All aboard the sleep deprivation roller coaster

Oliver has been sleeping a little erratically. One night this week when we tried to go to bed after his feed, he cried loudly every time he was put down and then was fine as soon as he was picked up. While we wanted to comfort him, we didn't want to establish the connection in his mind that all he has to do is cry and he will get picked up instantly over and over again. So after we had picked him up and settled him a couple of times (only for him to realise he was back in his Moses Basket and start crying) we left him to cry for a minute before picking him up and consoling him again (which took about 10 seconds as he just wanted to be held). Then we left him for two minutes before consoling him. Then three. Before the four minute gap was up he stopped crying of his own accord and went to sleep.

This may sound harsh - and to be honest I think I'd just wait one minute each time if we did it again - but we want him to learn to comfort himself to sleep. He seems to hate going to sleep. His grouchiness very often seems to be down to fighting sleep. The he gets overtired and even more grouchy. If we get to a state where he has to lie with us or be held and fall asleep in our arms then I'd say we are on a one-way ticket to exhaustion and a future of long drawn out bedtimes.

Thankfully he has only had one episode like this. Every other night he has been fairly quiet. He does sometimes grumble and refuse to go back to sleep and need consoling, but there has only been the one incident of prolonged and repeated crying.

As for the length of time he sleeps we really can't complain. He is going 3-4 hours between (the start of) feeds. He tends to have a bottle around 10.00pm then wake for a feed around 2.00am. Hayley gets up and does this one. Then I get up around 6am and give him a feed before shooting off to work.

I love that 6am feed. (Well, 5.30am this morning - his times seem to be slipping backwards a little.) Everything is quiet and he just sits happily in my arms sucking away. At first he sucks noisily and enthusiastically. After a while he sits more quietly and even looks up at me sideways as he drinks. He's so gorgeous when he is like that. Then I sit him up and wind him, holding his chubby cheeks in my hand.

We were half-heartedly trying to get him to go an average of 4 hours between feeds, because that seemed to be the way with formula. But we have realised that he is still too young for that (convenient as it would be for us) so we are letting him dictate the feed times in the hope he will settle into a pattern of his own accord.

He certainly seems to be piling on the weight. I haven't weighed him since last week but he feels heavier again to me.

And he is losing his hair. Apparently this is quite normal. He's really quite bald on top now with plenty at the sides, like an old man. A friend of ours told us that her child lost her hair and it grew back a different colour!

Overall we really can't complain. He's still finding his way and so are we. And so shall it be for about the next two decades!