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Every infant I have cared for, including my own and other people's, has followed some sort of basic pattern that I was able to predict, for the most part. My nephew has a two-hour play-eat-nap pattern, sleeps for about an hour almost every time, all day long. My own children did similar things, for varying amounts of time, and all of them have had a clear pattern AND cues for what was going on.
We have a new infant, 4-mo. He's only been here a week, but I was hoping he had a similar pattern to everyone else's and I could quickly pick it up and use it.
But this child has #1, no visible cues to ANYTHING - I can't tell if he is hungry or tired or what - he goes from happy to crying in one milli-second. And #2 his pattern is all over the map. I don't need him on a schedule, but I DO need to be able to predict his needs somewhat so that I can tend to the rest of the crowd! This week his morning nap has been: 8 - 12; 9 - 11; 8 - 10; 9 - 11; and 8 - 11. He has eaten 2 oz at 9:00 am; 6 oz at noon; 10 oz at 11:30; 2 oz at 1, etc. His afternoon naps have been even crazier - starting at 1 or 2 or 3 and lasting 1 hr or 2 hours or 3+....
Does anyone have a suggestion for me?
We have a new infant, 4-mo. He's only been here a week, but I was hoping he had a similar pattern to everyone else's and I could quickly pick it up and use it.
But this child has #1, no visible cues to ANYTHING - I can't tell if he is hungry or tired or what - he goes from happy to crying in one milli-second. And #2 his pattern is all over the map. I don't need him on a schedule, but I DO need to be able to predict his needs somewhat so that I can tend to the rest of the crowd! This week his morning nap has been: 8 - 12; 9 - 11; 8 - 10; 9 - 11; and 8 - 11. He has eaten 2 oz at 9:00 am; 6 oz at noon; 10 oz at 11:30; 2 oz at 1, etc. His afternoon naps have been even crazier - starting at 1 or 2 or 3 and lasting 1 hr or 2 hours or 3+....
Does anyone have a suggestion for me?
...put him on a schedule. That's my suggestion. 
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