Just starting on EASY...

[MommyMaria28]

So I just started on EASY with my 10 week old baby girl, how does this look for our day?  I'm still figuring her sleep cues and the general nap times, so some of this is guessing.  Also, her feedings are usually closer to 20 minutes and sometimes only 10.

wake up 6:30 (this is when my husband leaves for work and she seemed to be waking at this time anyway)
E 6:30

A 7:00 - 7:45

S 7:45 - 9:30

E 930

A 10:00 - 10:45

S 10:45 - 12:30

E 12:30

S 1:45 - 3:30 (this nap will probably not be this long as it will likely be happening while we're out as we usually go out in the afternoon - I can't stay in my 1 bdrm aprartment all day!)

E 3:30

A 4:00 - 4:45

S 4:45 - 6:30 (is this nap too late/ long?)

E 6:30

A 7:00 - 8:00 - getting ready for bed, washing, cleaning gums, story

8:00 - bed time

9:30 - dreamfeed


She often wakes between 2 am and 4 am for a feeding. 


I've been trying this for two days (without any success in getting long naps so far since she is used to naps in the swing) and I found that sometimes she is hungry about 20 minutes before the next feeding time.  If I just feed her, do I try to keep to the next feeding time or is the next feeding time then 3 hours from that feeding?  Is her hunger a sign of a problem as I think Tracy suggested in her book, such as inefficient eating, poor milk supply or snacking?  I'm breastfeeding and i think that her latch is pretty good as I've never had any problems.  Also, she rarely eats from both breasts so I doubt it is a  milk supply issue, but how does one deal with a snacker?

[* Paula *]

She could genuinely be hungry.  A lot of BF babies do take longer to go onto a 3 or even 4 hour routine.  BM is digested a lot quicker than formula, so it is quite possible that she is hungry before 3 hours.  Have you tried her on a 2.5 hour EASY to see if this is any better?

Also, Tracy suggest aiming for a 12 hour day / 12 hour night, so if your lo is up at 6:30 in the morning, you can aim for her to be in bed for 6:30 in the evening.

You could then aim for you 4:45 nap to actually only be a cat nap of 45 mins, and you can then do last feed at 6:30 and aim for your lo to be in bed by 6:45.

[MommyMaria28]

I've discovered that if she naps properly, 3 hours is okay.  Since I've had her on mainly 3 hours between feedings, I've found that she eats better!  I have started doing a catnap before the 6:30 feeding and we do get ready for bed shortly after that feeding, though by the time she is in bed it is more like 7:30.  We've had some rough spots and some naps haven't happened at all, but so far EASY has made my life way easier!! I now know everyday that I will likely have some time to get things done and when those times will be.  I'm able to do a few of the things I did before baby came and am starting to feel a little bit more like my old self.

[* Paula *]

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[MommyMaria28]

Okay, we had several moments where she insisted on being hungry after 2.5 hours, so I thought it best to switch to a 2.5 hour routine and have been doing this for a few days, though it seems very frequent for an 11 week old.  It means that she gets an extra feeding in during the day (6:30, 9:00, 11:30, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, df at 930) and I thought that would be good because she almost always wakes up for a feeding during the night, but she is still waking up for that middle of the night feeding.  Lately, it seems that she is not that hungry for the 6:30 feeding because she's just eaten at around 3 or 4.  Should I try to get more calories in her during the day?  Should I take steps to increase my milk supply? 

Also, I'm worried that now her naps won't be long enough as her A time is often long and getting longer, (she's already 11 weeks, where does the time go?) so sometimes she only has time for a 45 minute nap.  I guess I shouldn't be too concerned about these details as she sleeps better at night than many other babies since she will go down at around 8pm and only wake up once before 6:30, though she sometimes has trouble settling back down.  And she just seems so close to sleeping through the night since she has done it a few times already.

[* Paula *]

Have you tried increasing your E times to 2.75 hours?  That way, you can give her a little more time to get hungry enough for a feed.  You want to try and slowly increase your lo to 3 hours, so that she can be hungrier for her feeds, and won't end up snacking.

Can you post what your routine is looking like now, so that we can see her A times and nap times etc?

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