3 month old help!

[my_tribe]

Ok mamas I really need some help with with my little mans schedule he was 3 months yesterday. He was STTN during 8-9 weeks but then we had some nursing trouble and things have gone down the hill from there.

From the beginning naps have always been a struggle to get past the 45min mark without the swing or being held to resettle. I finally tried increasing Awake time to 1h and 15-20 mins and naps have improved but are still hit or miss. half the time I still need to go in and help resettle. (LO does use a pacifier to fall asleep but goes to sleep easily within 5-10mins)

Nighttime has been rough the last week and a half. LO normally wakes up around 3am and fussed on and off. He doesn't seem hungry but just seems to want the pasci put in again. He has then been wide awake at 5am happy talking and blowing bubbles. He will often poop then too. I've just been changing his diaper and laying him down again. Most of the time he will fall back to sleep and wake up again around 6:30am when we start the day.

Here's what our schedule has been looking like. It's been fluctuating a bit because I've been adjusting things to try to find a solution.

6:30am: wake and nurse
7:20 - 7:30am: nap
9:30-10am: nurse
1O:45-11:15am: nap
1pm: nurse
2:15pm: nap
3:30-4pm: nurse
4:45-5:15pm: nap
6 - 6:45pm: nurse bed time routine
7:30pm: nurse bed
10:45pm: dreamfeed

I have noticed that most of the time he nurses better if it's been 3.5hs during the day and then closer together in the evening.

Thank you for your help!

[creations]

Hi there
it's a bit tricky to see what's happening in your routine at the moment

7:20 - 7:30am: nap

1O:45-11:15am: nap

2:15pm: nap

4:45-5:15pm: nap

I assume these are the times you are putting him down for a nap - could you post your EAS times showing the time he goes to sleep and the time he wakes up please?  Something like this:
WU 6.30
E 6.30
A 1hr
S 7.30 - 8.15
E
A 1hr 15
S ...and so on
This would help us to see where a change in times might be helpful for you.

You are approaching, or possibly arrived at, the move towards 4hr E.  Tracy said LOs move to the 4hr EASY during the 4th month.
If your LO is feeding better with 3.5hr E then that's fine.  Also fine to cluster in the evening before BT.  You might find on the lower A time and with shorter naps plus with the E time extending, that you are getting clashes with the E and S times, for instance if LO wakes at 8.15am after a 45 min nap the next nap is due at 9.45am (1hr 30 A time) but E is due at 10am (3.5hr E) in cases like this you might need to feed early (say 9.15) and just do a minute or two A time before the nap.  It could be that if you put LO down for a nap without the early E he might make it until the end of the nap and that might not be so bad if he only sleeps 45 mins (E then at 10.30) but if he slept longer the E times extend a bit too much.

The guidance A time is approx 1hr 30 for 3 months old. It could be that you just need to increase the A a bit to get some better naps - but like I say it's hard to tell really until I see how long each nap is.  You can also add to your EAS times some notes about mood such as crying on entering the bedroom or nap refusal, or waking happy/crying from naps.

[my_tribe]

Thank you so much for your help. Sorry it was confusing. I'll keep a detailed log of today and put in the EAS format and write back tomorrow. So greatful for your help.

[creations]

No problem. I'll have a look when you're ready

[my_tribe]

Ok here was our day yesterday...

Sunday

E: 6:45am (Woke up around 6am wouldn't nurse till 6:45)
A: 1.5hs
S: 7:30am (laid down at 7:15am. woke at 8:20 settled right away with pasi. woke up crying at 9:30 went back to sleep. woke happy at 10am)
E: 10am
A: 1h 20mins
S: 11:20 am (fell asleep right away 12:50 woke gave pasi went back up sleep easily)
E: 1:30pm (I woke him to nurse - nursed well. 2:30pm he got fussy and wanted to nurse again ate a good amount again then.)
A: 1h 20mins
S: 2:50pm (rough nap - woke crying at 3:50 and 4:25pm and took a while to settle. woke at 5:30 crying.
E: 5:30pm
A: 2 hours (the first hour he was awake he was fussy)
E: 6:45pm (falling asleep while nursing)
S: around 7:30pm (laid him down at 7pm took awhile for him to fall asleep but he was calm and content)

Dreamfeed at 10:45pm

Night Wakings: 2:30am and then on and off from 4:30am - 6:30am. Was awake at 5:45am cooing and wide awake eventually drifted back to sleep for a little bit.

[creations]

It looks like he is getting a good amount of sleep even if it's a bit broken.
The NWs could even possibly be that he is getting  a little too much day sleep as a couple of those naps are 2.5hrs long even though they are a bit broken. They are pretty long naps.  I wonder what would happen if you got him up after say 1.5hrs, at one of the points when he is waking up naturally?
It also looks like the paci is a prop for sleep and for transitioning from one sleep cycle to the next at this point which is why he is relatively easy to resettle when re-plugged.  You could for instance pre-empt the transition and re-plug prior/at that time so that he sleeps through more, I suppose it could help to get a fuller nap although it doesn't feel very "BW" to be doing this as the BW methods avoid prop use.

[my_tribe]

I think so. I tried more awake time yesterday. I posted our day below. Any thoughts on the evening?
The pascifer is not ideal for sure. Maybe it's time to get rid of it?

E:6:45
A: 1h 15mins
S: 7:30am (woke at 8:25 was up for about 30mins for going back to sleep)
E:10:15am
A: 1h 30mins
S: 11:45am (slept whole nap!)
E: 2pm nurse
A: 1h 30mins
S: 3:30pm (fell asleep at 3:40. woke 4:30. Woke on and off till 5pm - after I realized he had pooped during nap)
E: 5pm
A: 1h
S: 6pm (30 min cat nap. He was super tried from the rough nap)
A: 45mins bedtime routine
E: 6:45pm
S: 7:15pm

Dream feed at 10:30pm
Nightwakings at 3:30, 3:50 and 4:30
Woke at 6am

[creations]

The pascifer is not ideal for sure. Maybe it's time to get rid of it?

I'm not the best to give advice on this. My DS refused a paci so it was never something I had to make a decision on.
In terms of props it is not ideal as LO needs to be re-plugged which is a drag for parents until LO can do it themselves (some time off yet I imagine) but SIDS guidance is that there is a reduced risk of SIDS in LOs who use a paci and also that if a LO is dependent on a paci for sleep then it should not be dropped cold turkey prior to 6 months.  Like I say, it isn't something I could give advice on, I consider it a difficult decision to make and one only you can make after taking the information into consideration.

That day looks okay even though the sleeps are not totally perfect - not much you can do about poop during a nap though, these things happen.