By day my 10-week-old can’t seem to move from the 6-8 week routine
My daughter is doing well on the routines and has been sleeping through the night for the past 10 days from 11.15pm until I wake her at 7am. She settles herself well a couple of times during the night and settles well for all her sleeps during the day. I am currently on the six to eight week routine and am reluctant to move on as she cannot stretch herself to wait for her feed when I wake her at 9.45am. The most I can make her wait is until 10.20am, but that is only if I leave her to have a kick in her cot. The moment I move her, she begins to demand her feed. Also, she will not wait for a feed at dinner time. I still have to split the feed between 5pm and then after her bath at 6.15pm. My daughter also struggles to stay awake a full two hours. I have to work really hard after she has been awake for 1 1/2 hours and sometimes with no success. She is sleeping no more than 4 hours each day.
What do you suggest to help me to get her to wait for her bottle after waking?
Also, should I be moving her onto her appropriate age routine even though she is not managing the structure of the six to eight week routine yet?
My daughter is currently averaging between 930ml to 990ml of formula per day. She drinks about 200ml at her 7am feeding. I then split her 10/10.30am feed when she takes about 140ml and then about 30ml at 11.30am/12 noon (this sees her though until she wakes herself after a 2 hour sleep – I have ordered blackout blinds to stretch this sleep a further 15 minutes/half an hour). She takes 170ml at 2/2.15pm. Then 140ml at 5pm and 120ml at 6.15pm. I currently split her supper: at 10pm she takes about 140ml and 10.45pm she drinks about 40ml of formula and settles until 7am.
It is not unusual for a baby to take a while to get the routine laid out for their age. Your daughter is doing very well as she is already sleeping through the night. Now that she seems to be consistently sleeping through then you can very gradually cut back the time she is awake at 10.30pm to 30 minutes. If she starts to wake up well before 7am then put it back as a split feed again until she is slightly older.
By day your daughter obviously needs slightly more sleep than other babies of her age. As well as trying to follow the routines, be guided by her needs too. A lot of babies need a short cat nap in the afternoon until they are 4/5 months old, especially if they only sleep for 2 hours at lunchtime. The same applies to her being unable to wait beyond 10.20am for a feed. Gradually over the next week or so try to move this forward very slowly, increasing the time by a few minutes every few days, but if your daughter seems to be able to cope better with a split feed then continue to give her this until she is a little older.
When she is awake give her plenty of kicking time on the floor. Also move her from room to room so she has plenty of things to stimulate her. Seeing the world from her chair is different from how she sees things from the floor. Gradually she will be able to stay awake for longer between naps. Moving onto the next routine will be a gradual process as she grows up a little more. Many babies are not fully on the routine for their age but it is a guideline to work towards, taking into consideration your own baby’s needs as well.