major move overseas and early wake ups...

[ahuron]

Hi! I am a 1st time mom of a 20 week old boy. We just moved one month ago America to Central Asia and he has been having a tough time with the transition- no routine at the beginning and traveling through time zones definitely messed up his nights and days. Along with that, just in the last week put him from 3 hour to 4 hour EASY. He had been on 3 hour EASY since 6 weeks old.  I realized after looking through a Baby Whisperer book that I was a little late doing that. He has adjusted to the 4 hour routine pretty quickly and has been so much happier. But, we are struggling with a 4:30 wake up time where he has a bit of trouble going back to sleep. And he has also been waking up around 6:15 ready for the day. Most nights he is in his crib by 7:30 and falls asleep within the usual 20 minute range. I still give him a dream feed at 11 pm. He also gets some rice cereal around 6 pm every night. Most days he does his naps for about 1 hour 20 mins to 1 hour 40 mins and a 30 minute cat nap before dinner. So, he's doing pretty well, except for the 4:30- 6:30 range. I started the new 4 hour routine at 7 am in the morning for his 1st feed, so he doesn't seem mind waiting to eat if he wakes up at 6:15ish in the morning.

My questions- Any advice for the 4:30 wake up- I'll try the Wake to sleep option.
Also, is it ok if some days he wakes up at 6:15 ready to go and other days at 7ish and I still feed him around 7 and adjust his naps according to his wake up time? And if I have to push his bedtime back to before 7 pm, is it ok to feed him a little early even though he would have eaten at 3 pm if on the 7, 11, 3, 7, 11 feeding schedule? Thanks so much!

[momofclaire]

Early waking is generally related to being overtired.  Am I understanding that he gets one long nap and a cat nap?  Could you post your routine.
I think if that is the napping situation, then he is certainly overtired.
Also, when did you start feeding him solids?  Is there any way you can feed him solids during the day but not so late in the evening.  Solid food can disturb their sleep by causing tummy trouble.
Myia

[ahuron]

HI! thank you so much for replying back to me.

His napping routine changes depending on what time he gets up in the morning. I try to watch his cues. Some days he is up by 6:15ish and somedays he is up by 7ish. Also, I typically still feed him around 7 am even if he gets up at 6:15. He doesn't seem hungry yet. I do a dream feed at 11 pm.

So, if he gets up at 6:15ish- if he wakes up here happy and ready to play, I get him up. If he is crying, I try to get him back to sleep:

A: 6:15
E:7 am
A:7:20 am
S:8:30
A:10:15
E:11 am
A:11:30
S:1:15
A:2:40ish
E:3 pm
A:3:30
S:5-6 (cat nap)
A: 6-7 plays, eats cereal while we eat dinner
E:7pm
Bed:7:30

If he gets up around 7 am, it is more E, A, S,Y and not as much A,E,A, S,Y. Generally, he is a happy baby. I wonder if I am watching the clock too much and not his cues. I do feel like it is an over tired issue because sometimes I think I try to extend his awake time too long to  "go by the book" . At least 3 times last week when we started this new 4 hour routine, he fell asleep while nursing during the day. Yesterday, it was 2 times- he slept 2 hours in the morning, but fell asleep early when we went on errands during his awake time and then only slept for 45 minutes for his afternoon nap. When he cries in the early morning, I wonder if he is hungry because of sometimes falling asleep at the breast, or if it is overtiredness. I lean towards overtiredness. This morning, he woke up at 4:45 and fell back asleep on his own in about a minute, then he woke up at 5:15 crying, gave him his pacifier and he fell back asleep within 5 minutes. Now it is 6 am and I can hear him stirring again. He, overall, has done well with extending his naps to about 1 hour and a half 2 times a day.

Another thing, i am going to be gone 3 mornings a week from 9:15 to 11:15 am for learning the language of the country I am living in. So, I was hoping that the 7,11,3,7,11 feeding routine could work for him because then I could be home around 11:30 to feed him on those days. So, that he isn't starving, do you suggest switching his cereal feeding to 11 am in the morning on those days to hold him off?

Thanks, and sorry for the 1 million questions!  

