Is he eating enough?

[FreddieEden]

Hi,

My DS, Daniel is 15 and a half weeks old.  I can't for the life of me get him to take more than 4 45 minute naps in the day or extend his naps (but that's another story) so am keen for him to get as long a stretch as possible at night because he is obviously tired and out of sorts during the day with his short naps. He has done a stretch of 8 to 10 hours straight on about 5 occasions and has been really happy on it the next day.  But at the moment he is pretty unsettled at night - often waking up an hour and a half  after he has gone to sleep and waking up two or three times in the night after that.  Not sure I can do anything else on the sleep front - he goes to sleep independently and I do everything I can to prevent him being overtired when he goes to bed.

I wondered if it might be a food issue as he is big - 16 pounds 4 ounces at 12 weeks - but didn't put on any weight the two weeks after that (I didn't weigh him this week).  But I can't seem to get him to take food seriously these days.  He is breastfeeding every 3 to 4  hours (about 4 times in the 12 hours during the day).  I am struggling to make him feed for 10 minutes even with that gap.  Have tried burping him, switching to the other side, giving him a break, feeding him in different positions and nothing seems to work.  Last night, he fed at 6.15 before bed, bed at 6.45 and crashed within 5 minutes, woke at 8.30 when he was settled without feeding, fed at 11.30, woke at 3.30 for about 20 minutes but whilst I was trying to force myself out of bed to feed him he went back to sleep and slept till 7.30 with a few stirrings.  Then, even with that 8 hour gap, he still wasn't interested in his breakfast!  He is pretty unhappy and tired today so want to get some more calories down him if it will mean a better night for him.  Tried topping up with formula but he is not happy with a bottle at the best of times and seems to hate the taste of formula on top of that.  Don't think it can be related to my diet as I am eating the same as ever and this is a relatively new phenomenon for him.  Any suggestions?

Freddie

[corrina01]

IMHO he is really tired, so can't be bothered to eat.  When my DD was at that age, she was doing 45 mins naps.  Try to work on the daytime sleep and extend his naps, doing this will get him to have a good night sleep, so much happier for food.

[GraceKellysmom]

Number one I'd stop weighing him. If he has been gaining so well, there is no reason to weigh him except at his normal well-baby doctor's visit. Eating 5-10 min every 3-4 hrs is perfectly normal for his age.

Some babies just need this 45 min nap schedule for a while and will settle off into a longer nap on their own. My day care baby was like this, and the only thing that "fixed" it was time.

It really sounds like something else might be up, especially if this behavior is unusual, out of character. Suspect illness first and teething second. My kids are always out of sorts for a few days before either, and I only know in hindsight.

[FreddieEden]

I agree stopping weighing is a good idea (that's why I didn't weigh him this week).  I think he is fine in himself, pretty cheery apart from when he is tired and lots of wet nappies.  I don't think it's tiredness as he is often bobbing off and giving me a cheeky smile or looking round the room.  I also wondered whether teething is making him unsettled at night as he has been putting his whole fist into his mouth and his cheeks are red (but he also has a bit of eczema).

I am running with the 45 minute naps for the moment.  All the things that used to work don't now and I think he just needs to learn to get himself back to sleep.  Once in a while he settles himself back down after about 20 minutes of grunting and finger sucking and I got two and a quarter hours out of him that way this lunchtime.  He woke up from that nap properly hungry and doing his little hungry gasps till I fed him.  So probably just a question of time.