Just started E.A.S.Y., a few easy questions.....

[KarrieAug]

Hello,

So, I decided to get my EBF son on a more set schedule to help w/ his naps & feedings and so far it seems to be going really well, he has taken to it very good probably because his schedule was kind of close to what the EASY does anyhow.

He'll be 5 months on Sunday, how does this sched from yeaterday look:

7:00 - wakeup - E
7:30 ish - morning fruit (we started this a couple of weeks ago)
8:00 - A
9:00 - S (I watch for the signs that he's getting tired and then move up to his crib. My first question being, he fights me a little even though I       know he's tired, it usually take about 10-15 minutes to settle him in, this will get easier, right? Will he eventually just go down?)
11:00 - wakeup - E
11:30 ish - lunch; solids of some sort, fruit or veggie
12:00 - A
1:00 - S (watching for the signs again, he fights me a little again)
3:00 - wakeup - E
3:30 - A
5:10 - catnap (he was showing signs of being tired, getting irritable but did fight me again for 5-10 minutes when going down. My second question, I feel like I could have entertained him and held him off until 6:30ish and just put him to be then instead of the catnap and putting him to bed later, which is better? Does he really need the catnap?
5:45 - I woke him up
6:00 - E - dinner - veggies
6:15 - A
6:30 bath & wind down
7:20 bottle (My last question & I don't know if this stems from the catnap or being over tired or what, but he fought me until 825 ish when he finally fell asleep. I put him in his crib around 7:45 after finishing his bottle and he just tossed, turned, whined & cried until 8:25. I went in several times to ssh & pat, PU/PD two times, what am I doing wrong? Is he just adjusting?

Then in the middle of the night he woke up around 2:00 and had to be ssh patted back to sleep which worked pretty quick he was back down in about 15 minutes and then again at 4:00 he was up tossing and whining probably until around 5:00 when I finally ssh patted him and he went back down until 7:00. Could that last time be due to the feeding that he used to have around then up until about 5 days ago? I cut it out because he gets more than enough during the day and it just didn't seem necessary (it was more of a pacify feed).

I appreciate the help and guidance. 

[jessmum46]

Hi and welcome

Are you using shh pat to settle him for nap times?  10-15 minutes is actually really good!  It may be that he needs a touch more A time - many babies at 5 months are needing a little more than 2h, increasing up to nearer 3h by 6 months.  You could try when you start seeing tired signs, holding him out for 5-10 more mins with some very low key activity and see if he settles a bit easier. 

Overnight am I right you are not doing any feeds at all between bedtime bottle and morning?  It would be very normal for a breastfed baby to still need one or two night feeds at this age, and the frequent tossing and turning from 4am onwards may well be that he is hungry.  My DD had a feed at that time until around 7 months so personally I would suggest you just feed. 

The catnap can start to get tricky around 5-6 months - have a look at this link: All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

Hope that helps, let me know if you have more questions