Sleep questions - 22 week old (adjusted 18 weeks)

[buliej]

As mentioned in a post a while ago, DS is a big sleeper - but I'm becoming confused about his morning naps. Here's last night's schedule (all feeds are BF):

bath, feed and down for bed by 6:50 (we very rarely let bedtime go past 7pm)
11pm - feed (I get him)
4am - feed (he wakes me via baby monitor - I don't let him get to crying stage (mostly because I find that I lay awake listening and it's easier to just feed), I just hear that he's up - this feed can happen anytime between 4am-6am)
7am-ish - heard him happily talking to self so I did not go in (it would be unusual for him to want to get up at this time or to feed at this time) and he must have settled himself after about 20-25 minutes
9am - heard him via monitor - again not crying but this is normal wake-up (between 8am-9am) - wakes up with a huge smile which is pretty typical if he's well rested
got up - nappy change, big feed, play together
9:30-9:45ish - he started rubbing eyes, red around eyes - now, about 4 weeks ago he was rarely up for more than 1 hour before morning nap but he has been stretching it, but not today....
10am - I wrapped him (he still prefers swaddling) and put him down. Now he did not cry but sounds something like a cat in heat - this went on for 15 minutes (basically up until right now) and then he stopped and started babbling (no crying at all). I'll check him in about 5 but I'm fairly certain he'll go to sleep and probably will be for 1:30-2 hours

Did he "need" to go down at 10am - that's hardly any awake time - I'm confused as his tired signs are telling me one thing and the clock is telling me another. Am I forcing him to sleep when he doesn't need to be and when he'd rather be stimulated? or am I really following his tired signs and doing the right thing by putting him down so that he gets the sleep he needs? Would he actually cry if he wasn't happy? (and he does cry when he's not happy about other things - like being in the pram when he wants to be held, etc.)

Also, completely separate question - even though he is completely wrapped - he has started to twist - not flip - but twist - I've gone in there and found him lying at an angle with his neck really twisted/bent - again, he's still on back and back of head is still on cot but he's all tilted. He seems fine but it looks so uncomfortable. Can't be good for his neck - if that was me, I'd wake up with such an ache in my neck!

[buliej]

I'm bumping this up because we are on the 3rd day of this schedule and I'm starting to worry that something is wrong for him to want to sleep so much. When he is awake he is very happy and alert and doing everything he should be, but since 7pm last night he's been asleep except for an 11pm feed, a 6:45am feed and 8-8:45am this morning when woke for a nappy change, short play and feed and as usual he started rubbing his eyes and getting cranky so I put him down and without a fuss he went down and it's coming up on 2 hours for this nap. Thats about an hour thirty of up time in a 16 hour period!!! and most of those ups were purely for feeding. I suspect he'll get up soon, have at least an hours play (hopefully a bit more) and want to go back down. That's a lot of sleep! is that OK/normal/cause for concern???

[Charlotte91]

DD was born 2 days before your little bubba. And she was 6 weeks early.
She's usually only up for a total of an hour with a 2 1/2 - 3 hour sleep in between. I wake her from her sleep.
Just because he's making noise doesn't mean he's not tired. Put him to bed, if you believe he's tired, and let him just complain. Only pick him up if he's distressed.
DD is on a routine of -- Up for as long as she wants, which is 60 minutes. Maybe 90mins at the most. Put to bed, and she self settles. It can take up to half an hour for her to put herself to sleep.
And then I wake her from her sleep after 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

It may just be a phase he's going through. Hopefully someone else can offer some more advice.
Good luck.

[JLeigh29]

Could it be a Wonder Week/ growth spurt and he just needs more sleep atm? It took DS until about 8 months before he could go more than 1 1/2 hours without a morning nap. I'd be going by his tired signs rather than the clock.

[onthefly]

If he's getting plenty of milk, and happy and alert when awake, then he's probably fine. (and he sounds like he's fine!) I'd make the most of the sleep, personally Some babies really do sleep a LOT (unfortunately some hardly sleep at all)
Definitely just folow his tired signs, he knows best when he's tired and sounds like he's a very good little sleeper.

[KitFaerie]

My DS used to do the same weird neck angle thing! Really freaky, but he seemed completely fine. Some day we'd wake up and he'd have managed to squirm across the basinette with his head tilted way back, totally asleep and smiling ocassionally. We'd always put him back straight though, lol.

As for the sleep schedule, it sounds fine, I find DS is sleepier in the morning than the afternoon, so he gets put back to bed an hour after he's woken up. For a baby that can go 3 1/2 hours before tired signs show up, that's pretty early. I'd love my DS to sleep a bit more!

[buliej]

Thanks everyone - I feel a bit better. I did call the MCHN nurse as well and she basically said the same - that, he sounds fine (and that I'm lucky - and to enjoy it while it lasts). I do tend to be a worrier!