I will lock myself in the house for the rest of this week and next week and get this child on a schedule that I approve of.
First order of business: Drawing out feedings to three hours. According to Babywise, a baby this age should be able to eat every 3-4 hours. So currently this is his schedule:
8:00 wake and feed
10:00 nap
10:30 wake and feed
12:00 nap
12:30 wake and feed
2:00 nap (on blessed days he will sleep for 2 hours at this nap, but one can never be certain)
2:30 wake and feed or 4:00 wake and feed
5:00 feeding
6:00 feeding
6:30 bathtime
7:00 feeding and bedtime (sometimes he will push it and wont sleep till later)
5:00 feeding and back to sleep
So tomorrow I will try and move his schedule to feeding only every 3 hours. I have read bou the shh-patting technique to help babies go back to sleep. Apparantly they wake up after 20-30 minutes due to sleep cycles and not being able self soothe, so the main goal should be to help them stay asleep. So during his 20-30 minute nap, when he wakes, instead of picking him up, I will shh-pat for at least 15 minutes, and hopefully he will put himself back to sleep.
*** Update: Baby just woke up after 20 minutes of napping and I tried shh-pat ... (shushing him and patting gently on the back). It took two times but he has gone back to sleep!!!
Wish me luck.
Love and slumbering,
Kerry the Momster