Am I trying too hard/expecting too much?!

[ceb80]

I have a 6 week old ds (first child so very much learning by trial and error!)I am by no means expecting him to be in a routine but just want to make sure I am working along the right lines to make it easier for him to fall into a routine in the long run.

At the moment during the day he feeds 3 hourly (usually 4-5oz formula)during the day I don't put him to bed in his moses basket because he doesn't seem to settle very well and because HV said to make a clear distinction between night and day so he is often in his bouncer or sling. After 6pm feed I try to put him down in his moses basket but he is awake again in 15 minutes and doesn't settle again until about 9pm when he has another 4-5oz and then goes down quite well until about 11.

Tea and biscuits if you've got this far should I continue to try putting him down after 6pm feed or just keep him up until 9ish?

i would just keep him up. eventually you'll find he is sleepier in the evenings and then you can try the earlier bedtime. but right now it's prob easier for you to just keep him up

Sounds like our DS at that age, and like you are doing really well! Think DS was about 3 months before we started doing the earlier bedtime, with a full bath/story/feed/bed routine.

Will do then, sometimes it's hard to know what to do for the best! He's like clockwork every 3 hours for his feeds in the day but then at night it all tends to go a bit to pot, sometimes hourly othertimes 4 hourly (love it when that happens!)Know it's still early days though.
One other thing do you think I should out him down in his moses basket during the day or not bother?

totally up to you.
my first always slept in his crib and was fine,. my second was slightly more erm, demanding, and would only ever sleep in the sling or on me! he now sleps happily in his cot as well.

so, go with whatever is easiest for you

ceb80 my DS always sleeps in his cot whether it is in the day or the night and he has blackout blinds so its dark whatever the time - he has no problems distinguishing night from day (having his longest stretch of sleep at night). I think that making sure they have regular feeds in the day and not letting them sleep too long in the day are more important than where they sleep IYSWIM?

HTH - gotta go feed my DS but can give more advice on this later if you like?

ChocOrange, more advice always welcome! Will be off to bed shortly before DS wakes for next feed but would love to read more ideas!

ceb80 - I agree with ChocOrange, make sure he has regular feeds in the day and don't let him sleep too long in the day either. My DD has all naps in her cot with a blackout blind so its dark, but has no problem with day/night confusion.
Have you tried a dummy? I know many don't want their LO to have a dummy but it was a saver for us, DD has it at nap times and she falls asleep much better with it. (I know I will have to wean her off it later but its a price I'm happy to pay!!)

Have tried a dummy but is very hit and miss,sometimes he spits it out straight away other times he sucks like mad and gets cross when it falls out!

Thanks, he seems to be wavering around the 3 hourly mark most of the time just don't want to do anything silly that will make it harder for him to settle when he is ready (pfb!)

Sorry another silly question, you ladies are all far too helpful!
DS has been going in a vague 3 hourly pattern but last night he had his 6pm feed then slept until gone 10pm. I'm usually of the thinking that at night don't wake a sleeping baby but he fed at 10.15 and then woke every 2 hours till 8am this morning. Is that because I should have woken him to feed at 9pm or just a coincidence?

I have 3 children and found that they tended to naturally fall into a sort of loose routine at about 10-12 weeks. Before then they are more unpredictable; I would feed them on demand and tended to keep them downstairs with me until I went to bed just to make life easier for feeds.

I never restricted how long my babies slept for in the day - IMO it doesn't make any difference as they get older as to how they sleep. Some babies sleep more than others, and IME waking a sleeping baby because you think they ought to be woken makes for a grumpy one! I find that if you wake a young baby from their daytime naps to try and get them to sleep better at night it can be counterproductive, as they can get overtired and can find it harder to settle at 'bedtime'.

That is very helpful thank you, currently he's still awake and starting to squeak!

Just to add me tuppence worth, this sounds very much like our DD at that age. We used to keep her up. We started a bedtime routine when she was about 12 weeks, with bedtime being about 10 o'clock, and then brought it earlier bit by bit. She now (4.5 months) goes to bed sometime between 7 and 7.30 depending on when she last had a nap. I wouldn't worry to much at this stage and just enjoy having him around in the evenings! I don't really know what to do with myself after half-seven these days...

Sounds like lots of people do lots of different things and I think you need to find your own way. For what it's worth... My DS is now 6 months and I put him in his pram in the living room for all his daytime naps since he was born. He is now very reliable at falling asleep where there is noise so it doesn't matter if we are out and about as long as he is in his pram he will just drop off as he normally would at home. I have friends who put their babies in the cots who struggle when we are out to get them to nap (having said that I think their LOs are very reliable at home so it's whatever fits best for you).

We also put our DS to bed at 6.30pm since he was about 3 weeks with a bath then a feed in the living room with the curtains drawn then finish the last oz or two of the feed in his room in the dark. We found this best for us as he took a few weeks but by 8 weeks or so he became very easy to put to bed and we always have an evening together. I also find that if I am having a bad day, knowing he is going to bed at 6.30pm and will reliably go to bed every night is a great help! Just thought I'd let you know what has worked for us. Good luck!

Thank you, like you say, lots of different ideas so a variety of things to try. He doesn't seem bothered by the light and sleeps better in his bouncer in the day when it is noisy and light than at night when it is quiet and dark!