Complicated case.. anyone up for a challenge?

[sydneyrose22]

Hi all,

So, my baby was born at 29 weeks and spent 11 weeks in the nicu. They had him on a 3 hr easy which was great. However,  he had to come home on a feeding tube in his nose. In order to take the feeding tube out and start nursing 100%, we have to work up to him being able to do full feeds orally. His muscles aren’t used to the amount of work necessary to get a full feed. This means I have to feed  him on demand, alternating between tube and nursing. Obviously this makes my schedule different every day, depending on how well he does at his breastfeeds.

Also, I have been having the hardest time figuring out his A time. He is technically almost 4 months old, but his adjusted age is 6 weeks. At first he was just so sleepy he would go right back to sleep after 30-60mins. Now it seems like he still needs a shorter awake time in the morning, but later on it has seemed like 1hr 30 mins has worked best. And then he seems to do the “witching hour” thing where he refuses to sleep at all between the hours of like 630-9.

He is my third baby and I have used this forum with all of them. I was so confident I would finally have this sleep thing down, but he has thrown me for a loop.

[creations]

Hello
Congrats on getting baby home and for managing so well!

I only have one LO so you are far more experienced than me, but as an outsider maybe it's easier to spot something?
From the info you've given I'd probably go for a guidance time of splitting the difference between real and adjusted age.  I've seen in the past LOs go better on adjusted age when young but over the course of around a year gradually work up to their real age...but looks like yours is already moving up from the not yet 2 months towards the 4 months - so split the difference? 3 months as guidance??  That fits with your 1hr 30 later on.
With lots of LOs there can be a preference for a much shorter (or much longer) first A time so in that respect it would make sense too.

When the A times lengthen I would think you'll just need to fit the feeds around rather than moving to the 4hr E. My DS couldn't go more than 3hrs between E until 6 months when he had solids between. I just worked the E around the S and although it wasn't a "perfect" EASY (whose is?) it was still a predictable routine.

That witching hour is a killer hey?  No idea why it's called "hour" when it goes on all evening!

[sydneyrose22]

So yesterday I thought I got him at the right time. He had been up since 9:45 and around 11 He yawned,so  I started wind down. Put him in his crib at 11:07, and he was asleep by 11:20. I thought for sure he would take a nice long nap, but no, he woke up after 45 mins.  Is this UT or OT? Is it possible he needs more than 1 hr 35 mins at this age??

[creations]

he woke up after 45 mins.  Is this UT or OT?

If he is already an independent sleeper then it can be UT.  But if he is not an independent sleeper and has not yet learned to transition from one sleep cycle to the next on his own then this will be the reason for waking at 45 mins, the A time is only part of the way to longer naps, the ability to self sooth and transition is just as important, without that you can fiddle with A times for ever and still not see consistent improvement.  you might get the occasional long nap when LO crashes out and links the cycles but it wouldn't be predictable.

[sydneyrose22]

Ok. He is still hit or miss when it comes to independent sleeping. I guess I need to focus on that.

[creations]

You can use a W2S (wake to sleep) to help him transition from one cycle to the next, here's a link, look at naps option 1, you help sooth through the transition rather than disturb the sleep:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=223809.0
It is also one of the sleep training tools as it helps LO to learn to transition (with help and then alone) and get into the habit of longer naps.

[sydneyrose22]

Ok thanks for the help!