I could really do with some advice please

[Jo M]

Hi, new to these boards so not too sure where to post, apologies if wrong area.

I have a 4 week old baby girl who is bottle fed and feeds every 3.5 - 4 hours - I do sometimes have to wake her for her feeds. I know the EASY routine in the book for a baby of her age suggests a 3 hour feeding routine but to be honest I don't think she'd be hungry enough to feed if I woke her every 3 hours - is this ok?

Her schedule is roughly as follows:

E   6.30am (3 - 4oz)
A   
S   Very very difficult to get to sleep for morning nap as so awake and alert
Y
E   10.00am (3 - 4oz)
A   Difficult to keep awake as so sleepy
S   Will sleep through until wake for next feed
Y
E   1.30pm (3 - 4oz)
A
S   Will sleep through until wake for next feed
Y
E   5.00pm (3 - 4oz)
A
S   Very fussy to get to sleep
Y
E   8.30pm (3- 4oz)
A
S   Will sleep through until I wake her
Y
E   11.30 - 12.00 (2.5 - 3oz)
A
S   Will sleep through until I wake her
Y
E   3.00am (2.5oz)
A
S   Absolute nightmare to get back to sleep, tried shush pat but is very very alert. Last night fed at 3.15am and she would not sleep until 7.45am this morning.
Y
E   6.00 - 6.15am  (2.5 - 3oz)

I have tried cluster feeding but she will only take 1-2oz, should I continue? I think she has her days and nights mixed up as she sleeps a lot during the day but should I be waking her? She wakes more frequently during the night i.e. every 3 hours rather than 3.5 - 4 hours and is really difficult to get back to sleep especially if I need to change her.

I have a 2 year old where EASY worked beautifully but I'm finding it much harder this time (plus I've forgotten a lot of it). I'm also very aware of this little one waking up her sister during the night.

I don;t seem to have the time to spend with her to get her to sleep properly etc. as my toddler always seems to need me at the same time.

Any advice would be really gratefully received.

A very tired Jo 

[tullyma]

Jo, that sounds tough, I really feel for you. 

She does sound like she has her days/nights mixed up. I'm wondering if you should try adjusting her schedule and feeding her more frequently during the day (every 3 hours) so she is getting more calories into her. During the day, get her out into the sunlight a lot, and at night keep it very low-key and dark - no talking. (You probably know all this being a mum already!). Hopefully it might re-set her body clock.

Feeds at:
6am
9am
12pm
3pm
6pm
9pm
(then 1-2 feeds overnight, depending on when she wakes)

[yaya]

hi there and welcome to the boards!
Could u poss post the times and lengths of ur naps so i can figure out whats goign on (or try to anyway!) thanx!

[tylersmommy]

Hi Jo!

I also have a 4 wk old DD and a 2 (almost 3) yr old DS. I do think you might want to wake her more often to eat during the day. That will shorten her naps and help her figure out the difference between night and day. She might eat less at each feed, but that's okay. Try a 3 hr EASY and see how it goes. Are you saying that you wake her to eat at 3AM? I wonder what happens if you don't wake her...I'd stick with the cluster feeds for now until her nights get sorted, though.

I totally hear you about how hard it is to get #2 to sleep with #1 running around. We're still in survival mode here, using whatever we can to get naps in during the day, but I do try to put her down for a proper nap at least once each day (usually during DS's naptime). Even though it's only once each day and can't really be considered sleep training, I've noticed that it's getting easier and easier to put her down for naps the "right" way and taking less time. If you can even do 1 nap that way each day, it's a step in the right direction...the rest of the day is about survival at this stage, IMHO!

It's totally different this time around, isn't it?