Waking up during naps to eat!

Okay, I think we need to change something, but I am not sure what/how to. Here is the situation:

The boys are becoming much more active and love all of their exercise time. The boys will wake up in the morning, eat and we either go for a walk or have some quiet play time in bouncies until they want to go back down. (about 2 hours of total awake time) They are asleep for an hour or so. Once they wake up, they are hungry and then ready for playtime. They play under the activity mat, tummy time and I just incorporated some sitting core strength exercises. They are happy and not fussy at all when I put them down to sleep. (total awake time is approx 3 hours) They are asleep for an hour or so. The problem is they are tired after eating. We have been doing a third nap but it only lasts about half hour or so. The boys are in bed around 7:30pm and they do not wake up until 5am to eat. But they start their day around 9am.

This is what it looks like:
9am wake, bottle, play/books
11am sleep
noon wake, bottle, play
2pm sleep
3pm wake, bottle, play
5:30pm sleep
6pm wake, bottle, play/books
8pm sleep

They seem to get 30-36oz of formula a day.

It just seems that they do not sleep for more than an hour at a time. When during the middle of the day, they used to take a 3 hour nap. Man, I really miss three hours to myself and be able to get stuff done around the house.

Any advice...am I doing things wrong?

Jenn

 

Jenn, I think they are awake for two long between naps. At that age my guys couldn't be up for more than 1.5 hours, and occasionally 2 hours. THey may be getting over tired, and it's interupting their sleep.

 

Hmm, mine always had their bottle before they napped. So, awake in the morning, bottle, play, bottle, nap, play, bottle, nap, etc. Maybe you could try to adjust their schedule a bit so that they can eat before? Say, maybe a bottle at 11:30, then a nap, then play, then a bottle at around 2 & another nap.

 

I agree, mine are the same way and are about the same age. Mine usually aren't awake for more than an hour at a time.

BUT, if you add up how much time they are sleeping, it is average for their age, I think it is just that most of it is at night. If it were me, I would be ecstatic that they sleep from 8pm-9am and not mess with anything. I would use some time at night or in morning before they wake to get your stuff done. That is just my opinion...

 

It does sound like they are awake for a very long time in b/w naps. At that age we were doing 90 minutes awake/90 minutes asleep, all day long.

 

Okay, so I added all the sleep that they are getting in a 24hr period.

At night 14hrs
naps 2-3 hrs

total is 16-17 hours

I think that this is enough....what is everyone else doing?

Jenn

 

Ok, here's my two cents.

It's not really about how many hours total in a day because they need frequent naps to help with growth and brain development. It's nice to have a long stretch over night, but once they've been up for an hour or two it's exhausting for them and their are gonna get cranky.


In my personal opinion, I don't have any medical expertise to back this up , but I think they are going way too long at night without eating. 13-14 hours seems like a long stretch for babies that age. The longest I think would be good would be 10 hours--maybe 12. The amount of formula sounds right, but I didn't give my guys formula exclusively, so it would be better to ask someone else. I'd recommend feeding 8-10 times times a day for breastfed infants, and for strictly formula, probably 8-6. 4 times a day seems more like a 6-9 month old schedule, but you should ask someone who exclusively formula fed.

 

That is more than the average in HSHHC, so I think you are ok.

I think she said they get up at 5 to eat, and go back to sleep, so from 8-5 is 8 hours.

Jenn, I think you are ok, especially since you are letting them run the show. They know what they need. If you are concerned, talk to your ped., but I think you are doing good.

If I was going to change anything, I would start their day after their 5am feed... that may create awake time in a.m. and more naps during the day... just a thought.

 

Sorry Jenn, I see it now. Ok, so they are not going 13 hours without food.
I was getting a little concerned there for a minute. So are they getting 5 bottles a day of 7 ounces each? (I'm totally confusing this thread and the other thread as you can tell.)

I agree with twointheoven. Maybe starting earlier would help. Also feeding them right before a nap as PP suggested.