Failure...and feeling like the only one.

cpaquette07

I have been a lurker for quite awhile and get a lot of great info from you ladies but lately I have been feeling like a momfailure and I need some help/advice. My DD is 8 weeks old today and while we have an established bedtime routine which works pretty well bath, diaper, lotion, swaddle, bottle, bed she wakes up 12 times per night to feed and our daytime "routine" is so sporadic and I often find that LO gets overtired because i cant read her cues properly. While I know 12 wake ups per night is great for her age I am not sure if our daytime schedule is affecting her nighttime schedule and she could in fact be sleeping better.

So LO feeds anywhere from 2 hours to 5 hours during the day and will catnap nonstop one day whereas the next she will have three long naps and feed somewhat regularly. But her last feed before bed is never consistent and I find us having to adjust the amount of formula in her bedtime bottle.

She will also nap pretty well in her crib with the assistance of her paci but wakes up usually after 40 minutes or so sometimes and I am never sure if she is still tired. I have been reading a few baby sleep books and they all seem to have contradictory info and I just get all stressed thinking I am doing something wrong.

Any advice you can give would be great to help me get LO on somewhat of a schedule and have our days be more consistent.

Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading and TIA for your help!

ETA: Stupid mobile... 1 to 2 times per night, not 12.

aelhunt

All I have to say is thenk God it's not 12 times a night! Lol I read that and almost cried myself. I think it's just too young to get a strict routine down and 1or 2 times a night is good. I wouldn't worry about it and keep doing what you are doing and she will pick up on the routine. 

slseburn

I'm also glad it's not 12 times a night!  you're definitely not a failure, it's very hard.  When my DS turned 7 weeks I started following a rough EASY routine - eat, activity, sleep, you.  Starting with the morning feed, I feed him, then we do an activity until I see he's giving me tired cues, then I lay him down for a nap.  We do this cycle all day long, and after awhile I got better at reading his sleepy cues and better able to tell how long he can stay awake before getting overtired (no more than an hour for my lo).  I was misreading his cues before and he would get overtired and not want to sleep.