I have a lot to say about the topic of sleep these days. First of all, I'd like to get some more of it! But hey, wouldn't we all? Well, except for those crazy people who say things like "Eh, I'll sleep when I'm dead" (whilst rising and shining on a Saturday morning at 5am to start doing yard work or whatever it is they do with all of that extra time). I, for one, LOVE me some good sleep. But that's just me.
We're encountering several sleep issues in our home. First, there are the nighttime issues. I have to say, we're doing a little better. The past few nights he has only woken up 2-3 times to nurse (though we're still getting up for the day around 7:30, which is rough for a passionate sleeper-inner like myself). In considering the whole cereal idea, I got to thinking that maybe he's just not getting enough because I'm not producing enough - maybe it has nothing to do with "needing" anything supplemental. This past week I started trying to pump once a day during nap time just to build up my freezer supply, and I'm really only getting about 2-2 1/2 oz on a side. I always used to get 4-5 oz on a side with no problem. Eli has always nursed on one side per feeding to ensure that he gets the more nutrient-dense "hind milk", but at 4 months old, 2 1/2 oz per feeding can't possibly be cuttin' it for him. He may get a little more out of me than my pump does, but he should probably be eating a lot more than that. It's not that I deny him the other side - he either falls asleep (like the impossible-to-rouse, milk coma kind of sleep) or just pulls away and acts finished and fights me when I try to pull him in to keep eating, so we don't make it to the other side.
I'm starting to try to be more adamant about offering both sides now, in hopes that he'll get more to eat per feeding to keep him satisfied and help keep my supply going. I'm finding that if he's awake and acting like he's done, he often changes his mind once I get him up and burp him and talk to him for a minute or two and then try offering the other side. When he's asleep... well, I haven't figured out how to get to him eat more in that scenario. I sit him up and burp him, rub his back, rub his head, scratch the bottoms of his feet... sometimes nothing works (especially in the middle of the night). Suggestions, anyone?
I also know that I need to drink more water than I'm drinking. It's all about the water bottle for me - I drink SO much more when I have a water bottle to carry around with me - and I lost mine about a month or so ago and haven't been hydrating like I should. I bought a new one at Target the other night and I'm already noticing a difference in how "full" I feel between feedings. So, before I go trying to add any cereal, I'm going to work on my supply (by pumping and hydrating) and do my best to offer both sides at every feeding and see if he starts getting back to longer stretches between daytime feedings and sleeping better at night.
Next, there's the issue of napping. He does take one very good nap each day in his swing, usually 2 1/2-3 hours from 2ish til 5ish. I've been trying to institute a morning naptime, as I've mentioned in previous posts, but he's just such a cat-napper in the mornings. If I just let him nap wherever he is when he falls asleep (usually in the boppy pillow on the couch with me), he'll probably take two 30-45 minute snoozes between waking in the morning and going down for his good long afternoon nap. When I try to look for his sleepy cues and take him upstairs to nap in his bassinet, in hopes of making a true "morning nap" out of it, he still only makes it about 30 minutes at most before he's awake and squawking for me. I can sometimes lull him back to sleep by sitting on my bed with him on my chest for about 10 minutes and get him to sleep up there for about another 15-30 minutes, but it's just such a disjointed nap. Not to mention the fact that his sleepy cues come at different times every morning (anywhere from 10:30 to noon!), and I'm having a terrible time figuring out exactly when this morning nap should take place. And if I do get him to nap for about an hour total, he sometimes isn't getting up until 12:30 or 1, which will then throw off when he gets tired for his afternoon nap. Since the afternoon nap is the reliable one that he really seems to do well with, I really hate to interfere with that! Is it really that important that he take two defined naps per day? Should I keep working at it, or just let him cat-nap through the morning as he needs to?
I also wonder about the duration of his afternoon nap. I almost always wake him up once it hits about 3 hours, because for some reason I have myself convinced that he would just sleep in that swing for 8 hours straight if I didn't (even though I've seen him wake up on his own plenty of times). Should I be waking him up, or should I just let him sleep til he wakes up on his own? I have never noticed him having a hard time going to sleep for the night as a result of sleeping too late into the evening. In fact, he's finishing a later-than-usual afternoon nap right now - it's 7:20 - and I'm struggling with these very questions... should I get him up? Will he wake up on his own soon if I just leave him? Will he refuse to go to sleep later? Gah.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I'll take any and all under advisement!
We are on the same boat with Matthew as far as the napping situation. I remember from Nick that they don't really establish definite nap times until they are a little older. My neighbors little girl is 9 mos old and her mom said she's just now napping at the same times each day. I don't remember Nick taking quite that long, but he was probably 4 or 5 mos old. Matthew has patterns now, but nothing solid as far as times. He also cat naps a lot and will fall asleep on me while rocking him but as soon as I put him down, he's up immediately or within 30 min. The evening nap I seem to have more luck with and I've found that if hes not up by 7, I wake him up because I like to put him to bed around 10. I also have better luck with him in the swing during the day than his crib for some reason.
ReplyDeleteFor now, my advice would be to just let him sleep whenever and try not to get caught up on a schedule yet. Once you develop a schedule, he should take 2 decent naps per day, one am and one afternoon/evening. It's all just a learning experience and its not easy! It's even tougher when you add another one to the mix and your trying to get the baby to fall asleep while the other one is yelling and running around which is what I'm struggling with now!
hey jenna, our pediatrician said the cat naps in the morning are because he just had his long sleep cycle over night so he doesn't need it. Ari has been waking up every few hours since he was born, I've just kind of learned to roll with it. The only time he sleeps for a long chunk is when he sleeps on his belly. He has really good neck control and can push himself up and roll over, so I wouldn't neccessarily reccommend it til then, but it works for us.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog through the grapevine of the interwebs and thought I'd chime in since I have a little girl who is a little more than a month older than your son. If you haven't already, try googling "4 month sleep regression". I think you may be in the thick of it now - my daughter started at around 3.5 months. Basically, their sleep patterns convert from newborn to more "adult" when they hit 4 months, which can cause them to wake up more frequently as their bodies adjust. When I reached my wits end with my daughter (she was waking 4-5 times a night), I asked around and was told of the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth. He suggests moving the bedtime up to an earlier time, and talks about the different methods for sleep training. We used the Extinction (cry it out) method but it is not for everyone. It was a very difficult couple of weeks, but I can honestly say it has changed our lives. Our little girl now wakes up only once a night (sleeps from 6:30p-7:30a with one wake up at around 4am). We are still working on her nap routine, but I am just thankful to have a better sleeper at night time.
So I just wanted to let you know it may not be a supply/hunger issue, but may be that awful 4-month regression instead. :)