BEDTIME for four week old?

[natkinson]

Hi everyone,

I have a four week old baby boy. We have been working on an eat activity sleep three hour cycle over the last couple of weeks and it's going really well.  Over the last couple of days I have started working towards a set wake time for the day ( before then I was just feeding him three hourly from whenever he woke for the day). My aim is 7 but  he's woken the last couple of days at 6.30 which is close enough. I have twI questions:'if he wakes at 6.39, should I feed him 9.30, 12.30'etc, or aim to feed him at 10 for that first feed so that the rest of the days feeds are on track ( meaning that the first cycle is 3.5 hours)?  The second question is when should I make bedtime? His last nap is sometimes a catnap sometimes it takes him through until 7, so I don't know whether I should let him sleep until.7 and then start the bedtime routine after that, or wake him at 6 and start bedtime routine then. Also feeds are tricky - If he wakes at 6 shall I feed him then bed? I don't know if he would tolerate waiting for feed but I guessthink I could try? And should I then feed him at 8 as well, even if he doesn't ask for it. So far bedtime has been between 8 and 9, before it was 10 or 11, so this is much better, but still concerned it's too late?

[Shiv52]

At 4 weeks old I wouldn't be making him wait for feeds. If he wakes and he is hungry the feed him. At this stage times are just a guideline and it is good to get into the EAS format but you will find times will vary. He's still so very tiny and will have many growth spurts along the way. Are you bottle or breast feeding?

In the evenings they also Cluster feed so you can feed after the CN then a while later as part of your bedtime routine.

At that age I considered every waking a NW unless it was in and around our wake up. So half an hour either side. I then just counted feeds from there rather than doing set times.


HTH x

[creations]

Hi there natkinson, welcome to BW forums

I think shiv already answered your questions but I wanted to stop by to say hi

My DS was still on 2.5hr feeds at 4 weeks old.  This was the age I read BW and gradually extended his time little by little towards 3hrs but still fed earlier than 3hrs if he was really hungry. There is no way he could have gone longer.

Our BT was also kind of flexible in those early days too. I just timed it based on his last nap. The DF I did at a regular time so that always felt like we were "back on track" at the end of the day even with BT being a bit different each day.

Sounds like you're doing great

[natkinson]

I never make him wait for feeds during the day - almost always I have to wake him at the three hour mark to get him to feed. the reason I ask about whether I should feed him before the bedtime settling routine or aafter is that.he.is awake for hours in the evening and I'm trying to work out how to.settle him. He doesn't actually seem very hungry at 6pm which is why I thought maybe I cwould wait until.after. I think.this period of four/five hours in the evening of being awake is also why I do have to wake him during the day - he barely opens his eyes until the afternoon, so it's a bit of a perpetual cycle

[creations]

He's likely still in his sleepy phase and will start to move out of that over the next week or couple of weeks.

I think if it was me I'd still offer the feed even if he is not that hungry - maybe make up less but do ensure there is an oz or so left in the bottle after he's taken his fill and that he is not draining the bottles.