Question about 3 hour schedule

[BethL]

Hi,
My son is 11 weeks old and we've been trying to follow the E.A.S.Y schedule as best we can given his age.  It was easier when he was feeding every 2 1/2 hours but now that he's stretching to 3 hours I'm having a bit of trouble.  It seems that he can still only stay awake for about an hour so...  It only takes about 10-15 minutes to feed him then about 45 minutes later I settle him down for a nap.  Well, if he naps for 1 1/2 hours (which is usual for him) it's only been about 2 1/2 hours since his last feed.  I try to hold him off for a half an hour which isn't hard usually.  but then he's going down a half an hour after he's eaten and then if he sleeps another hour and a half it's only 2 hours since he's eaten when he wakes up and I need to hold him off for an hour and then he's tired.  What should I do?  Any advice? 
Beth

[alligirl]

My advice is to try to extend his awake time gradually (by about 5 minutes a day or 15 minutes every three days) and hopefully his naps will extend as a result.  If not, you might have to work on extending his naps if he is still sleepy when he wakes after 1.5 hours.

[BethL]

Thanks.  That is good advice.  I'll try to extend his awake time.   I'm a bit concerned that if he naps too much during the day it might take away from night time sleeping (btw, he is up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours through the night after one 4 hour stretch from 7-11).  I guess the trick is to try to get him to go down for a nap an hour and a half before the next feed.

[alligirl]

Well, at 11 weeks old, he should be able to go longer than 2.5-3 hours at night.  BUT, he should also be having about 2 or 3 naps (2 naps being about 1.5-2 hours in lenght) I think...but I could be wrong.  I wouldn't let him sleep longer than, say, 2 hours at a time during the day if you worry about robbing his night sleep.  Are you dreamfeeding or clusterfeeding?  That might help with the frequent wakings.  Does he take a paci?  Perhaps you could offer the paci instead of feeding him when he wakes at night....just some thoughts.

[BethL]

Well, at 11 weeks old, he should be able to go longer than 2.5-3 hours at night.  BUT, he should also be having about 2 or 3 naps (2 naps being about 1.5-2 hours in lenght) I think...but I could be wrong.  I wouldn't let him sleep longer than, say, 2 hours at a time during the day if you worry about robbing his night sleep.  Are you dreamfeeding or clusterfeeding?  That might help with the frequent wakings.  Does he take a paci?  Perhaps you could offer the paci instead of feeding him when he wakes at night....just some thoughts.

There have been times (few and far between) when he has gone 4 hours at night.  He does take a paci but it doesn't alway seem to satisfy him.  Sometimes he'll wake up an hour and a half after a feeding and I'll use the paci to get him to go back to sleep then he's up in another hour.  After something like that I'm so tired I just feed him because the up and down becomes torture.  He takes three naps a day and each one is about 1 1/2 hours.  He usually rouses after 45 minutes and I go in quickly and get him to settle back down for another 45 minutes.  I've tried cluster feeding him in the evening.  He seems to want to go to sleep around 6:30 or 7 if it goes later than 7 I have a hard time getting him to go to sleep and he seems overtired.  So, I try to cluster feed at 5 and 7 and then he usually wakes up around 10 or if it's one of those rare nights 11.  I'll feed him in the dark then and quietly put him back to bed (kind of like a sleepy feed?) after that it's usually the 2 1/2 hour deal until around 6 when he's wide awake (7 if I'm really lucky) then he's up for an hour and back to sleep for a short 45 minute nap.  During the day I can stretch him to 3 hour feeds fairly easily it seems to mean a bit of a longer stretch of activity before his nap and 15 minute after his nap before I feed him.  I would love some suggestions on things to try to get him to go longer at night.   One thing is that when I was feeding him every 2 1/2 hours during the day he seemed to go three hours at night.  When I started stretching the day the night seemed to get shorter... Perhaps he's not getting enough during the day??

[thitz]

One thing that worked for me with the night feeds, is I picked the one I wanted to eliminate the most and over a period of 4 nights I fed her less and less at this time.  I was bf'g so I first took it down to 15 mins, then 10 mins, then 5 mins and then on and off in half a second.  Then I stopped bf'g at that time but I would pick her up and hold her for a few minutes and put her back down.  This is what worked for me.