Tweaking EASY for EW?

[littlemithi]

Have been lurking for a while trying to solve things myself, but time to ask some questions!

Background: LO is exclusively formula fed now as we had real issues with BFing. I started vague EASY with LO at about 3.5 months (was on-demand till then). Was never perfect, but 3 hourly routine and other BW techniques helped me deal with NW and getting a good nap and BT going. She has never been DF by the way and I don't really want to introduce it. She is 5.5 months now

Anyways, noticed naps getting shorter and fighting to get LO to sleep - realised after a while that she needed longer A times and a 4 hourly routine. Well it took me a while to committ to implement as I was worried about dropping a bottle. About a week and a half ago, switched to 3.5 hour which worked for a bit and then yesterday switched to 4 hour and lost the one bottle... yikes!

So A-times are about 2 hours. I watch for her ques now (this morning it was 2h15mins) rather than forcing nap on her. I fed her at 7, 11, 4 and 7 with BT at 8. And she did 2 hr + 1h30m + 1h30m naps

So, the problem? She's up at 6... like clockwork, for the last week. Thats why the last nap was 1h30, otherwise there would be a big gap between naptime and BT. Also, as much as I'm offering more at each feed (4 x 240ml), she's not taking more. Even this morning (despite two NW which I shh/patted back to sleep) she had only 160 of the 240ml feed.

So, do I start EASY at 6? Then bedtime gets earlier and she wakes up even earlier? Really don't know what to do. Also wanting to start solids soon and afraid she will be sleep at time when I want to intro solids (an hour after morning bottle). Also, how do I encourage her to drink more? I'm sure she's starving as she took the whole 240 last night, but only 180 at 7, 180 at 11 and 200 at 3.

To recap, her Routine yesterday was:

6am WU - she's happy babbling by herself in her cot (I have a video monitor so I can be sure she is not in distress)
7am E 180 ml
8am S till 10am
10am-11am A
11am E 180 ml
12pm S till 1:30
1:30 pm - 3 A
3 pm E 200ml
3:30 S again till 5pm
5 A till 7pm
7pm E 240 ml
8pm BT

And two NW at 2 and 5 - usually STTN - don't know if this was due to lack of food or too much day time sleep.
Any advice anyone?

[littlemithi]

Anyone?

She's taking even less feed today - I thought the reason to space out the feeds was to encourage them to take more at each feed (she was getting bored at 3 hourly and 3.5 hourly intervals). Have asked on the Feeding forum too Trying to squeeze too much in?

And still don't know what to do about this 6 am wake up that makes all her feeds in the middle of an A time... makes for a very bitty day ...

Today's EASY very similar to yesterdays.

6am WU
7am E 160 ml
8.15am S till 10am
10am-11am A
11am E 200 ml
12pm S till 2:00
2 pm - 3pm A
3 pm E 120 ml
4pm S again till 5pm
5 A  is awake  now and seems perfectly happy despite only 120 ml (4 oz?) feed at 3 ... will see how the evening goes.

Just to say, haven't had such solid naps in a while. I've obviously finally got her A times correct for now.

[*Ali*]

I think she needs a push on the A times and less day sleep. The long naps are making her day too long and she is probably UT when she wakes at 6 and then catching up in the day. I would add another 10-15mins to her A times and wake her if she is still asleep by the 4hr mark. Then I'd do BT by 7pm and hopefully you will gradually push her sleep to the night rather than the day. At this age that last nap would ideally be a CN on of 30-45mins otherwise she will want a long A time after it.
What do you think?

[littlemithi]

Thanks for the reply Ali...

Those long naps are pretty rare. I think I finally got her A times about right (really watching her ques) as she's been doing 45 mins naps lately a lot on the 3 and 3.5 hour EASYs. I think I had them at about 1.5 hour to 1.75. I notice now that she isn't really tired till about 2 hours ... so the move to 4 hour EASY...

Well it felt like she had a rough night last night as although she didn't actually wake up, she was fidgeting a lot in her sleep (she's also been sufferring from a bad night-time cough the last week). Lots of intermittent ssh/patting from about 5 am, and for the first time in a week I managed to get her to stay asleep till 6:40. I thought YES! and the day started off well enough.... but I had to go out twice this afternoon, and apart from a 1.5hour nap in the morning, she did 2x 30 minute naps! Is that supposed to be UT? She definitely wasn't - both A times were over 2 hours, and each time she was in the buggy, (which used to be a great place for her to take long naps - but alas no longer) but she woke up at the half hour mark and appeared fairly happy.

