Hi again
We are in deep trouble and I am desperate for some help and sleep. We have multiple issues but maybe someone can tell me where to start first...
My ds is 12 weeks old and 13 lbs plus. He is exclusively bf and we are working on introducing the bottle. He does not take a paci. He is swaddled in a miracle blanket for sleep and sleeps in a dark room with white noise. He does not self soothe and does not fall asleep on his own. He is starting to find his hands during the day.
He has no routine during the day because he is a terrible napper. I can set my watch by them...they last exactly 30 min. I try to resettle him when he wakes with very limited success. He then has a short A time (usually about an hour) before we try the whole sleep thing all over again. It is usually very difficult to get him down for the second nap in a feed cycle ie approaching a feed. I have been trying to feed him every 3 hours but sometimes it is a little less and sometimes a little more depending on his sleeping. He would get anywhere from 4-6 hours of nap time in a day.
His nights were really good but have gone way downhill. He is in bed early, usually b/t 6:30 and 7:30. He used to sleep about 9 hours, wake for a feed and go back to sleep. Now he is up 30 minutes after he was put down and last night it was then 11:30, 2:30, 5:30 ish. My husband tries to settle him but he screams bloody murder until he nurses. I don't think he takes a full feed and is just comforting himself. By the end of the night, he didn't even want to nurse anymore, was just crying for sleep. This has been going on for a few nights now with one normal night interspursed. In addition, when he wakes, he has often broken out of his swaddle. I am amazed by this as he is in there tight! My first ds stayed in it til 10 mos or so!
I know the independent sleep thing is huge but what is stumping me are these night wakings since he had and can go 9 hours without waking even though he is put down asleep.
I feel like he is overtired given his short naps but am at a loss at what to do as it is difficult to get him to go back to sleep and even if he does, it is difficult to lay him down. As mentioned, he has an older brother who needs my attention too.
I also wonder about the swaddle since he is consistently breaking it. He still flails around pretty much so I am skeptical he can go without it but???
Or do you think it is a growth spurt? I had been trying to stretch his feeds to 3-3.5 hours the last 2 days and honestly he didn't seem to mind. He was hungry when offered but didn't go out of his way to request anything. Should I be feeding him more often during the day?
Argh! Please help!
