My 5.5 week son sleeps well at night after a formula feed but is difficult to go down by day.
My son is very good at sleeping at night from after his 10.30 pm feed through to 7.00 am and he wakes up once in the night for a feed at around 4 – 5 am, however he has become very bad at sleeping in the day and going down at 7.00 pm. He is now getting increasingly overtired and difficult to settle and putting him down in the day and at 7.00 pm is becoming a real battle and I am desperate for him to catch up on sleep without throwing out his night time sleeping. Please would you advise on the best way to do this and how the day time naps can be encouraged. I have noticed that he goes down very well after his formula feed in the evening, would it be worth introducing a second formula feed at 10.30 am to see if this will help with his midday nap?
He is breast fed in the day. His feeds take 25-35 minutes at 7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm, 5pm and 6.15pm. At 10.30pm he takes 5ozs formula. He feeds at 4-5am and settles back again. My son weighs 8.11lbs.
He naps at 9-10am, 11.30-2.30pm and 4-5pm. At times he sleeps 9-10.30am then fights going down at 11.30/12midday. He will then fall asleep exhausted at 3-5pm when I always wake him.
As your son is 5.5 weeks old he could well be beginning a growth spurt. You need to check that he is receiving full feeds during the day. A baby of this age should always be checked for hunger if he shows no signs of settling after 10 minutes of being put into his cot for a nap.
If you are expressing at the times set on the routine you can offer your son a top up of expressed milk before putting him down for his lunchtime nap.
If you begin to add formula top ups after daytime feeds your breasts do not get the message that they need to make more milk to fulfill your son’s growing needs. You are still in the early days of establishing your milk supply so, if you wish to continue to breast feed, you need to work on increasing your supply to meet your baby’s needs. By expressing before or during the feeds at 6.45am and 10.45am you are helping to boost your supply whilst your son goes through his growth spurt. Then use the expressed milk to top him up at the end of a feed if you feel he has not had enough. As your son has a full formula feed at 10.30pm make sure you empty both breasts completely when expressing at 9.30/10pm.
Make sure that your son empties one breast completely at his feeds. Change him once he has fed from one side, and then offer him the second side. He may feed for another 10-15 minutes or he may not want any more, but always offer him the option. At the next feed offer him the breast he last fed from if he did take two sides and, if he only took one side, offer him the other side first.
If you feel that your milk supply is not quite sufficient for your son’s needs look at page 52 of The Contented Little Baby Book, where you will find Gina’s plan for increasing the breast milk supply.
You mention that your son is very difficult to settle at 7pm. By this time of day your milk supply could well be low. This is not uncommon as it can be difficult to get sufficient rest in the day when coping alone with a small baby. Once you have fed your son after his bath offer him a top up of expressed milk. Have a look in Gina’s Complete Sleep Guide, page 26, for hints about how to settle a baby of this age. If you feel he is getting too tired to settle properly at 7pm bring his bedtime forward to 6.30/6.40pm. Many babies of this age are only able to stay awake for an hour and a half before needing to settle to sleep again. If they stay up longer they are more likely to fight sleep.
Make sure you yourself are drinking enough fluids, preferably water, throughout the day. A good idea is to keep a 1 litre bottle in different places around the house so that water is always near at hand. Also, make sure you are eating three good meals a day, taking 500 calories more than you normally would. You need at least 6ozs of protein a day.
Make yourself have a healthy snack or milky drink around 10.30/11am and also again at 4.30/5pm. Going for a long stretch without food, especially between lunch and supper, is not a good idea. Also, make yourself a drink and have a snack before beginning the bath and bedtime routine.
Once you are sure that your supply is meeting your son’s needs, and that he is taking full feeds, you can work on getting him used to settling to sleep. Make sure you give him a 10-15 minute wind down period so he gets used to calming and becoming sleepy. As he is still young he may not yet be ready to stay awake a full two hours between naps. Adjusting the routines to fit in with your son’s needs may mean putting him down for a nap earlier to prevent him becoming over tired and fighting sleep. Take a look at Gina’s article Structure without Stress on the website which shows how you need to use the routines as a guide to work towards rather than trying to fit your son into a routine for which he may not yet be ready.