Ready to transition 3-4 but going on holiday

[georgiesmummy]

Hello, my DS is 15 weeks and for the past week or so has been messing around at feeds (previously a great breastfeeder, usually burys head in and doesn't surface for 30mins!). He is a chronic 45 min napper too. I really feel he is ready now to start moving across to 4 hourly feeding. The problem is we are going on holiday to Italy next week. I have no idea what the accommodation will be like, I doubt we will have blackouts, he has never yet slept in the travel cot, there will be overstimulation++ and we will be out and about most of the time. Oh, and the flights and car journeys, of course, and the time zone change and hotter climate......aaargh!

I know if I try to get him to stick to the 3 hr routine I am in for trouble at night. I haven't a clue how to approach this and am starting to dread the trip. I would really appreciate some advice!

[Sam's mum]

Hi

We also recently went on holiday our lo was on 3hr EASY.  In the end after the first bad day of chronic 45mins shortening to 20 mins naps we transitioned to a 3.5-4hr EASY.  I was a little nervous to see how the first night would go after merging the feeds (we went cold turkey and just brought forward the bedtime for that night)... it worked a treat and she hasn't looked back.  She's now napping around 1.5-2 hours in the AM, still working on the other naps but is now feeding at 4am and waking sometime around 7/7.30pm.  There is never a great time and on I found being on holiday was a bit easier as we were out and our lo is more likely to nap well when being pushed in a push chair.  If you think he's ready I'd go for it... your the one who knows him best

Fiona

[georgiesmummy]

Thanks for the support!

Just wanted to clarify one thing, when you said you went "cold turkey" do you mean you did the whole transition in one go i.e. extending the awake times and lengthening all times between feeds to 3.5 hrs from the first day? Also when you said your lo went from being a chronic 45 min napper to sleeping 1.5-2 hrs, was she previously doing 45 mins at every nap, like mine? Just wanting to know if the transition really might help the naps!

Thanks again,
Rosie

[Sam's mum]

She did manage the awake times pretty well - she was a little grumpy towards the end of the time but I would distract with a toy or something else.  I found being out or on holiday helped with both as she is a very alert (or nosy!) baby so would just stay awake looking around and then when she got really tired would drift off in the pushchair but being out meant she was more likely to stay asleep for the time that she needed.  She is 16 weeks and was ready for the longer awake times.  The first day I just set my mind to making allowances but determined I was only going to feed 4 times (rather than 5 on the 3 hour easy), even if that meant putting her to bed between 5 and 6 rather than between 6 and 7.  Prior to the transition our day looked like this.

6/6.30E
6.30-7.30/8A
8-9.30S (or in principle usually would only manage 45 mins)
9.30-E
10-11A
11-12.30S (again never managed the full 1.5hours)
12.30E
1-2A
2-3.30S (same again)
3.30E
4-5A
5-6cat nap
6E
bedtime just before 7 following bedtime routine.
10/10.30DF
night feed anywhere between 2.30-4am.

Our day now looks like this
7/7.30Awake and E
8-9.30A
9.30-11/11.30 S
11/11.30E
11.30-1/1.30A
1.30-2.30/3S
2.30/3E
3-4.30A
4.30-5.30/6S
5.30/6E
followed by bedtime routine and in bed around 7
DF 10/10.30
4am night feed

I know that looks pretty textbook but she doesn't normally manage all the S time every day however I can normally guarantee one really good nap (1.5-2hours) every day either in the morning or early afternoon and then play the rest of the day by ear (like if she's awake a full hour before the next feed I tend to feed her a little early as she won't last and know that I can extend the time to the next feed through her next nap or I feed her 1/2 early and she goes to bed a bit early that night.  We've never managed to shh/pat her to sleep during the day once she wakes up.  Again though I just have come to the conclusion that I know her best and she's roughly getting 4-5hours sleep every day and that seems to work for her...so you know your LO best if you think he's ready and all the signs are there I'd do it.

I finally did it after a few false starts (not aided by a growth spurt and teething) because her naps were down to 20mins, having eaked there way to that from 45mins.

I hope that helps let me know how the holiday goes!

Fiona

[estherofi20]

Hi there Rosie

Just reading your post reminded me of how i felt when my DS was that age, and we were about to make a trip to disneworld in Orlando, i was truly worried 'cause 3hr schedule would habe been pretty demanding, and he also started to want the change to a 4hr schedule (he wasn't hungry at the 3hr mark, he wasn't napping well... ohhh it was a bit messy) so i decided also to go "cold turkey" from 3 to 4 hrs, and he took it rather well, for the first few days, the longer A time was a bit grumpy in the end of each A time, but i would take him for walks wich he loves, so he got distracted, and he started to sleep also 2hr naps, overall it was a blessing to change him to a 4hr schedule!!!

As for the trip, well you can imagine that Disneyworld might be a bit overstimulating for him to acctually take his naps in order, so what i did was just to keep to the feeding schedule, and let him nap whenever he wanted, he did this in his stroller whenever he got sleepy, 'cause even if i tried to get him to nap at his scheduled time, there was way too much activity going around so he got ed off, so he slept while on the stroller whenever he wanted!!! i really tried to relax about this 'cause otherwise, i wasn't going to enjoy the trip. Also if it was his bedtime and we were still out and about, i just changed him to his pj's and made the bedtime on his stroller, and cover it with a dark blanket (he was pretty tired at this point so no fussing, and this only happened a couple of times, 'cause i did try to be at the hotel for his abth and bedtime).

So IMHO, i would suggest to change him to a 4hr schedule this week before you go to your holiday.

Hope this helps and good luck with your trip!!!... let me know how it goes!!!

[georgiesmummy]

Thanks, ladies 

I feel so much more positive about the switch now, and am going to go for it this week. Will give a post-holiday update when we get back!

Rosie

[Jodi and her boys]

THis is encouraging. I think we need to switch our ds to a 4 hr EASY, but my in laws are renting a lake house for the week!  Even though the lake is only 20 minutes away, I will be there often, most likely during naps and a few past bedtime nights!  I have been worried about overstimulation as plenty of family members will be in his face.  I was also worried about him napping in an unfamiliar place.  I guess I need to just get over it and enjoy my time?  Thanks for the advice!

[georgiesmummy]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who replied to my post. We had a great time in Italy, routine went totally off, but DS totally crashed at the end of each day and slept well- that is except for the one night it was too hot for the miracle blanket and he never slept longer than 40 mins in a row the whole night- but that's another story! Back on track enjoying 4 hour routine-thanks again for the support
Rosie

[estherofi20]

Rosie,

I'm really happy you had fun at your holiday!!!!