pat/shush-how do you get the positioning right??

[sav]

Hi,
My 6 1/2 week old has been on EASY since hospital day 1 and on the whole is a great napper, every so often he does wake up and I cannot figure out the 'body mechanics' of how to have him laying on his side for a pat/shush.  How do you get him to stay on his side?  It feels very awkward, and I often end up just patting him on the side of his body (he is swaddled for all naps).

[Colesmom]

Hi there,

I imagine you have him sleeping on his back?  If necessary then, roll him onto his side, one hand can rest in front of him to prop him up, while the other pats his back.  once he is calm/sleepy-roll him gently back onto his back. 

I didn't do pat/shush while my lo was swaddled but he was a back sleeper at the time so hopefully this should work for you.  Please let me know if you have further questions.

[sav]

Yes, he is a back sleeper.
If you didn't do the pat/shush when swaddled what did you do to calm him down?
Thanks!  Your pics of your little guy are darling.

[Colesmom]

Sav-if I have to be honest, I didn't start BW until my lo was 4.5 months old.  Until then I rocked, swung, shhhhhd, held and did whatever necessary to get him to sleep :oops:  Now that I think of it, he may have been swaddled at the very beginning of sleep training, but I soon took it away as he was becoming mobile.  I should mention that aside from teething and separation anxiety he is a great sleeper!

Please let me know if the technique I mentioned worked.

[Carter'sMama]

I started sleep training when my DS was 9 weeks old and he was also swaddled (his lower half still kinda is for naps!!!).  I found when he was swaddled it was much easier to pat his back when he was rolled on his side than if he wasn't swaddled.   Then I just did exactly what Traci (Colesmom) said to do.  Most of the time I just patted his side though because when I went to roll him back to his back he would wake up 

[sav]

I think I might be trying to fix what isn't broken.  Most of the time he goes down easily for naps, mostly just lay him down when the eyes start fluttering and he does ok, will usually settle well in 10 mins or so, I was just reading about the pat/shush and suddenly felt i was 'doing it wrong'.

Did you use the dreamfeed at night at all?

[Colesmom]

Hi,

Not sure if this was meant for me or Carter'sMama.  I started the dreamfeed when I found BW but by then my lo was already used to waking for a feed, so it seemed he would often wake earlier than a planned DF.  I left it the way it was, waking to feed.

[sav]

Sorry, I am new to the message boards and don't know how to reply to a specific person.  I was replying to Colesmom, but am open to feedback from anyone!
I posted a dreamfeed question on the night wakings section, and only got one response, so I thought I'd pick your brain here as well.  My question is really, is it worth it?  I am breastfeeding, and 'dreamfeeding' a breastfeed just seems like a ridiculous concept, in order to get him on I have to wake him up and then am stuck with an awake child who I have to get back down any way!  Right now he goes to sleep after nursing at 800 and then sleeps until about 1 or so, wakes up to nurse, then up again around 5ish.  My husband tried the dreamfeed two nights at 1030 and my son would only take about 1 1/2 oz (pumped breast milk) and then woke up at 2 and then 530 again.  It just seems like a lot of work, b/c i have to get up to pump for my husband to give him the bottle, and it sure seems like we are a far cry from going 11 to 4 or 5 am.
Anyhow, I am sort of rambling, am obviously a first time mom who is trying to figure all of this out!  I really appreciate the feedback.  Cheers.  sav

[reecesmom]

We have been using BW since 4-5 weeks (Ds is now 8 mo old).  We tried dreamfeed for a week or so and it really didn't seem to help (like your situation).  It seemed like whether we did df or not, he still woke up around 1 or 2 (after going to bed at 7 or .  My best advice is to try 3 nights w/o df and see what happens...always give something 3 nights, though, before you decide whether or not it works. 

About shh-pat, it was a little awkward for us, too.  But we used it quite a bit.  We had Ds swaddled and used one of those wedges.  This way we could cinch the wedge (they're usually adjustable with velcro) way down and make it so he fit perfectly and snugly in the wedge on his side.  We would lie him on his back and then tilt to the side (usually towards the wall, away from us) and put one hand on his chest and use the other hand to pat.  Most times he eventually calmed down and drifted off and ended up just sleeping lying on his side...until he was old enough to start rolling back to his back.

[Carter'sMama]

I was in the same situation as you with the night wakings being 1:00-2:00 and then 5:00am so I never did the dream feed.  I did "tanking up" before he went to bed though which seemed to help a lot as he was sleeping through the night (8-10 hours) by 8 weeks of age.  I got lucky I think!!  :lol:

[KellyC]

Hi

Just wanted to join in re the dreamfeed.  My DS is now 15 weeks old and I did a dreamfeed in the earlier weeks but it didn't make any difference to the time he woke up, so after a while I didn't bother.  I re-introduced it probably at about 11 or 12 weeks (can't remember why, think I just decided to give it another go!) and it works an absolute treat - DS doesn't even open his eyes when I get him up and feed him (BF so it is possible!) and goes back off into a deep sleep with no help at all, he also sleeps until 6 or 7 in the morning.  Perhaps it's something which makes more of a difference later on or when the routine is more established?

Kelly x

[Colesmom]

Kelly-I also think that as they get older they get more proficient at latching and therefore there is no need to wake them.  Hopefully this information has helped you Sav.  Maybe return to the DF in a little while and see if it works for you.  Good Luck!