for 30-45 minutes. Ok, we got through that, he has been sleeping independently from about 9 months, normal naps.
That brings me to my second son, now 5 weeks old. Because we didn't want to make the same mistakes twice we tried to start him on EASY from the day we came home from the hospital. But with him being so small, my first son being at home and so on it was too hard for me. He took a long time falling asleep (more than 45 minutes, we did the shush and pat but it irritated him even more) and I didn’t know what to do with my first son during that time. So I just let him fall asleep during nursing and then put him in his crib. I wanted to take this time to get to know him but I think it is time to establish a routine and to teach him to sleep before he becomes too dependent on the boob.
His “typical day”:
7.00am wake up
7.00-7.30 feeding
8.15 first nap (usually only 30 minutes due to bowel movement problems and/or farting
From here on is a cluster of feedings , short naps and pooping until he finally settles down and takes a 2-3 hour nap from which we have to struggle to wake him up from. The long nap is usually the last nap in the afternoon.
5.30pm-7pm activity, feeding
7pm bath
7.30 last feed
8.00 pm sleep (my husband is at home at this time, so he puts him to sleep and he falls asleep in his crib)
1-2 am first night feed
3-4am 2nd night feed
So basically our biggest problem in establishing a good EASY is the problem with falling asleep in his crib. I just don’t know how to sit with him for an hour in his room if I have a toddler running around the house and looking for attention. What am I doing wrong that the shush and pat only irritates his? I know that with my first son it only took us a week or two to teach him to fall asleep in his room but he was older when we started. What do you think? Do I expect too much if I want a structured routine at such an early age?
I hope my post makes sense and you understand what I’m asking.
Thanks for all the help!