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ACTIVITY => E.A.S.Y. Forum => Topic started by: Nell19981 on August 30, 2016, 19:20:28 pm

Title: Naps causing issues with getting into EASY routine
Post by: Nell19981 on August 30, 2016, 19:20:28 pm
I've been trying to follow the easy routine for a good few weeks now. According to the book I have a "textbook" baby who is breast fed and is 13 weeks old. I have no problem on the regular feeding intervals and currently on about 3.5 hour feeds. The problem I have is trying to achieve long naps... I know the sleepy signs and as soon as visible I put her down (very often without a fuss) however her naps vary from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours but never consistent so has made trying to achieve a regular easy routine almost impossible. Can anyone recommend what to do for this?
Today's routine went a bit like this....
Awake at 06.50am
EAt  7.05
Activity until 8.30
Put down to sleep 8.30 asleep by 8.50 (with a lot of crying)
Awake at 9.25 (woke crying and tried to get back to sleep but wouldn't)
Eat 10.30
Activity
Sleep 11.10-12.30
Eat 13.45
Activity
Sleep 16.00-16.50 (!!!) she wouldn't go to sleep!
Eat 17.15
Activity - play and bath time
Eat 18.45 although fallen asleep on me as too tired
Sleep - major challenge will not settle as over tired

Help!
Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Naps causing issues with getting into EASY routine
Post by: creations on August 30, 2016, 22:04:45 pm
Hello and welcome to BW forums :)

Looking at your EASY it may be that you are putting her down a bit too late, perhaps being textbook she is not to vocal about being ready for sleep so the signs are coming a little late or she may give a signal that is difficult to see.  I would suggest for a few days keeping an eye on the clock and timing her A time rather than relying on cues alone.
Here's a link to guidance A times - they are only guidance, if a Lo does better on something different that's fine, but we can use these times as a starting point and see how things go, okay?
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
I suggest you aim to have her asleep 1hr 30 after waking up.  If you know roughly how long it usually takes to get her to sleep (some like the full 20 minute wind down to sleep, some like a much quicker WD) then begin the WD in enough time to aim for her being asleep at the 1hr 30 mark.

In your EASY the fist A time ends up being 2hrs which likely led to the OT wake up crying after 35 mins.  With a 6.50am WU I suggest you try WD around 8am for sleep at 8.30am.

The second A time looks like 1hr 45 which is perhaps still a bit long although some LOs do like longer A times than others.  You could try for this nap a little earlier and see if it suits her better, or if you feel confident that you generally get a better second nap after the 1hr 45 then you can leave it at that, not all A times have to be exactly the same across the day (it's long for her age but mine always needed longer A times than the guidance, it's just something you have to work out for your LO).

Sleep 11.10-12.30
Eat 13.45
Activity
Sleep 16.00-16.50 (!!!) she wouldn't go to sleep!
After her wake up from the nap at 12.30 it is not clear when you tried for the next nap. I see you had difficulty getting her to sleep, it would be useful if you could record what time you try for a nap and what happened (her mood, what you tried for settling, when you gave up, when you tried again) as sometimes this can give us some clues to help support you.
The only other thing I can really add about that EAS cycle is that if you have similar on another day you might think about giving her another feed. I see she is on 3.5hr E but if 3hrs has passed and you want to try again for a nap or she is resistant for a long time I would take her out of the bedroom give her a feed and then start the WD again. Try not to feed to sleep, if she does nod off you can either wake her up a bit (stroke her cheek, nappy change) or if you've had a hard day perhaps just tell her (quite loudly so she hears you in her sleep) that you are putting her into her bed so she can sleep properly and put her down.  It's just that she was awake such a long time that she will likely have used up more calories than when sleeping, and if she was very resistant to napping she might have been crying and burning more calories too, it's ok to feed a bit early to fit around a nap and often LOs tank up a bit in the evening.

I hope this helps and is enough for you to get started on some tweaks in your routine.
It would also be helpful for us to know where she sleeps (own crib? in arms? in sling?) and how she falls to sleep (self settles? shush/pat? something else?)

Let us know how you get on :)