5 day old up every 45 minutes at night

[frankiesmom]

Hi all, maybe I am expecting too much here, but I was really trying to get off on the right foot with this little one.
Ds is 5 days old, weighed 7 lbs 8 oz at birth.  He is exclusively bf.
I have been keeping him on a 2.5 to 3 hour EASY depending on when he wakes.  Sometimes he wakes at the 45 minute mark and sometimes I have to wake him when it is time for him to eat, so he has been asleep for the whole 2 hours.  When he wakes at the 45 minute mark, I have been pretty successful at extending him another 45 minutes by patting and shushing.  He generally eats for 30 minutes and my milk is definitely in.  He very sleepy right away and his only activity is diaper changes, he is usually yawning after being awake for 45 minutes and asleep by 1 hour. 
So, he gets three 1.5 to 2 hour naps which takes us to a five o'clock feed. The first few days, there were so many people here, that was the time that most people were passing him around, so he probably got a few catnaps.  Last night, I tried to tank him up at 5 and 7 and then put him down at 8.  Well, he was up every 45 minutes on the button, screaming frantically.  I figured he wasn't ready to eat, but no matter what we did, we could not get him back to sleep.  HE was wailing and burrowing into my shoulder and sucking on my shoulder.  I tried a paci, but it only frustrated him, so I did what I didn't want to do, which was bf him, which instantly calmed him but then he would only eat for 10 minutes before falling asleep.  And so the cycle went all night until 5:30 when he fell asleep and I had to wake him at 8 to eat.

Now, he is back to eating well, and right now he is one hour into his first nap.

So......
1.  Is he sleeping too much during the day?  Should I try to increase his awake time?  It seems as though he is doing what he should based on a 3 hour EASY.

2.  What do I do at the 5 feeding?  Do I then make sure he is up by 7 for a second feed and then another hour nap until 9?
( I think we are off of Tracy's schedule by an hour)  The cat nap thing really confuses me.

3.  What do I do if he goes through this cycle again at night?  I couldn't console him with swaddling and pat /sh.  Do you think he was overtired?

Thanks so much.

Kim

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi Kim,

A few thoughts.... 5 days is soooo, soooo young. I know that's stating the obvious, but IMO it's too young to be considering extending A time. At this point, try and encourage him to get into a routine, but don't force it. Go with the flow but try and guide him if that makes sense. And definitely keep up the pat/shhh, it sounds like that's working well. But, if you are still BFing him back to sleep, I would suggest stopping that unless you want to be doing it for many more months. Keep with the shhh/pat instead and it ought to really help you.

I definitely think that he was overtired. Being passed around and held by different people is very stimulating for a lo, especially at 5 days old. I know it's hard, but I would curb that as much as you can. It's really often too much for them and then you end up in the cycle you described.

[frankiesmom]

Thanks, last night was better.  He went mostly 2.5 to 3 hours between feeds.  One epsiode of waking up at the 45 minute mark.  He is screaming when he wakes and very hard to calm down unless he gets fed, so I guess I will just go with the flow right now and give him what he needs.  Like you said, I just don't want to be bf him back to sleep at night.

Thanks,
Kim

[Colin Macs Mom]

Glad to hear that last night went better! If he's yelling at you until he gets fed and then takes a whole feed (or close) then he's definitely hungry. And at a week old, I wouldn't be surprised - I think that for the first month or two we did at least 3 full feeds overnight. Hard to remember though!