eat, wake, SLEEP?

[annaelise]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to get my 4 week old into a pattern of eat, wake, sleep as advocated by several books I've read. She's doing great with it. She will eat, then an hour later get tired, then go for a nap. However, her naps only last an hour or maybe a little over an hour. What should I do at the end of the nap? Feed her right then even though it has only been 2 or 2.5 hours since her last feeding? Or wait until the 3 hour mark...? She will eat if I offer her the breast (I have tried) or can easily be held off til the three hour mark but then gets tired earlier into the next "cycle".

Do I need to get her to sleep longer? How? Is this a problem? Maybe I just need to adjust her cycle to being a 2.5 hour interval instead of hoping for 3 even though she doesn't necessarily wake up hungry..?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

[BabyBearsMom]

At 4 weeks, I really wouldn't be trying to push any kind of schedule. When DD was 4 weeks, I just tried to follow her cues and do what she wanted. I fed her when she started her hunger cues, put her down for a nap when she was showing fatigue cues, and just played with her when she wasn't hungry or sleepy. At that age, a nap could last anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours.

[wellyes]

I agree with the PP, at 4 weeks I wouldn't push a schedule. I'm not anti-schedule, I do like thinking of the baby's day cycling in terms of eat-play-sleep. But at 4 weeks just feed when she shows signs of hunger, nap when she looks tired. It will fall into a regular pattern by around 3-4 months.

[YouAreTheFocus]

I agree with the others that 4 wks seems early to be trying to get into a schedule/routine. And for what it's worth, our baby ate every two hrs until 3 mos (overnight he would eat every 4 hrs).