The EAS routine helps to avoid a feed to sleep prop. Baby eats when he wakes up or during his A time so that is is not too close to his sleep time. The thing with offering milk right before nap time is that he may be too tired to take a full feed and nod off, or develop a habit of falling to sleep whilst eating, a prop for sleep soothing.
So, if your routine is a little off all you really need to do is place a little A between E and S. This means in reality your EASY may look more like EASAEAS, which is fine.
At some point everyone has to move E times a little to fit around naps, either feeding a bit earlier than the 3./3.5hr they are aiming for to enable nap to come on time, or going longer than the 3.5hr gap between E because baby is still sleeping (in which case just feed on WU).
With weaning things like the gym ball bouncing, the key is in you staying alert to it. It is so easy and tempting to be drawn into that bouncy motion yourself especially if you are tired and it's the easiest way to get LO to sleep. Try to stay alert to the bouncing and the reduction of it and you ought to be able to reduce, stop, start again a little if needed, stop again, reduce to very small movements and stop - all this in one put down for one nap - then same again at next nap but reducing again. It isn't a kind of straight line reduction, more of a start, reduce stop, start, reduce stop, kind of thing. Same with the firm hand and rocking once in the cot.
I would aim to have the gym ball gone within 3-7 days, it sounds quick but babies are fast at adapting if we show them the way.
good luck!
