Almost 4 month old .... is prematurity a factor?

[posy]

Hi there, I'm new to the site. I've been looking at posts for the past month or so since we implemented EASY, and it's really really great.

I'm having some issues with my DD's routine. We are essentially on a 3.5 hour EASY. I really want to get her to a 4 hour routine, because she seems v. comfortable feeding that far apart. However, I just cannot get her A time past 1h15min in the morning or 1h30-40 min in the afternoon without her turning into a little monster baby (she is spirited and, as much as I don't like to admit it, grumpy, I think).

So we're really struggling with naps, because she wants to sleep quite frequently.

I'm wondering a few things:
1. is any of this related to the fact that she was born 2 weeks early? i.e. should we maybe just stick to the 3.5 routine for a couple more weeks?
2. what do I do if A times, S times and E times just don't jive with one another? am I in some sort of awkward transition phase?

Thanking you in advance

[~ Vik ~]

Hi posy, welcome to bw!

IMO, this could definitely be related to her being born 2 weeks early.  With premature babies, we always talk about adjusted age.  So even though your lo is technically 4 months old, she is only 3.5 months adjusted.  It's like those first couple weeks of her life she was still supposed to be in the womb, kwim?  As they get older it all evens out, even with really premature babies, but for now those 2 weeks make a difference.

If she is comfortable with a 4 hour eating schedule, but is still napping on a 3.5 hour schedule, it is possible to incorporate that into her EASY routine.  Instead of being EASY, it will look more like EASAEAS.  Kind of like this:
E 7am
A 7-815am
S 815-10ish am (however long her nap is)
A 10am until...
E 11am
A ...until 1130am
S 1130am-1pm
etc.

So you would be feeding on a 4 hour schedule, but preventing OT by planning her naps around her A times.  Does that make sense?  Sometimes when you're in these transition phases EASY looks different, but it's always workable!

HTH
Vikki

[posy]

Thanks Vikki...I`ve been trying this out. It`s working OK in the morning but tends to fall apart in the afternoon. She has just recently routinely been taking 45 minute naps, which I sometimes am able to extend, which is making it harder to move to a 4 hour EASY (because her A time seems to be shorter after a crummy nap). Anyway I will keep trying...hopefully in a week or two I`ll see some progress! Thank you again!

[huntersmummyinoz]

what A times are you aiming for at the moment?

what nap extensions techniques have you tried?

when she wakes after a 45min nap is she happy or cranky/fussy when waking? and how does she handle the following A time, happy or cranky/fussy?

kirry

[~ Vik ~]

Hi again

Going to wait for your answers to Kirry's questions to see if we can help! Struggling with naps at this age is largely developmental  (http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64274.0) but there are techniques to help!  Have you read http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85499.0 ?

Talk soon,
Vikki

[posy]

hi ladies, sorry for my late reply. we are still working through the short naps issue. my DD is now almost 5 months (will be in a week) and often still wakes at the 30 or 40 minute mark. I have tried everything - shorter A times, longer A times, reducing stimulation, etc. Sometimes I will get a good nap out of her, but it seems to be very random and I can't recreate the conditions (no matter how hard I try). Right now, she's on a 3h35 minute EASY (thanks to a FANTASTIC transition plan that was posted) and so her A time is at 1h50m.

[huntersmummyinoz]

when she wakes after a short nap is she happy or cranky/fussy when waking? and how does she handle the following A time, happy or cranky/fussy?

are naps mostly closer to the 30min mark or 40min mark, any patterns?

have you tried W2S (wake to sleep) technique to extend her naps? if so which technique HTTJ (holding thru the jolts) or lightly stir?

is she still swaddled? do you use white noise? is the room dark?

101 Qs there for you, but it will help give us a better picture of what is going on xxx

[posy]

She would be very cranky after the short nap (and is) if I can't extend the nap. Usually I have been able to get her to continue sleeping using the sh/pat and a paci.

Unfortunately, no pattern as to when she wakes. Out of the last 4 days, for example, here are the wakings (her nap time is earlier than 9 because she is an early bird - generally awake by 6am)
8am nap - woke at 45m mark.
12pm nap - woke at 38m mark.

8am nap - woke at 35m mark.
12pm nap - woke at 30m mark.

8am nap - woke at 40m mark.
12pm nap - woke at 34m mark.

(today) 8am nap - woke at 27m mark.


I have tried HTTJ, didn't work. I haven't tried W2S. I'm not sure I like the idea of interrupting her natural sleep rhythm.

She is swaddled for naps (not for bedtime anymore), I use white noise, and the room is dark.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

[huntersmummyinoz]

tricky to tell with those timings as they are all quite close but i'm wondering if she is UT for the first nap of the day so short naps and then that makes the rest of her naps that day OT. try a nudge more first A time only, an extra 10/15mins, and keep other A times the same for now. try this for 3 to 5 days. also try the other W2S technique, the lightly stir one, this worked great with hunter if i got the timing right and did this 5 mins before his usual waking into the nap. i would just lightly stroke his cheek until he moved ever so slightly or turned his head the other way. the first few times i would then hide in his room just to make sure he made it past his usual 40min waking and if he woke up i was there to shh/pat back to sleep quickly.

also remember that if she short naps then you need to reduce the following A time. bubs can generally handle their normal A time on 1hr+ nap, any less and they need their A time reduced or they'll do an OT short nap.

let us know how you get on

[posy]

thanks much - I had posted on another BW board about the nap wakings, and so we have been extending A time for about 1.5 weeks now. there has definitely been progress. I extend her A times gradually (all of them) by 15 minutes every 4 days. she now has an A time of about 2h30 minutes (sometimes even 10 minutes more). her naps were getting a lot better - she gave me 5 days straight of at least 1 good nap a day. but we`ve regressed again in the past couple of days, and I`m back in at the (approx) 30m or 40m mark to shush pat.

she is generally easy to get back to sleep at this `partway`mark. I just don`t get why she can sleep through for some naps, and not others, when really all the variables are essentially the same!

I`m hoping our little 2 day regression is just a bump in the road and not a sign of things to come...

[huntersmummyinoz]

glad you have been seeing some progress

[~ Vik ~]

So happy that you've noticed improvement!  And a few bumps along the way are perfectly normal too