Author Topic: Shifting EASY earlier  (Read 812 times)

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Offline Mahne

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Shifting EASY earlier
« on: December 16, 2012, 13:34:50 pm »
We are currently on a 3 hour EASY routine with our 10 week old.  She is a great sleeper for her age, but gets OT and OS very easily so she often ends up fussy in the evenings.  The last few days she has been going to sleep late partly due to her fussiness and difficulty getting her down, but then she sleeps in late and we are now on a 9am-9pm EASY.  My question is: how can we shift her day without losing a feed?  I think that if we moved her bedtime up even to 7:30 or 8pm she wouldn't be so fussy.
Here's an example of our day:

WU/E  9:00 am
A  9-10:10 am
S  10:10-12:00 pm

E  12:00 pm
A  12:00 - 1:10 pm
S  1:10 - 2:30pm

E  2:30 pm
A  2:30 - 3:45 pm
S  3:45 - 5pm

The evenings are all different depending on how tired she is, but she usually takes a couple of catnaps

E  5:00 pm start cluster feed
A  5:00 - 6:30 pm
S  6:30 - 7:00 pm

E  7:00 pm
From 7-9pm she sometimes drifts in an out of a nap, which is AP due to her fussiness...I would like to make this her bedtime since she's so tired by then.

Start bedtime routine at 8:30pm
E  8:45-9pm
S  We struggle getting her to sleep and she'll usually pass out for the night at around 9:30 - 10pm

She then wakes up at around 5-6am for a feed and she's so tired that I'll put her back down until 9am when she wakes up.

To get the day shifted earlier should I just wake her up at 7-8am and start EASY from there (I hate waking her up because she's so grouchy when I do), or just put her to bed after the 7pm feed (but then we lose that 7th feed of the day if that makes sense).  She is EBF so I think only waking up once for a feed in the middle of the night is fantastic for her age so I don't want to mess too much with the feeds.  Cluster feeding her in the evenings works for her and she can sleep for long stretches.  She is medicated for reflux and it is controlled now so I want to start tweaking her EASY timing.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2012, 12:22:57 pm by Mahne »

Offline Ima shel Alon

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Re: Shifting EASY earlier
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2012, 09:35:19 am »
She wakes up at 9 and then goes for a nap after 10min for 3h??? That's a LOT of sleep. Too much sleep.
S  6:30 - 7:00 pm
I would do this her BT if you want her to wake up at 7. So you will have her on three naps, might stretch A time a little bit throughout the day (you can add 10min to her A) to get her to 19. After her third nap you can do BT routine and that should bring you to 19 as your BT. On the first days BT might be difficult because she woke up at 9AM but after a few days it should work out. IIWY I wouldn't necessarily wake her the next day (although I think she will wake up herself) and see how it goes after a few days.
To get the 7th feed you can do a DF between 22 and 23.
What do you think?
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Offline Mahne

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Re: Shifting EASY earlier
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2012, 12:26:00 pm »
Sorry! Big typo...her first A time is 1hr10 after she wakes up.
I'll try starting bedtime routine after the evening nap and see how it goes.

Is there a trick to extending her A time? I find she can't stay awake for very long and I have to start winding her down at the very first sign of being tired or she'll have a meltdown when I try and put her to bed. She's spirited and fights sleep a lot.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2012, 12:29:31 pm by Mahne »

Offline Ima shel Alon

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Re: Shifting EASY earlier
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2012, 13:25:20 pm »
When you increase A (not just now, but anytime in the future) you do it rather slowly. So you up it by 10-15min and stick with it for 3-4 days. That way you prevent OT and give LO enough time to get used to the new A before deciding if you stay with that A or increase again.
Some babies are more sensitive with their A, in that case it's better to up by 5min every 3 days.
If after 4 days you are still getting short naps (45min-1:20h) then you can increase it again.
In your case right now one wouldn't necessarily see that LO needs an increase because of good naps, but she gets too much day sleep and BT is late and if you would just make BT earlier without stretching the A then your day might not fit (there will be a too long stretch before BT). At her age she could in theory handle a bit more A time.
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