I've been trying to do an eat wake sleep cycle with my 4 month old, but it has seemed impossible as he usually only takes 4-5 45 min naps a day. Doing this I'm feeding him every 2 hours. I struggle to lengthen his feeding out to more than every 2 hours because he can't go 4 hours without eating. Sometimes he's not too hungry to eat when I try to feed him, but tries to eat when I put him down for a nap, then he takes forever to go down, gets overtired, and will only take a 30 min nap. It happened today actually and he only slept for 15 min. Is it possible for me to regulate his schedule, even if he won't take longer naps right now? I feel my boobs always have to be on demand and me and him are both frustrated frequently.
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1Um, I think maybe for your title you mean "Short naps and frequent feedings"? I'm not editing it because I'm not sure....– aparente001May 21, 2015 at 2:10
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I answered a similar question not long ago and there's also another answer there. I'd say something similar for this one although I don't know if you have the same problems with nights parenting.stackexchange.com/questions/19055/…– MiniMumMay 21, 2015 at 15:45
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Also this one parenting.stackexchange.com/questions/6944/…– MiniMumMay 21, 2015 at 15:49
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1 Answer
Have you heard about cluster feedings? This is a way of describing how sometimes a baby will have an apparently full meal, and then come back for more 45 minutes later! The way I heard someone explain this once was, that it's like going to a five star restaurant and having a multiple course meal!
Babies march to their own drummer, so I would just let him show you when he wants to nurse, and forget about the clock.
To encourage him to take a longer nap, there is a trick which often works, and that is to pick a time of day (often it works best at some point in the afternoon) to have a nap with him. It might be kind of like this: nurse, nap, nurse some more, and then I'm really awake now, let's play! I found that even if I only actually slept for 10 or 15 minutes, it still did me a world of good, and this approach helped my baby learn to have a more substantial nap. I hope this works for you!
Fresh air, for some reason, also helps develop solid naps.
He might be waking up because he needs to burp. You could check, by pausing to burp him before you feel him starting to drift off, and then perhaps switch sides.
It can be very helpful to learn to nurse while lying down on your side, with a pillow at your back. Some mothers are able to drift off while baby is still actively nursing. I couldn't -- but it was still very restful.
I hope you can get a La Leche League book from the library. Their books are full of helpful tips.
It can also be helpful to have a really interesting podcast to listen to, or a good book handy, so you can do your own zoning out while baby is engaged in his favorite pastime!