Introduction & Sleep question

riah3377

Hello All,

 My son was born 7 weeks early at 32w 5d's on April 25th.  He's our first child & we were completely unprepared for the baby to be early (who is ever prepared for a preemie though!) He weighed 4lbs 13oz and was 19in long.  We were in the NICU for 2 weeks 2 days (until he was 35 weeks) and he did really well, breathed on his own the whole time and needed little medical intervention.  (As you probably realize he was a larger preemie and actually could have come home immediately if he had delivered at 35 weeks or later). He's been home for about 8 weeks now and he has gained weight like a champ and is now about 11lbs.  He has always moved forward with his weight gain once he was out of the hospital.

 He is now 10 weeks old (adjusted 3 weeks) and I'm having concerns about his sleeping (and mine b/c I'm not getting much!).  He still wakes up at least 2/3 times a night to eat (we exclusively breastfeed) but he does have times when he'll sleep for as much as 5 hrs between feedings.  He seems to be regressing though and wants to "hang out" and be held after his feedings instead of going back to bed, there was a time where we could lay him down and he would put himself back to sleep pretty easily.  My question is which age should I be following for his sleep habits?  I wouldn't expect a "normal" 3 week old to be able to put themself back to sleep, but I would start to expect that an almost 3 month old would be able to.  How does this work for preemies?  Is anyone else having a problem deciding what to do for sleep?  I hate the idea of letting him cry it out in case that does more harm than good, but maybe he's reached that stage?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  I think I'm starting to go a little crazy from sleep deprivation!

Irishsapphire

I really follow his cues during the night.  I will note that last night both of us slept longer--normally I get up at 4am to change his diaper and feed him, but both of us got up more around 6am.  I have a CD alarm clock, and I play Celtic Lullaby music during the night--it helps me to sleep. 

I also do less stimulation during the night--like I may put him in the bouncer--but I am not going to play the loud music or put on a lot of lights.  I have heard that you should stimulate them more during the day and less at night. 

Kinda funny--we use a small flashlight to check on him during the night while he is in his cradle--normally he is pretty chilled out when we flash the light on him--but there was one time that he heard the click of the flashlight and he seemed a little startled in his sleep.  Overall, I just feel that the flashlight is less light, and it is less stimulating. 

mommamorris

we have always gone by adjusted age... but kept our expectations close to "normal" for what dd's adjusted age would be. 

we did a night time feed until she was about 4.5-5 months adjusted. it was really just to help her gain weight... i don't think she "needed" it... but it was habit.(dd is a 27 weeker.) she would go down at 7ish or something and i would feed her before i went to bed about 10-11..

we did babywise when she was about 4-5 months old. she sttn within 2-3 days... and didn't even cry when we put her to bed after a couple of days. (of course, there are exceptions like teething, and high fever, but those are the exception.)  it's a "routine" not a schedule (i could NEVEr keep a schedule) and really has to do with feeding as well as sleeping. we did away with all sleep props pretty much- like rocking/nursing to sleep etc- and that gives her the "freedom" to fall asleep by herself. i totally recommend it to everyone i know for ideas. (as with all advice books, take what you want, leave the rest.

mommamorris

i forgot to say congratulations!!! it sounds like your lo is doing awesome!