[momofclaire]

I wouldn't worry about clock watching so much.  It is more important to watch your child and really be in tune with his cues.  I think you may be right about him being overtired.  His A time does seem a little long, not impossible, but on the ling side.  I also think if he is waking at 6:15 then he needs to be going to bed around 6:15-6:45. 
When did you start solids?  Could they be bothering his tummy? Repeated waking does generally mean overtired or hungry.  I would not feed the solids at dinner time as it doesn't give the tummy enough time to digest during the day.  In fact, I wouldn't feed him solids until 6 months of age but if you have been doing it a while and don't think it's a problem, then you can continue. 

Could you move the DF a little earlier?  Sometimes being later in the night also disturbs the sleep cycles.  Have you tried playing with that or not doing it and seeing what happens?

[ahuron]

Hi again. I ended up getting him out of bed at 6:45 this morning because he was crying and couldn't go back to sleep and he ate then. He never went back to sleep after 6:10 am.

He just went back to bed around 8 am and fell asleep within 5 minutes. He played pretty happily until about 7:45 am, then I could tell he was starting to get too wound up from being tired.

 I have also been thinking that our babysitter can bring him to the school where I am taking class 3 mornings a week and he could eat there so then I wouldn't have to worry so much about the 7, 11, 3, 7, 11 routine. Thankfully, we are in a flexible situation that she could do that, if you think that would be better than trying to push him onto a schedule that isn't natural for him. Then on days he gets up earlier, I can just feed him and start his day then and put him to bed earlier. I think I have been trying to keep him strictly on those eating times because I am trying to work with the class schedule 3 mornings a week and I also wanted to establish a better routine for him. When we first got here, he was in no routine at all- sleeping in the same room with us and still on a 3 hour nursing schedule. It was like he was a newborn again with how the time zone (9 hour difference) messed him up. Then, I realized that he needed to be eating every 4 hours and probably jumped into a schedule mode with him too quickly instead of being more patient and watching his cues.

Since putting him on 4 hour EASY, he has been going to bed by 7:30 even if he gets up at 6:15 am because I was trying to keep his nursing at the above schedule. Is it ok to feed him a little earlier if he needs to go to bed earlier? I was afraid of feeding him before 7 pm because I didn't want him to be snacking and wake up hungry.

So, tonight, should I try feeding him around 6 or 6:15 even though his last feed will have been at 2:45?

About the dream feed, do you think I should try to move him back to 10:30 tonight back from 11 pm if he goes to bed at 6:30? Is there a time you have seen work?

Also, I started feeding him Rice Cereal at 2 months because my pediatrician said it might help him sleep better. He doesn't eat anything else but that. He seems to do fine with it, but maybe we can try it in the morning for his tummy, like you said. Would it confuse him to drop it all together until he turns 6 months? His 5th month birthday is on June 24th.

That's all for now, thank you again!

[momofclaire]

It is ok to nurse him earlier if he needs to go to bed earlier.  Many people cluster in the evening, meaning they feed closer together in order to really fill the belly for the night. If you want him in bed by 6:30 or 7:00 just move the feed up.  I would move the dream feed to 10:15-30. 

I don't know why your ped would recommend starting cereal at such a young age.  The AAP recommends not starting until 6 months. Most peds will say it is ok at 4 months but even that is changing a bit here in the States.  If you want to continue the rice cereal I would do in earlier in the day.  I don't think it would hurt or confuse him to stop it for a month.  Only you can make that decision. 

[ahuron]

Hi! Thanks for the encouragement and advice. It has made all the difference to not watch the clock as much and really observe him. We're all so much happier! Most importantly, he is getting much better rest. Things have been going well this week. I have moved the dream feed back to 10:15 and he has an ealier bed time. I am excited about how he has been sleeping. Oh, and I don't know what I was thinking- it must be the mommy brain and the move overseas. We did start rice cereal at 4 months-not 2. My pediatrician recommended it for 4 months and older if we wanted to try it for sleeping. It was right before we got here. Thanks again!

[momofclaire]

Yippee!  I am glad to hear that.  Keep us posted and come back for support if you need it.  It's great to hear a mom "excited about how he is sleeping!"  I don't get much of that over here!