moving from 3 to 4hr EASY with no DF

[bessie26]

Hi,

my DD is nearly 4.5months old & since we started EASY (when she was about 3 months old) we have both been sleeping much better & are much happier! :-)

I'm thinking she might want/need to move from a 3 to 4 hrs EASY soon, so thought I would read up on the transition... I've been re-reading Tracy's book (BW solves all your problems) & looking at the FAQ, and noticed that the example routines shown all include a DF, which we don't do (she sleeps through from 8pm until 7am  )

below is our ideal day, which is pretty much as per Tracy's book... we usually end up having at least one of the EAS cycles disrupted by going out, but I try make sure we have at least one good nap at home in the cot every day

E 7am
A
S 8:30am

E 10am
A
S 11:30am

E 1pm
A
S 2:30

E 4pm
A
s 5pm sometimes has a 30min catnap
A 6pm bath & massage

E 7pm
S 8pm asleep in bed

I've noticed that if I'm late reading her sleepy cues & put her down late for a nap, then she winges more & I need more shhhing/white noise to make her settle, whereas if I do it on time she'll just lie there sucking her thumb for a few mins before going to sleep.  I also need to wake her from all her naps, and usually first thing in the morning too.

Sooo... I'm thinking she's not ready to move away from her 3hr EASY yet, but when she is, should I still do the transition as suggested in the book/in the FAQ? (just ignoring the bits about the DF)   

TIA

[huntersmummyinoz]

yes follow all plans and just leave out the df.

if she is eating and sleeping happily on a 3hr routine, make sure to move slowly if you start the transition as you dont want on OT bub. there is the routine change as outlined in the book or you can move more slowly in 5 min increments.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=120362.0

[Barley]

Bessie26-
I am curious if you never did the dream feed or if you moved her off of it?  We are currently that 3 months and sleeping from 10 pm to 6pm, but would like to start moving back the DF time and not have DF.  Just wondering if you did this and how you did it?  Also curious how much your LO eats at the last feed.

[bessie26]

hi,

huntersmummyinoz - thanks for info, I thought I'd try a 15min increment first & see how she goes with that.... Am I right in thinking you should aim to only increase the A time, not S?
 
Barley - I never did the DF.  When my DD was smaller she wouldnt latch on properly when she was sleepy, so I just fed her every 3hrs during the day & whenever she wanted during the night... as time went on she just went longer & longer during the night until she eventually slept through!  :-)

Am sole bf so is difficult to tell how much she's eating.  Before she started sleeping through each feed took about 15mins, when she started sleeping through this went up to more like 25-30mins, but has since gone back down to more like 20mins.  Not sure if this change is purely due to the sleeping through, or if it coincided with a growth spurt?

hth!

[huntersmummyinoz]

yes just move the A time. sleep will prob be around the same, if it gets longer fab, if it gets shorter then move more slowly as she may be getting OT.