4Hr EASY saves the day and NIGHT!!!!!

[Cory'stiredmommy]

Just wanted to share with everyone...

My LO is 4 months and 17lbs. I had him on a 3hr-3.5 hr easy since he was born. Lately he was regressing to eating every 3 hrs during the day (weak feeds) and up 1- 2 times a night between 11:30pm and 7am.

I read the Tracy's "The babywhisperer solves all your problems" and she said this may happen if LO is on the wrong routine!

I switched to the 4 hr 2 days ago and on the first night he slept from 11:30pm feed until 7am without a peep for a feed. Last night he fed at 10:50 and slept until 6:30 without a food request! The nights before we were waking 1-2 times!

Hope this gives some hope:-)

Cory and Josh's mommy!

[em_here]

Wow that sounds great, well done you 

[Sami]

Hi there,
Just wondering if you could please provide me with more details on HOW you made this transition from 3 to 4hours EASY with your LO during the day? My son is almost 6mths old and is feeding every 3-3.5 but I think it's mostly out of habit and I feel he could probably handle 4hours...AND he is waking twice a night....so I am desperate to try this out for my own sanity!

I would really appreciate your input!!

Thank you very much!

Sleep Deprived Sami

[MJMom]

Congratulations Cory & Josh's mommy!

Sami- you should probably go gradually over a week.  How long is your DS's A times?   You will need to do a combination of increasing his A times and waiting until he is really hungry to feed him.  Our DD has a routine more like EASAY rather than EASY.  She will wake up from her nap before it's time to eat, but she'll wake up happy.  So we just get her up and play a bit before feeding her.

HTH>

[Sami]

my LO's A time is anywhere from 2 to 2.25 hours....
I am just wondering, when and if a LO's schedule reaches 4hr EASY how is it that this would help him not wake at night? is that he will eat bigger meals each time and be more tired for the night?

[MJMom]

Yes, he will be eating bigger meals and not as accustomed to snacking.  The snacking habit continues through the night.  When he eats the bigger meals, then he is able to make it longer through the night without eating.  Also, it allows for time between feedings for the longer naps.  The better his naps, the better his night sleeps.  They go hand in hand.
HTH!

[hannahbanana]

I just want to add that some babies sleep fine at night and not during day (for anyone new at this).  My LO is an example.  I understand that many Sprited babies are.

[Cory'stiredmommy]

Hi Sami,
Don't know if this will find you...:-)
I didn't do the "right" thing - I jumped to the 4 hr easy. I really found that he wasn't eating very much at 3/3.5 hrs - He'd only take 3 minutes etc. I simply distracted a little - he was not very cranky about it either and after a few successful 4 hr gaps, I concluded that when he was cranky around the 3 - 3.5 hr mark that it must be something else... and it always was!
And Yes, the theory is that when they are hungrier, they take bigger feeds that sustain them longer. It has been 2 weeks and we are still feeding at 11:30pm and 7am  - we have never looked back and all his feeds rock!
Good Luck:-)

[Sami]

Hi there,
Thank you for your response!
I am now realizing that maybe I have been trying to make the switch from 3 to 4 hrs a bit late! anyway, my LO is now 6mths old and I have been trying to maintain the 4hr feeding schedule for the past 6 days or so....yes, he gets pretty cranky around the 3.5 hr mark and i try to distract him to get to 4hours...it's not very easy...and I think that he is so used to feeding around 3-3.5 hours(pretty much since birth) that this is really hard for him! I feel like even at 4hours he feeds rather quickly and I continue to wonder if he is really taking in more? My LO continues to wake twice a night and does seem to snack...Not sure what to do to change this snacking habit, except continue to push the 4hour schedule!!
The other thing that has changed these few days is that he now wakes at 0800 instead of 0700???Good or bad?
I really really appreciate your suggestions and feedback!
Thank you very much!
Sami

[MJMom]

Sami,

Can you post the rest of your routine?  8:00 is only bad if you want him up earlier, but it's hard to comment without seeing the rest of the day in context.

At 6 months, you definitely should be able to go 4 hrs.  My DD at 6 months can go 5 hrs in a pinch (This is not standard or necessarily recommended, but I've done it twice and she's been fine.)

Babies do get more efficient at eating at this age too.  It seems incredible for me to believe as well, but my LO finishes both sides within 8 - 10 minutes, but every time I've replaced a feeding with a bottle she easily finishes 7 oz.

Have all feeds in the past 6 days consistently been 4 hrs?  And is your LO on solids yet?

