routine suggestion - my head is mince!

[Mazzimaz2709]

My baby girl is 12 weeks on Friday and exclusively breast fed, gaining weight like a trooper and despite a cows milk protein allergy (I am dairy free and this has made a massive improvement) she is very healthy and happy.

She happily goes down for naps during the day and sleeps well at night, but is still feeding every 3 hours at night (she wakes like clockwork) but generally can go longer during the day. I appreciate that it may be too early to start any kind of routine with her but as she responds well to regular naps (she is never awake for longer than 2 hours otherwise she gets grumpy and overtired - this much we have worked out already!) I feel that I can gently encourage her to sleep for longer periods at night with shorter naps during the day... I'm just not sure how!! Right now she is napping and has been asleep for almost 3 hours... (Last night she was restless due to a cold so I think she must be super sleepy today!)

When feeding she generally only feeds for a maximum of 10 mins at a time (day or night) and only one boob. This has been the same since she was born. Weight gain has been fab so the HV has always said not to worry about her not getting enough milk per feed. Sometimes she even feeds for only a few mins and pulls off to smile up at me! Apparently not that hungry after all??

I guess what I'm saying is that she appears to be feeding well from a nutritional/calorific point of view but at 3 months and EBF is it possible she could be going for longer at night if I attempt to shorten her naps during the day? And if so, how could I gently encourage her? She needs her naps, especially after an hour or so of playtime so my thoughts are that she still only has 1-2 hours of awake time between naps, perhaps I should just waken her after an hour of sleep? Suggestions online say that at 3 months she should only be napping for a maximum of 3 hours total during the day!!

Sorry this is a bit long, hope it makes sense. Any 3 month old routine suggestions or help greatly appreciated!!

At 3 months babies still need a lot of sleep. Not sure where you read 3 hrs max a day for a 3 month old. I would say nearer to 4/5 is better (although depends on the baby).

It sounds like you have established a great routine and I would suggest you go with the flow for now. If dc is sleeping well during the day and settles back down after feeds at night I would say you are doing really well!

Waking every 3 hrs for a bf baby around 3 mnths is not unusual at all. However I would suggest a couple of things that may help. Feed more often in the day. Try and aim for every 2 hrs if you can. Ideally you want baby to consume most of their calories during the day. Also, if you aren't already, introduce a dreamfeed before you go to bed (around 10/11). This can buy a bit more time until the next feed. Doesn't work for all babies though!

As dc gets older you will be able to have a bit more of a routine with regular nap times but for now I would focus on not keeping them awake too long during the day - otherwise the dreaded OT can disrupt night sleep even more!

In my experience sleep begets sleep so the better they sleep during the the day the better they sleep at night. I think if anything waking her during the day might lead to overtiredness and that's an absolute bugger to deal with! I think they are much older before sleep during the day limits sleep at night so I'd just keep on as you are and enjoy a nap yourself?

Thank you both - you have just reiterated what I thought was the case about over-tiredness. We certainly worked that out quick enough!

@mintbiscuit I will definitely try and keep her feeds more regular during the day. She doesn't usually nap for longer than 2 hours at a time in the day (today was as a result of a restless night due to a cold!) so feeding every 2 hours is certainly achieveable.

Thank you both! X