Any reason not to go to 3-4 hr EASY at 2 months?

[Paulsmama]

I was wondering if there is any reason why going to 3-4 hr EASY at 2 months will hurt DS developmentally??  We are bfing for the most part and I am fine with doing 2 night feeds for a while.  Frankly it is much easier for me if he eats 4 times in the day and has 3 naps rather than 5 eats/4 sleeps since I have to deal with his 20 month older brother too.  Trying to do 2.5-3 hr EASY is not really working out since he is missing too many naps.  Here is what we've done the past couple of days that seems to work OK:

7 am E, A, S (hopefully)
10/10:30 E, A, S
1:30/2 E, A, S
4:30 E, A
5:30 top off feed
6/6:30 S
2-3 feeds at night

[* Paula *]

Hi Cynthia,

I don't think that a 4 hour EASY routine would hurt your DS developmentaly, but it could cause your DS to become overtired and over stimulated, and can make it difficult to get them down for a nap, have a short nap or will refuse a nap completely. 

The routine would depend on your DS completely.  If you think that your lo can handle the A time of a 4 hour EASY without getting overtired and over stimulated then it is worth trying.

I sugges that you watch your lo's cues on when he is tired, fussy, hungry etc, and see how it fits into a 4 hour routine.

Hope this info helps.

Let us know how you get on.

Paula x

[*Mona*]

I agree with Paula here.
are you sure your LO can handle some 2hrs activity time at such a young age?

definitely let us know how it goes for you.

[Paulsmama]

Thanks so much.  It's not so much the A time as the S time.  And he's really not that hungry less than 3 hrs after a feed except in the late afternoon (I think my supply is down then).  In the morning unfortunately he catnaps a lot since we are on the go with DS1 so more like 3 30-min naps rather than a long nap.  I think that's just how it will have to be for a while.  DS2 does tend to take a long midday nap when his brother is also napping, and I hate waking him.  So for example past two days he ate a bit after 10 am, slept just after 11, and I finally woke him at 2 to eat again.  I really didn't want to wake him at 1 so that I could rest a bit.  And I kind of like getting him down for a long stretch in the early evening so I can do DS1's bath and bedtime and eat dinner before DS2 wants to eat again.  We're kind of winging right now anyway so I hope we will have settled more into a routine by the time DS2 is 3 mos. (Today he woke at 12:30 with a big poo so we are E at 1 and will try 3-hr EASY the rest of the day.)  I'll let you know how it sorts out.

At this age DS1 (bottle fed) was on a 4-hr round the clock eat cycle before we discovered BW and started 3 hr EASY with 1 night feed.  We went to 3.5-4 hr EASY and sleeping through with a dreamfeed right after his 3 mo growth spurt finished for the same reason -- he liked taking a LONG afternoon nap and I didn't want to wake him.

[rebecaq]

I also don't recommed such a long EASY at the moment because of his milk intake.  Not to mention, as Paula said, he might get overtired and overstimulated.  Have you done a yield to see how your supply is in the morning?

- Beca

[Paulsmama]

Don't worry, I feed DS2 if he is hungry even if it is not "time" to eat!  He went from 9 lbs to 12 lbs in the past month so I think he's doing ok.  I just hate waking him to eat at this point, he's old enough to wake himself, right? I wasn't thinking of going all the way to complete 4-hr EASY, just to have a couple of longer daytime stretches so there will be 4 day feeds and 2 night feeds instead of 5 day feeds and 1 night feed.

My mom has been here a couple of days so we've been doing daytime bottle feeding to see how much he's eating -- DS2 will take 3.5-5.5 oz from a bottle at any normal feed during the day, 1-2 oz when topping up before bedtime.  He usually wakes for 2 night feeds (first between 10 and 12, second between 3 and 4) and I think these are pretty big feeds since I'm pretty full and he drains one side and most of the other.  If I do a yield any time before noon I get 4.5-5.5 oz.  In the early afternoon 3-5 oz depending on whether I've had any rest.  In the late afternoon only about 3 oz -- pretty lousy but I think it's exhaustion plus the stress of trying to get everything set up for the evening while DS1 is running around.

As for overtired and overstimulated, we're doing the best we can but it's very hard with a spirited toddler around! 

[*Mona*]

Cynthia,

sounds like you're doing a great job
I know what you mean about a baby that knows when to wake up I personally think you can't apply the rule of waking a baby for the feed to all our LOs. my dd was a nightmare if woken up for a feed before she wanted to wake up and eat herself. so after a couple of tries I gave up and let her sleep as long as she wanted to [which was never longer than some 20 min after her feed time anyway...].

as long as your DS2 is gaining weight nicely, wetting diapers and just happy, I'd let it be the way it is.

[Paulsmama]

I just realized we have been approximating 3-hr EASY only starting around 4 am and at that feed he goes right back to sleep, and sometimes having a long midday stretch due to a long nap!  I think this will work for now.  Past few days:

3:30/4 am ES
7ish EAS
10/10:30 EAS
1/2 EAS
4/4:30 EA
5/5:30 ES
wakes up for feed between 10:30pm-12:30am

[rebecaq]

Sounds like things are improving!!! Great!