2 month old on 3.5 hr EASY?

[verytired]

Can I put my 2 month old DS on 3.5 hr EASY? I am a bit concerned about reducing the number of feeds from 8 to 7 per day. He is taking about 3 ozs per feed.

He has been on 3 hr EASY since 2 wks old (he was in the hospital for the first 2 weeks after birth because he had to have surgery - not a premie) and the last couple of days he is just not interested in eating every 3 hrs.

Here is his usual routine:
E: 30 min (wake up: 6 or 7 am)
A: 15 min (I reduced his A time from 30 min to 15 min because he was OT, and this seems to be helping him sleep better)
S: Wind-down for 15 min & then he does two 45 min naps between feeds and it takes about 20/30 min to go down for each nap - so thats 2.5 hrs for each S. Until last week he would always wake up every 3 hrs to eat
Sometimes he does one 45 min nap & one short 10 min or two 10 min naps and then he is hungry at the 3 hr mark (probably because he ends up crying a bit even with shhh/pat)

I used to cluster feed him at 6:00, 8:30 and 11:00 pm & he used to wake up once at 3/3:30 am to eat. But yesterday all his feeds got moved around and he ate at 7:30pm, 10:00pm, 12:30 am, 4:00 am and at 7:00 am this morning. Now it is 10:15am and I had to wake him up to eat.

Really appreciate your help 

[nelsmc]

My son was on 3.5 hour easy at two months and he has been on 4 hour easy for the last week and a half and is just turning 3 months old.  I found that I was having trouble with his naps before I stretched the time between feeds but now things are going much better.  I think the timing mentioned in the books is for the average baby but some are ready to extend the time before feeds before this.

The good news is that they are pretty adaptable at this age.  I would try a 3.5 hr easy if I were you and see how things go.

My son was also taking 3oz when he was still on 3 hr easy.  He is now taking 4 to 5oz since he started on the 4 hour easy.  And he is lasting from 8pm to 7am without waking to eat.

Melissa

[Grace's Mom]

The thing with a 3.5 hour EASY is that your lo needs to be able to stay up much longer in order to make it work.

45 minute naps usually mean they are in need of a bit more A time.  At this age I wouldn't push it too much as you don't want your lo getting OT.  I would up the A time by a few minutes every few days (10-15 minutes).  But go slow and really watch for cues as you don't to make him do something he really isn't ready for, iykwim.  At 2 months most lo's are able to stay up for 1-1.5 hours each A time (total - including a feed).  Then a 1.5-2  hour nap

With reducing feeds, you just add the extra ounces in.  They just kind of make up for it by taking more at each feed.

-Melissa

[Maddysmom]

I'm having this exact same issue with noah. last wk I put him on 3.5 hr easy for the day to see how he would do and he took 5oz at each bottle. I stoppped because I thought h e was to young to be on 3.5 hr easy but now I realize every baby is different. so tommorow i'm going to try it again.