New mom and new to EASY- Could use some advice

[tlw]

My son is almost 5 months old (in 2 weeks) and we started the 4 hr EASY routine a week ago.  I've noticed that he is only getting about 10 hours of sleep at night.  Should I try to get him to bed earlier so he can get 12 hours?

He typically has his last bottle at 6:30/7:00pm
Usually asleep by 8:00ish
DF somewhere between 10-11pm
Wakes up around 6/6:30 am

If I should be getting him in bed by 6 or 7 what do I do about his 7:00 feeding?  I didn't think it was ok to skip a feeding?
Do I put him to bed at 6 then wake him up at 7 to eat?  What if he isn't even asleep by then?

Some background info
Angel with a little bit of textbook baby
Sleeps through the night (will wake up some time during the night kicking his feet, etc., but falls back to sleep)

I have also noticed that he doesn't always get 1-1.5/2 hours of activity before a nap.  I am paying close attention to his cues and I react as soon as I see them (rubbing eyes, yawns, etc).  So in some cases he is in his crib asleep before having 1-2 hours of activity.
Is this bad?  I thought I was supposed to watch him and not the clock.  Is it really true that you are supposed to include eating, and wind down time into the activity stage?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[elmarie]

Hi and welcome to BW 

Would you mind posting your routine so we can have a look at it, it may need some tweaking.

A time for a 5 month old is typically 2-2.25h, so i will start aiming for longer A time as it can affect his sleep.  You can do it by pushing his A time with 10-15 min every few days. 

[tlw]

Well here is our routine, although it tends to vary a bit from day to day.

6/6:30 Awake talking in crib (I typically wait till 6:45 or 7:00 to actually get him out of crib)
6:45/7:00 E (typically takes 20min+-)
7:15-7:45ish A (including wind-down)
7:45/8/8:30 S (typically asleep, ranges from day to day)
8ish-10 S (ranges day to day, some days he takes 1.5 hr nap, others it is 45 min)
10ish-11 A
11 E
11:15/12:30+- Down for nap (time again ranges day to day)
12-2 or 2:30 S (the length of his naps vary day to day as well. Some days it is 45 min actual sleep time while others it is 2 hours, yesterday he slept 3 hours).
3 E
3:30-4:30ish A
4:30/5 S (He starts showing signs of fatigue- catnap lasts only 30-45 min)
Usually has cereal somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 depending on catnap
6-7 A
7:00-7:30 E
7:30 Wind down
8:00 S (usually asleep by this time or slightly later)

Hopefully you can help..Like I said we have only been doing it a short time and I am still trying to figure it all out myself. 

 

[elmarie]

I do think that you can start pushing his A time, start by doing it slowly with 10-15min increments every few days.  At 5 months this is typically the routine you can follow: 

7:00 - wake and feed
7:30-9:15 - Activity
9:30-11 - nap
11:00 - wake and feed
11:30-12:45 - Activity
1/1:30-3 - nap
3:00-feed
3:30-4:45 - Activity
5-5:45 - catnap
6:30 bath and feed
7:00 - bedtime
10:00 - Dream Feed

I think the night time sleep is shorter because he is not having enough A time during the day.

If he is waking at 6, have him in bed and asleep by 6ish pm.  OTness can also cause fitful night sleep.

HTH 

[tlw]

Thanks for the advice.  If I put him to bed at 6pm because he was up at 6am do I skip the later afternoon catnap? 
The last couple of days napping has been crazy.  He has only slept for about 45 min. in the morning and yesterday afternoon he only slept around 30-45 min. as well.  Today's am nap was 45 min and pm nap was 1.22 min. 

I really watch his sleep cues, and react on those.  Should I be more concerned about the cues or keeping him up for more A time?
I don't want to put him to bed overtired, because then it will be harder for him to go to sleep.  He doesn't know how to self sooth.  He doesn't do a paci and he will suck on his hands and thumbs (or chew) for only a short time.  Then he will get frustrated and scream.

I am very confused!!

Just to confirm your reply I should be putting him to bed earlier if he gets up earlier so he can get a full 12 hours at night..

Again any advice is appreciated...

[elmarie]

Of course take care not to get him to be OT so watch his cues.  But at the same time you want to push the night time sleep with 2 descent naps during the day.  Your aim is a 12h night but that will also depend on your LO.  Yes if he gets up earlier I will put him down early to avoid an OT baby