Yay, I'm so glad to hear of your progress. Your post sounds much happier.
Let's see if I can answer some of your questions.
First, on the bad night... both things you mentioned (the rolling and faster flow nipple) can definitely account for NWs. In fact, my guess is that's why he was up again last night at 2:30am, but it sounds like he's learning to deal with it. He'll probably be accustomed to both within a week or so.
1. Should I be doing the feed at 5:15? What if he wakes up and smiles and wants to play? Tracy said that between 4-6 mo. they should be able to go 10 hours at night. If he ate at 10pm, he couldn't have been THAT hungry, right? I don't know what I should do.
It's up to you, really. I've always been a fan of feeding, even if it's just a little, so that I don't have to deal with the EW and I've never pushed through til morning until at least 6 mo. As I'm sure you know, breast milk is easily digested and I'd venture to say most BFing literature wouldn't expect a 10hr stretch until later, but that's not to say isn't possible.
2. If he naps 1.5 hours, is that enough to have him at 2 hours awake time?
I'm not sure I understand this question. Are you talking about just during the day or before bed? A 1.5hr nap is considered a full nap, so he should be able to do a full A time afterward (2-2.5hr).
3. When he settles into this routine, does it make sense to move BT a little later (in 15 min increments) in order to make the rest of the next day start later or do I keep it as is? Again, I don't want to push my luck but it would definitely help to have WU times of 7 instead of 6. Or should I just be focusing more on putting him down after 2 hours awake time and forgetting about the clock?
Typically, to move wake-up later, you move everything a bit later. So, starting in the morning, you move the first nap out 15 min for a few days. Then, you move the next nap out 15 min for a few days. And finally, move bedtime out. He seems like he'd do really well with a push like that as he's been handling big A times already due to the EW.
I am getting depressed because I just feel like my baby is the only one who doesn't STTN. I hear of the parents who have babies up for almost all day and then their baby sleeps 12 hours at night. How could this be? My baby has plenty of daytime sleep and he has NEVER been able to sleep through. Friends and coworkers all think he sleeps too much during the day. I know my baby and I beleive in the BW method to know they are wrong, but what gives? Why are their kids sleeping through?
Finally, I can't post without replying to this. Believe me, you are not the only one with a baby who doesn't STTN. I'd say 4.5mo is really on the early side and there aren't that many babies I know who consistently do it by then (at least EBF babies, for sure). My DD didn't reliably do it til 6 mo and my DS still doesn't reliably do it. They're all just different. I know parents who keep their babies up all day and then they sleep 12 hr at night too, and while it must be nice for them, my guess is their baby is sleeping like that due to pure exhaustion.
The other thing is (and I can tell you this from experience), we seem to remember things being better than they really were. So friends and co-workers who have LOs that 'slept through' from a certain time may well be forgetting the nights here and there that it was a struggle. Some babies definitely are easy-going and do sleep through well, but at 4.5 mo, your DS is doing really well and I'd say is very close to STTN!
