3 month old and schedules - need opinions/advice ... sorry long

Yay today DS is officially 3 months old!

We put him on a feeding schedule and he does well on it. But sleeping is another issue.

It goes like this his last bottle is at 9pm, just happened to be convenient for us, but wonder if its too late for him? He dozes off around 7pm on his own, but then wakes up at 9pm when he's hungry. Like on the dot.

He starts fussing in sleep anywhere between 3-4 am for his night feeding. If I don't feed him it will go all blown out screaming for food.
He takes 2.5 oz ; we are slowly trying to wean him off it. His usual bottle is 7-8 oz.

Then he wakes up between 5:30- 6am. Eyes wide open, fussing to get out of the swaddle. (I have to add, I do a mean swaddle, impossible to break) I come in there, and he's smiling ear to ear. I try to just stick a paci in his mouth and run but he doesn't calm, and doesn't cry, just whiny fussiness. He could probably do this for hours. I usually let it go for about 15 minutes before I give in.

Now here is the kicker. He's lively, happy, plays for about 2 hours and then sleeps for about an hour.

And doesn't want to eat again till 9am .. sometimes up to 10am.
Why doesn't he just sleep through those 2 hours, I don't get it? Are we putting him to bed too late? If we start earlier, I'm afraid he'll wake up at 9pm for food.

That has been going on for 2 weeks, exactly this way. Around 1 month it was like this too, but he'd wake up at midnight, and then at 4am for bottle, eventually condensed it to one bottle, and now taking less and less.

Another piece to the puzzle is teething, but it has only really affected him these past few days. He was waking up every hour at night, fussy, whining. I wasn't sure what it was, dr. confirmed teething, and we just give orajel at night. He's back to his usual rhythm.

Message edited 6/11/2010 8:54:32 AM.

Re: 3 month old and schedules - need opinions/advice ... sorry long

I don't know what to tell you because we're not doing much better. The only exception is that he will go back to sleep after the 5am feeding.

Re: 3 month old and schedules - need opinions/advice ... sorry long

You can't really put a 3 mo. old on a schedule...you can try to be consistent to develope a schedule over the next few months but at this age I always fed on demand.

If he has his last bottle for the night at 9 and doesnt wake up again until 3 or 4 honestly I would be thankful and not complaining! That is a great stretch for a 3 mo. old. My boys ate every 2-3 hours at that age.

And I dont think you are putting him to bed too late...my boys always went to bed late around that age and slowly pushed up their bed time on their own.

It's pretty normal for babies to wake up around 6 and than go back down for a nap a couple hours later. My boys would only stay away for 2 or 3 hours max at that age.

I think what he's doing is totally normal for his age!

Re: 3 month old and schedules - need opinions/advice ... sorry long

I think you should just try to continue to wean him off the bottle he gets during the night. My suspicion is if he's satisfied with a 2 oz bottle during that time he would be okay to STTN without it completely. If you don't mind a little crying you could try to CIO a little (if you need advice on that FM me). I don't think there is much wrong with him waking at 6 though if you are putting him to bed at 9 (9 hours...most babies that age sleep 8-10 hours at night). I suspect if you put him to bed earlier he will wake up earlier for feeding and just being uncomfy with a wet diaper. DS also wakes up at 6:30 gets fed, changed, plays, etc and then is ready for a nap about an hour and a half later (DS is also a few months older too). At 3 months I don't think I would push 12 hour sleep schedules especially if he does not appear ready for it.

ETA: DS was put on a schedule very early on and he thrived on it (as did my neices). Every baby and parenting style is different. If your baby is one that would do better on a schedule I would say go for it. DS was feeding every 3 hours once he switched to EFF and was STTN at 7 weeks (waking at 6:30 and going to bed at 9:30 because I knew this was the schedule he would have to keep once I returned to work).

Message edited 6/11/2010 9:21:23 AM.