How to implement an early am start

[ecamille29]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and a new mom with an 8 (almost 9 week) old daughter.  So I have lots of questions I've been trying EASY since birth and have had some success - it's getting easier as she gets older and is sleeping more at night!  She's just started sleeping from the dream feed (between 10-11pm, although sometimes it's been a little later) for about 5-51/2 hours so between 3-4:30 am.  Sometimes she goes right back to sleep but sometimes she squirms around for 30 min to an hour (no crying so I leave her alone).  The problem is that then her first am feed varies.  I am starting work in the next few weeks and would like her to have her first feed at 6am - advice on how to do that?  Do I just wake her up at 6am, regardless of how long she's been sleeping or when the last feed was?  Do I then put her right back to sleep or try to keep her up for A?

Also, if I try for a 3hr routine starting at 6am, then I find it hard to get her to sleep after the 6pm feed so she's up until the 9pm feed and then do I still give a dream feed only 1.5 hours later?  What bedtime should I aim for on a 6am start 3hr EASY routine?

Another question - we're working on naps and I realize she may not sleep for the full 1 1/2-2 hours yet but what do I do when she wakes up early, well before it's time for her next feed?  Do I immediately try to put her back to sleep?  Or feed her and readjust the timing of the next feed and nap?  I have a hard time telling when she's hungry.  Often she falls asleep when feeding so it makes me think she's really just tired.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

[rachaelcole]

Hi Elizabeth-

If you are looking to start your day at 6am I personally would make that the wake up-get up time (as in make a big deal of it being morning-open the curtains, say good morning etc) and just start your day as you would do later. The first few days might be a bit 'off' with feeds close together but if you hold the routine she will adjust into it over the course of a few days.

You say you struggle to get her to sleep after her 6pm feed, but is that with a later wake up time than 6am? Do you have a good bed time routine that you follow so she knows that it's sleep time? If you feed her at 9pm I would not feed again until she wakes up & asks for it. Have you tried cluster feeding at bedtime?

[ecamille29]

Hi Rachael,

Thanks so much for the quick reply.  We do have a bedtime routine (although every day tends to be different so the actual bedtime is never the same) - feed, sometimes bath, put on pjs, read books with Daddy, rock until drowsy in darkened room with sound machine.  With the 7am start routine, it's not so hard to get her to bed after the 7pm feed but when we've done the 6am start, the 6pm feed seems so early - she's usually wired.  I tried cluster feeding but it never seems to work - she so often falls asleep during feeds that she never gets a good feed it so it seems just like snacking - or is that the idea?

So for the 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9 routine, should the bedtime routine be after 9pm feed?  Do the whole routine then or after the 6pm feed?

Thanks,
Elizabeth

[rachaelcole]

You might find that perserverence for a 6pm feed followed by bedtime will start to become less of a 'fight' as she gets used to it-if you've tried only for a day or so to her body clock it's still an hour before bed time, she just got up early-do you see what I mean? It's a bit like when the clocks change-there is info on this in the EASY Forum FAQs I think (on my phone so I can't link it) but I know it's on here somewhere & it might be useful for you.

With regards to bed time, we & a lot of other peopl aim for roughly a 12 hour day, so if wake up is at 0600 then bed time should be around 6pm.

Hope that helps x