6wo won't stay asleep btwn bedtime and dream feed

[Sudg17]

For weeks now, we have been struggling as to why our 6wo wakes up after 45-60min after bedtime. She will cry and we can't do a true DF btwn 10-11pm because she is already awake or we have to feed her earlier (9/9:30). We just started EASY and on most days lately she seems to be falling into the cluster feeding pattern outlined by Tracy.  My baby is formula-fed.

Note: Woke at 7am on this day (wake up times vary each day)
...
E-3pm
A-hardest to judge for this nap (usually 1.5 hrs)
S-4:45-5:30 (45 min catnap)
A-
E-6pm (most of bottle 4oz)
A-bath
E-6:40 rest of bottle (usually only 1-2oz) and put down for bed drowsy at 6:50
S-falls asleep 7:30ish (she puts herself to sleep after a bit of whimpering or quietly soothes herself)
Then she wakes 45 min later (now its 8:20om).

We see if she'll put herself back to sleep or offer a pacifier, but if that doesn't work, we feed her at 9pm (since her last feed started at 6). Then she may sleep 4-5 hours from that point.

Weeks ago, we were able to dream feed (while she was sleeping) and get the long stretch of sleep from 11-3/4am. Twice she slept 6-7 hours, but everything crumbled immediately after that.

Should we offer the dream feed at 11pm still if she just ate at 9pm? Or should I feed her right away after the "catnap" that she's been doing after our bedtime routine and treat that as the 2nd cluster feed, followed by the dreamfeed at 10?

I remember seeing a post that recommended getting rid of the 2nd cluster feed by 8wks. How do I do that? Especially if she doesn't stay asleep after "bedtime"?

FYI the DF worked great for my middle child and I'm not a big fan of cluster feeding (it's a new thing for me). I would prefer to keep the dream feed.

[Sudg17]

My six week old usually has one good nap per day (2 hours usually in the morning) and the rest are 45 minutes leaving her overtired for the remainder of the day/evening. I try to shorten her A time after these 45 minute naps if I can't get her to extend them. This is where we get into a mixed up EASY routine that looks like this : EAS AES

She will remain on this pattern of eating before each sleep period for the rest of the day because her A time overlaps with her S time resulting in falling asleep on the bottle. What do I do??

[Ima shel Alon]

I merged your two topics together, hope it's ok.

Her A time sounds about right, that's what most babies are doing at this age, but some would do a bit less or a bit more than that.
You said that the first nap is usually a full one, is that also after 1.5h A time? If it is then I'd stick with that for now and try to work out the rest of the A. 45min naps are usually UT so it could be that she needs 10min more added to the rest of her A time after the first nap. But, saying that, 45min at this age can as well be very much developmental and she might need help going through the sleep cycles. You probably ask yourself "then how come she can sleep the first nap all by herself?" that would be because she is probably very tired and crashing through the nap. So I am afraid it just comes down to trial and error.
If you are getting short naps it's very normal that your routine looks like EASAES, but what you could do is separate the feed from the sleep with a very short A time, even just a nappy change.
WRT the DF and cluster feeding, because of the time her last nap ends there is not much to do against "cluster feeding". IIWY I would move the 18 feed to 17:30, then feed again right before BT and then feed again when she wakes up if you can't settle.
I know that you prefer to do the DF, but right now something is waking her short after BT, be it OT or UT, which she will get through at some point and then you could do the DF.
If you feed at 21 I wouldn't feed again for a DF if it was me, I would be too afraid of too much wind that will disturb her in the early morning.
HTH.

[Sudg17]

Her A time in the morning is usually 1hr or 1hr 10min. She can sleep the full 2 hours sometimes 2 1/2 if I let her (only because if I wake her at the 2 hr mark, she is cranky and still very sleepy throughout the next feed).
Thanks for the tip on separating the EASAES pattern with a diaper change. I'll try that. Today must have been an exceptional,day with two 2hr naps back to back.  The weird thing is that there was no almost no wake time between them (she was sleeping through the feed despite my efforts to keep her awake (eyes just wouldn't open for more than a few seconds). Then the afternoon chaos began around the last catnap and bedtime. I'll experiment with A times and try feeding at 5:30 immediately after the Catnap and before bedtime. Is the A time usually the same after a catnap (so I can calculate the time needed between last nap and bedtime.

Is it more important to just focus on routine feedings about the same time every day?  Or is everything dependent on the length of naps?

[Ima shel Alon]

Is the A time usually the same after a catnap (so I can calculate the time needed between last nap and bedtime.

For many babies, yes, but some would need a bit shorter A because they are tired from the day.

Is it more important to just focus on routine feedings about the same time every day?  Or is everything dependent on the length of naps?

Considering her age and the fact she wakes up at different times every day you can't really plan your feeding times in advance. Every day is a bit different at this stage and that's ok.