HELP FOR A NEWBIE!!! PLEASE!!

[marylou]

Hi,

I am new and just want to thank all the moms for their good advice so far.  I am a new mom to 17 week old Jacob.  I bought Tracy's book and have Jacob on a 3 hour EASY.....he was born 4 weeks early...so I say he is about 3 months old.  My problem is that he has short, short naps...20minutes to 40-50 minutes and I would love to lengthen these to 1.5- 2 hours!!

He sleeps through the night....up earliest at 4am,,but usually up at 6am..so I cant complain..but want to know how I can get him to sleep a bit longer...or should I not bother if he is sleeping through the night?  I am talking about naps...I am okay with his nighttime sleeping.

He is also a bit of a snacker......his stomach cannot seem to handle a lot of food at one feeding..he only feeds for about 20 min at the most (breast feeding)....and I CANNOT get him to take more..he is taking a bottle too.....(i have supply issues)...but will only drink 5 oz at the most.

He is hungry usually every 2 hours...( but sometimes up to 3.5).....I don't know what to do?  I cant prolong it to 4 hours....but maybe he is still too young.

Any help is appreciated..sorry for rambling...

In summary....

I have a snacker........

Jacob will only nap for 30 minutes.....( I sit and read stories to him...paci for about 2 minutes...and then he starts to drift and I put him in his bed).

I want to breast feed for another 2 months...until he is 6 months.....

Schedule is kinda like this

600 up and breastfeed both sides
630 play until
730 nap for 30 minutes
800 play until starts to get hungry....usually 2 to 2.5 hours
830 eat bf and bottle 850ish
900 play until
903 nap....

and so on until about 800 bedtime....what do you all think??

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY and ALL HELP/comments!! 

[cora n henry's mom]

Perhaps he's not sleeping well during the day because he's awake too long each cycle?  You could try to put him down a little earlier in each sleep cycle and see if that will extend it.  Maybe he's just getting a little overtired?   You said he was born a few weeks early?  It could also be a normal growth spurt and he may need to eat more frequently for a little while here. Otherwise, it sounds like things are going really well.  Amazing that he's sleeping so well at night.  Good job!

[marylou]

Thanks very much for responding.

I tried this afternoon to put him down after he yawned about 45 min after waking and he FREAKED OUT!!!  Holy moly!!

I ended up feeding him again...and he ate A LOT!!  Breastfed and had 4 oz!!

Then, I tried to put him down again.....red eyebrows..screaming.....way harder than ever before....he finally exhausted himself and is asleep now....so far for 45 minutes!!!  (fingers crossed)............

I am screwed up in terms of his schedule today..........but will continue on based on when he wakes up....

I will keep you updated with how long he sleeps...thanks again for the advice.....

[Gigismom]

hi there
i spent the first 6 months of my dd's life wondering where i went wrong.  she was napping for only 30-45 mins and bf'ing every 2-2.5 hours for about 4-5 mins each time.  the thing is that she usually woke happy or somewhat happy, so pat/shh or pu/pd was not an option.
BUT at around 6 months, she started sleeping longer...1.5 to 2 hours.  she did this all on her own.  around then is when i introduced solids as well, so she started being able to go longer without food.
my point is go ahead and try the methods to get your lo to sleep longer or go longer in between feedings.  but if you cannot get him to do this, don't stress!  (by the way 20 mins bf'ing sounds GREAT to me!)  just keep him on a routine as best you can and hope he will sort it out.
by the way, i did TONS of research on infant sleep.  it is actually normal for some infants to only be able to take 30-45 min naps from about 6 weeks until about 6 months.  at 6 months the brain begins to mature more and sleep becomes more adult like, enabling longer naps. 
don't give up.  it's ok if your lo doesn't go "by the book" right away.