[Sami]

ok, so things are getting better as it seems like my LO is getting used to the 4hour stretches and yesterday even went to 4.5hrs! last night we had to actually pick him up asleep to DF him, usually he gets up himself..so that's a positive...and instead of waking at his usual 0100 and 0500 he awoke at 0230 and instead and 0600, not sure if it's better but the fact that he slept past the 0100 is great....also this morning he awoke at his usual 0700 so not sure what that was about...
yes, i have started solids..(from 5.5mths) except that i was being more conservative until now, i am giving him more (actually since yesterday) and maybe that helped last night....i have repeated the more generous solids today so let's see what happens...
Not sure if I can ask this question here,but with the solids how often and when is the best time to give them...I have been giving them about 30min after a feed....twice a day(late morning and evening) Is this ok? He seems to be ok with this.
Also his awake time is never longer than 2.5hrs except in the evening where I sometimes can't get him to take a catnap....so I will put him to bed earlier....
here's the routine:
0700 awake and feed
0900 nap (1hr to 1.5hrs)
activity until time to feed
1100 feed, followed by solids a bit later
1200-1300 nap (usually 1.5-2hrs)
1500 feed
1630-1700 catnap (if possible)
1800 bath and solids
1830 BF
1900 bedtime

Thank you again for your input!
sami

1100

[MJMom]

Best to post a new thread for the solids so you can get the attention it deserves.  I'm not quite sure what I'm doing in that arena yet!  I am feeding my DD 3 times a day about an hour after milk.  I think that you LO is getting used to going longer between feeds thus sleeping longer at night.  Solids do not contribute to night time sleep except that it "appears" to as developmentally solids begin when infants start sleeping through the night more. 

Your routine otherwise looks like you are heading in the right direction!     The awake times are normal for his age.  My DD sometiimes only lasts 90 minutes before she wants her first nap!

[Sami]

hi again,
just to answer your question from previous...yes, my LO has been on a 4hour schedule now for the past week consistently...and things have gotten better...
i will definitely post my solids question in the solids board....thanks!
i've noticed that his naps have gotten better since the 4hour schedule...
as for the ocassional 0800-0830 wake up...i was concerned bc i was wondering if that would throw the feeds off schedule? like this morning again...he must have woken once at 0730, played a bit and than fell back asleep and when i realized this...at first i was thrilled bc i thought yeah i can sleep some more...but than i was thinking...do i need to get him up to feed? last night he woke up once at 0230am and than 0500...he also beat me to the DF and awoke at 1040pm...
also at this point i have not yet done anything like PU/PD or wake to sleep....and just been focusing on feeding well during the day...so that he is comfortable with this 4hour schedule...should i be considering using either of these techniques or wait a bit more? the one thing i have been trying to do during the night waking feeds is SHORTEN the length of time I BF (one side only)...don't know if this will help?

thank you again!
sami

[MJMom]

As long as most days you get him up at the same time for the start of his day, the occasional sleeping in won’t hurt.  I think we have our DD trained that every Saturday is sleeping in.    If you have too many days that have huge swings though, it will confuse him.

What time do you normally DF?  I got better result when I DF’d around 10 rather than 11. 

I think you’ve done the right thing by focusing on the sleeping.  I would try w2s first for the 2:30 feed.  Especially since you’ve been consistent on the 4 hr EASY for almost a week.  Since it’s the middle of the night, I would try about 30 minutes before he has been getting up.  My DH works evenings and would actually do W2S at 12:30 when our DD was getting up about 2:00. Even though it was 90 minutes before, it seemed to do the trick to drop the 2:30 feed.  He certainly doesn’t need it at this age, but has just been in the habit.  For my DD, just 2 weeks ago, I started shortening her time for her 4:00 feed.  After doing that for about a week, she just started waking up at 6 or 7 dropping her last middle of the night feed altogether.  So, yes I think that will help.  If W2S does not work for the 2:30 feed, then you could try PU/PD.  See if you can get DH on board.  Since you are still nursing, they are more likely to accept not eating at 2:30 from him as he doesn’t have the equipment KWIM?

This thread outlines how I dropped a feed when my LO was 4 months.  Should work for yours as well.  Although this doesn’t talk about the final success, it was within the next day or so that she started sleeping consistently to 4 to 6. 

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=96061.msg924712#msg924712

HTH!  Don't forget!  You may be in the trenches, but you're not alone!!!

[Sami]

Hi Alissa,
thank you again yes, im feeling quite desperate and tired and ready to do anything to get more sleep....it has been months that i have slept even 5hours in a row...i guess welcome to motherhood! i wished i had worked on the night wakings 2mths ago when my DS was 4mths old! i hope it's not too late!
i have read and re-read the link you included about increasing calories during the day....and i have also read about w2s
i just want to make sure i understand the concept of w2s ..]so if i or my DH go in 30min before 2am...what is the best way to do w2s...what did your DH do?
also, in order to phase out both night wakings is it better to tackle them both at once? i guess it depends on how the nights go?!right?
as for the DF, most of the time my LO wakes up for it between 10-11pm...it's very rare that i have picked him up asleep and fed him...
Do you think it is better to feed him before he wakes? or wait until he wakes?
Just wanted to mention that last night i BF one side only at 2am and then he got up at 4:30am and than he got up at 6:40am....so it felt like he got up 3times even thought it was pretty much morning...on the last one i fed him from both and then he slept until 8am...i think i will continue the weaning of time fed even thought it felt like he woke up more often....and give it more time...
as for my DH, he is on board with whatever suggestion i have, except that he thinks i am stressing too much over these night wakings...looking for a magical solution and that i should accept them and ride them out with time!haha! he's not the one that is as sleep deprived as i am!

thanks again!
sami