Fairy

[Fairy]

My son is 10 weeks old, and I'm having anxiety about his sleep. I know I'm a nervious first-time mother, and I know most of my concerns are probably for nothing, but it took a small miracle to bring our son into the world and am second guessing everything in the realm of safe sleep. So, I'd feel better if anyone out there had any feedback for the following. :-)

1. I worry about SIDS constantly. He's in every at-risk category being a boy, currently 2 months old, and winter is pretty much here. His crib has no bumpers, toys, fluffiness, etc. He's got one sort of thick blanket tightly tucked in, but I worry he gets too hot. Dress him down, I worry he gets too cold. Any thoughts here?

2. We're using Ferber's method for a sleep approach. Wasn't planning to do this for two more months, but ped says now is a good time, as he's in the 90th percentile for about everything. Was ready for a challenge, but he went down at 8pm for the night till 5am his very fist night. And second, and third, and now the fourth. I swear I'm not complaining, but is this normal?

3. When he starts to wake up in "the middle of the night" (before 6am), we let him fuss it out for five minutes, then we go in and get him in case he was not really up yet. For those doing Ferber or Weissbluth, how do you handle middle of the night wake-up spells? We're ready to do the 5, 10, 15, 20 minute thing when we put him down for the night, but what about, say, 2am (assuming he's not hungry or wet, of course)? Do the same thing?

4. How long is a healthy nap? He'll often go six hours if we don't wake him from mid-AM to mid-afternoon. His afternoon nap is then non-existent. Thoughts?

5. When is a reasonable time to diverge from his routine? For instance, the holidays are coming, and it might be difficult to stick to the exact sleep routine a few of those nights in December. Thoughts on this?

Thanks to all :-)

[christie699]

While your concerns are valid, you've got to stop worrying, girl! It will achieve nothing, save make you a nervous wreck. You've got to do your best and leave the rest to fate/God.

As for SIDS, we all worry about it. You are right to be vigilant. They say it may even be genetic, but who knows? As long as your home is non-smoking, you don't keep the house too warm at night, you keep all toys etc out of the crib, no pillows/blankets, and you put your son to sleep on his back, you're doing all you can. You may want to try the Halo Sleepsack instead of a blanket. It comes in cotton (summer) or fleece (winter). Then relax and get a good night's sleep yourself! :)

Sleeping through the night at 10 weeks is normal and wonderful!! You're one lucky mommy! A consistent feeding schedule is key to sleeping through the night. The 6 hour nap in the daytime might not be so normal - what's his feeding schedule like in the daytime? At 10 wks my son ate, played and slept...all on a 3 hour cycle. Then he'd wake up and do it all over again. Their little tummies are too little (only the size of their fist) to take in enough nutrition to tide them over for a full 6 hours. You may want to check with your pediatrician and see what he/she thinks about the 6 hour nap.

Diverging from the routine is fine...babies LOVE routine, but LIFE happens too, and sometimes it's not reasonable to stick with it all the time. Do your best to stick with it...he'll be happier, which will make YOU happier and the holidays more pleasant. If you absolutely can't stick with the routine, improvise and go back to it as much as you can, as soon as you can.

Remember, YOU'RE his mommy and you are doing the very best you can. You are doing a fabulous job! First time parenting is hard work, since these babies of ours don't come with a manual! Just relax...you know what's best for YOUR baby.

[Fairy]

Thanks so much for the reply. I think I will look into the Halo Sleepsack. I put him in a Carters sleeper bag thing most nights without a blanket, but I don't have enough for every night, so the fleece blanket tucked in REAL tight come out for the other nights. The reassurance that I'm not missing anything helps.

As for the naps, he's tapered off now to much shorter naps and is much more on a cycle like the one you're son is on, about 3 - 4 hour cycles of play, eat, sleep.

It's so hard to know sometimes if I'm "doing this right" or not. I know I"m gonna make mistakes (like that lovely typo a second ago), but if I can avoid the biggies, that'd be good. No manual lis right! Thanks for the words of advice :-)