How long does it take for a change in routine to take effect

[Emmy's Mum]

Hi I have a 4 month old who is still on the 3 hr EASY. She wakes up through the night every 3 hours for a feed and it has been suggested to me to put her onto 4 hr EASY. I am slowly trying to increase times between her feeds to 3.5 hrs then 4....My question is: how long does it take for the change in routine to take effect? How can I tell if she is truly hungry when she wakes up of a night? Also, it seems as though she is only snacking through the day - would the change in her routine remedy this too? I feel as though I should know the answers to all these questions by now but am still struggling...! Is there a point when you know what you're doing?

[Katet]

Changing to a 4 hour would help reduce the snacking... it can take anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to change a routine, depends on a baby & how consistent you are.
I did it by stretching only 1 feed out & then working on another... suited my toddlers routine. Other people stretch out by 15mins... I still do a mix of 3 to 4.5 hours as that suits our family.
The waking at night may be due to how your lo falls asleep? can you post your day & settling routine

[Emmy's Mum]

My bb usually wakes up for the day at about 6am and has a feed between 6.30 to 7am (depends on when the last feed was given). She has a 1.5 hr activity time (sometimes shorter or longer - I try to go by her tired signs), then she is put to sleep in her cot. I pat/shush her to calm her (if she needs calming down), once calmed, I stop and allow her to settle to sleep on her own. Sometimes if I've missed the window then I pat/shush her to sleep. Her nap times vary between 30 mins to 2hrs. When she awakens at the 30-40min mark I generally go by how she looks before trying to pat/shush her back to sleep - if she looks rested and happy I get her up, if not I put her back to sleep. The rest of the day follows the same general pattern until her bedtime which is between 6 to 7.30pm. Her bedtime routine consists of a bath and a feed and she falls asleep with minimal fuss. However, she is then up every 3 hours after that for a feed. Once the night feeds are over, I pop her back into her cot and she generally goes straight back to sleep, or tosses her head about a bit before falling asleep. This goes until about 6 in the morning when her day starts.

Sorry if that's all a bit confusing - I don't really have set times for feeds and activities etc - it all depends on whether or not she catnaps and how quickly she gets tired - but I go by the EASY routine (except sometimes it ends up being AEAS or AES if she catnaps). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  :?

[Katet]

Sounds like she should be able to sleep longer at night as she falls asleep for the most part unassisted, although you should try to stop the patting earlier & earlier if you can
The only suggestions are definitely stretch out her feeding times as she probably is snacking...my 4.5mo was doing a bit of that recently as they are at the age of distraction (I am assuming you are bf here). What I do is offer a couple of times after he pulls off, just to make sure he has taken a full feed not just pulled off for the sake of it.
The other thing is I would suggest any sleeps under an hour long you re-settle. I find even if Liam looks hapy after a 45min nap, he will usually go back to sleep with a bit of help. I actually always try to re-settle if his sleeps are less than an hour and nearly all the time he does go back off.

[Emmy's Mum]

Thank you for your suggestions - I'll see how we go with increasing the time between feeds - hopefully that will improve things. How long does she need to feed in order to get the full feed? She generally goes for about 12 minutes (if I'm lucky - sometimes 8 mins) and then it's impossible to get her to take more from that particular breast. Sometimes she'll take a little more if I swap her over to the other breast. Would that mean that she has emptied the first breast? She obviously wants more but I'm afraid that she's not getting the hindmilk - only the foremilk.  :?

Once the routine is changed - how long does it take for the results to be seen in night wakings? I just want to know how long to wait before deciding that it is or isn't working. Thanks again 

[Katet]

If you squeeze your nipple after she finishes it should be a more creamy colour if she has got the hind milk... more creamier later in the day than morning too. If she is only on the fore milk, it will be thinner & whiter (clearer)
My ds#2 feeds about 5mins & that is it, my first was always longer more like 20mins, so 12mins sounds fine.

I notice you are in Sydney, The Australian Breast Feeding Association, Karitane & Tressilian have all been invaluable for me for questions through the early months for both my boys. I still ring occasionally now with my 2nd. They aren't exactly BW methods, but general info is really great.

[Emmy's Mum]

Thanks for your suggestions,  I have spoken to Tresillion in the past and have found them to be very helpful. Oh well, hopefully the change in routine will be the answer.