does this indicate not enough night sleep?

[KatieRabbit]

LB- I think you may be right with the day sleeps being too long. My DD wouldn't sleep for long at all at that age because she was having lots of lovely day time sleep. She would go to bed at 7pm then wake about 8.30 and stay awake on and off till midnight. I worked it to give her less day sleep. Sounds mean but she was cranky at night because she couldn't sleep and I couldn't get her to sleep. I would give her a sleep from 9am to 11. Then start increasing her awake time every day or two by 15 mins. It was firstly one hours and 15 mins but now we are on 2 to 2.5 hours awake time. It is really hard to start with as she was yawning and a bit tired but this only lasted a few days and it REALLY helped taking her to the shops sitting up (if poss) in the pram or sling or out someone of her normal environment. Then she would have a nap from about 12.30-1pm for about 1.5 hours (say to 2.30), keep her up until 4, then sleep from 4-5 or 4.30-5.30 and then down at 6.45 to sleep at 7. If DD gets more than 4-4.5 hours sleep now (she is 20 wks) then she is awake at night. Since doing this (because she would sleep the day away if I let her) she is asleep at 7, dreamfeed at 10, feed at 4 or 5 am and then back to sleep until 7-8 am. If she wakes at 6am I give her a dummy and she is back off to sleep.

[lullabyblue]

Well- an update. Seems like we are going through a transition at the moment as the last couple of days he hasn't wanted to sleep so much during the day. In fact, I have had to start resettling him at the end of each sleep cycle- something I never had to do- & he just seems to want to be awake for longer periods of time. & we are finally getting some longer sleeps at night. The other night was 7 hours from 7pm to 2.15am!!!! Didn't do a dreamfeed as I was dead tired & in bed myself fast asleep at 8pm! Last night he was in bed at 7pm, woke & fed 9.45, then made it to 3.30am, then awake at 5.55am. I brought him into our bed and we both dozed until 7.20 am. This is a pretty big improvement!
In terms of bringing him into our bed, I pop him on the boob & although he feeds a little, it is more sucking (using me as a dummy really!) & he doesn't actually fall asleep- just dozes, falls off the boob, then wants back on etc. I've been told not to do this as it's bad for my nipples, creates bad habit, booby should only be for feeding etc. But it doesn't hurt at all & it seems preferable to me than starting the day so early. Also, like you said- doesn't work on the couch......

[lullabyblue]

oh and he only takes dummy intermittently and is not interested in sucking it- just chewing it......

[teachmum]

Glad to see you're happier with DS wake and sleep pattern. I wouldn't be too hard on him though as he's only young and probably needs those 3 hourly feeds . My first two bubs were 2 hourly for the first 3 months. I wouldn't have a clue how long Paddy has between feeds because I don't bother to check the clock anymore (too old to see that far anyway ) and I find I'm a lot more relaxed and so is he. He sleeps much better than the other two ever did.

Keep up the good work!

[Jac]

oh and he only takes dummy intermittently and is not interested in sucking it- just chewing it......

Have you tried a few different types of dummy? I thought my DS wouldn't take one but it wasn't until I tried the Happy Baby brand that we had success. He is now 14mths and only ever uses it for sleep and we have found it to settle him beautifully. It sounds like your DS want/needs that extra sucking time without actually being fed. GL, sounds like you are doing a terrific job.