So pre-BT has been a bit long (A since about 4:30) and although I was afraid of an OT meltdown, she was OK, just a little cranky and falling asleep on her last feed .... Resisted going to bed (tried 7 and she cried, tried again 7:30, a bit of crying but settled very quickly - she usually doesn't cry) so we'll see what kind of night she has ...

SO not looking forward to solids ... feels like it'll just add more complicationsto her rhythms...

I think after two months of EASY I've come to the conclusion that you can tweak to your hearts content, but babies are not predictable and the moment you think you've got to grips with one thing, something else will come in to scurper it all up .... sigh ....

EDIT: wow, she woke up crying really hard at 8:15 (45 mins after BT). Fortunately some PU/PD and shh/pat got her back to sleep but I haven't seen this since even before we started on EASY 2 months ago! Means she didn't get into her long sleep cycle of the night ... Now dreading what the rest of the night is going to be like ...

[*Ali*]

30 min naps are typically OT and 45 min naps are UT but it can vary from child to child. Nap lengths when out and about are less indicative though as many LOs will only sleep until they start to come into lighter sleep and then wake because they are out and itis noisy, smells different, it's light etc. My DSs have both gone through stages of only sleeping 30 mins in the car and buggy regardless of A times.

It definitely sounds like she is OT. I hope that doesn't mean NWs for you.

[littlemithi]

She slept very fitfully last night - but didn't wake, till 6 am on the the dot again! Most mums would be SO happy with that ... I don't know why it bothers me so much... I'm contemplating just starting the day at 6. Really doesn't work very well for us as a family, but otherwise I have E times in the middle of A times and getting out and about just gets complicated.

She had an A time of about 2 hours 15 mins this morning. I noticed the yawning and glazed over look but she resisted being put down... argh can't tell if our little Goldilocks is UT or OT or just right...

I think I might abandon the 4 hourly "schedule" and aim to just feed her when she wakes if she manages 1.5 - 2 hours of a nap now. And then see how the day goes.

DH noticed how it feels like we've stopped living - especially me - because I'm constantly fretting about her feeds, naps, etc. I need to learn to let it go...

[littlemithi]

Its been 30 minutes and she's woken up and happy ....   

I'm just going to go out for a walk with her. Till her feed (which will no doubtedly be as she's getting ttired and wanting to sleep ...)

 

[*Ali*]

If she wakes at 6 and has had enough sleep then I would just start EASY and feed on wake up yes.
Do get out. It's no good for either of you to be stuck home miserable is it?

[littlemithi]

Thanks for replying Ali ... I think I'm getting myself down because I've been trying to get a consistent routine for 2 months and I feel like I just can't get it right. I don't mind if its not an exact EASY, but some consistency in her naps would be so welcome ... and I'm beginning to feel that I can't even read her sleepy ques anymore ...

She woke up at 9 (after the 30 min nap) and I bundled her up in the carrier and went for a walk to buy some bread and a birthday card for DH ... and on some point on the way back she fell asleep. I'm guessing 9:45-10 (I couldn't see as she was facing out). I managed to take her out of the carrier and put her in her cot. Asleep now ... well see how it goes from here ...

[*Ali*]

Short naps can be developmental too. Sometimes they just need to learn to transition with a little help. You could try shh patting her back to sleep or even wake to sleep if it's always 30 mins. Some mums find it helpful to choose one nap a day to work on and the rest they take what they get and don't worry if they are out and about and the naps are short.

[littlemithi]

Just to say, LO is STILL very happily waking up at 6, no matter what time she goes to bed. We usually do 8pm, although this last week there has been 7:30 and 7:15. I'm trying to not stress about it. Working hard to extend her morning and afternoon naps - not always successful, but I try.

I wonder if I can do W2S to try and get her sleeping past 6 am... will have a go tomorrow.

[*Ali*]

I would do w2s about 5 and try not to have an early BT the night before so she has more drive to go back to sleep for a decent length of time. Good luck.