3 month old for 4 hour EASY??!

[VnessMorris]

Hi everyone,

My second DD just turned 3 months on Nov 27 and noticed how her A times have been getting progressively longer. Just this past week she's been staying awake quite happily at 1:45 and even some 2:00! That'S making her naps short as I'm still feeding her every 3 hours. Then just these past 2 days, she's not eating as much around the 3 hour mark (she's exclusively breast fed). And just yesterday, she won't nap more than 30-40mins.  Her nights have been rock solid (8-10hours straight; just one feeding per night). Until the last 2 nights...but she'S also congested so I'm not sure if that's the reason for night wakings?

I guess my question is: Is she too young for 4 hour EASY? All the signs seem to be there...

Thank you in advance!
V.

[Skadiver13]

Hi hun, are you waking her from her naps early to feed her on the 3hr mark?

[creations]

If you feel your LO is ready to increase the time between E and her A time then it's fine to do so, all LOs are different so it's possible she is ready a little earlier.  It's possible to increase to a 3hr 15 or 3hr 30 routine rather than jump straight to 4hrs, perhaps this would be suitable?
Here's some info:
Time to Transition - 3hr, 3.5hr or 4hr EASY
there are some sample routines there as a guide.
It could be just that she's having a few "off" days causing the shorter naps and not wanting to feed at 3hrs. If you increase to 3hr 15 or 3hr 30 and discover she is hungry closer to 3hrs it is okay to go back to 3hrly E.

[VnessMorris]

Thanks for the replies!

@Skadiver13:
Yes, I have been waking DD up early to feed her at 3 hours. This makes her naps 1 - 1:15.  She would nap through without much fuss/needing to be shush patted.  I thought so long as she's sleeping through the night with 1 - 1:15 nap times, things are fine. I remember reading from Tracy's book how some babies can get by with shorter naps...But these past couple of days she suddenly can't nap past 30 - 40 mins and now night wakings...

@Creations:
I might try to increase her EASY times to 3:30...so long as she doesn't wake up from her naps early! I used to Shush Pat her back to sleep when she woke up early but suddenly she's really fighting it. I've never seen this from her before. I thought maybe she's hungry...but then she doesn't eat much. That's why I'm a bit confused...is she overtired? or does she need a longer E to A time? Will try your recommendation of longer E to A times only because she seems so happy during her 1:45 -2:00 Activity time. If it doesn't work, will go back to 3 hour EASY.

[Skadiver13]

I would not be waking her from her naps to eat at all at this age unless she is failure to thrive (i.e. determined by a dr.) this could be causing the issue.  I think you waking her from her naps may have made her OT.. I would try and just go with the flow with the eating for now. I.e. put her down for her nap and see how long she sleeps. Sometimes the transition from 3-3.5hr EASY ends up being EAES. HTH

[VnessMorris]

@skadiver13

OK. Will try and see if she'll nap longer periods. Hoping the 30-40 min nap won't rear it'/ ugly head again! Thanks for the advice. 

V.

[creations]

Often an increased A time means the nap comes a bit later and when LO sleeps the full nap length it automatically makes the E time longer. You don't necessarily need to choose to move to 3.5hr E, it can just happen because LO is asleep at the 3hr mark. As pp said I wouldn't wake her, you seemed to be doing well following her cues for the increasing A time so I'd go with that and let the E time extend naturally.

[VnessMorris]

Thanks for the advice, creations.

I'm hoping she will nap through. Started to let her nap longer yesterday after reading pp's and your advice. I'm thinking it may take a few days for her to actually nap through as she's been waking around the 30-40min mark. So far, Shush Pat is working!