DF resulting in nw!

[jw2]

Hi, I am very new to this site.  It seems VERY helpful!!

My baby is 6.5 months old and is still on a 3 hour schedule, exclusively BF.  He has been almost clockwork to that effect since birth and it has worked for both of us on a 6:30/9:30/12:30/3:30/6:30/9:30 schedule, I have been afraid to change that.  But now I want him to go to bed earlier because by the time he feeds, etc. he is going to sleep way too late.  He has slept through the night since 3 months but for the past month I have been trying the df and it has resulted in him waking every hour.  I tried it for 2 weeks then went back to his old schedule and he slept through the night...did that for a few days (although he is VERY tired by 8:30pm) and then tried df again and again it resulted in nws! 

So either he goes to bed too late and needs a nap before his last feed or I give him a dream feed and he wakes up through the night.

Any suggestions? Thanks so much!

[mom2ene]

I would try to slowly move to a 4 hr schedule and give longer feeds which would eliminate some of the day time feeds(but if the feeds get longer then the same amount should be going in) I would also try to get him on a 12 hr day/12 hr night.  So, if he wakes at 6:30a his bed time would be 6:30p and then you can do a df but I believe you are supposed to wean by 7-8 months anyway and if it causes problems you can cut it out or cluster feed in stead.

I think if you post his daily routine you may be able to get more help

Good luck

[jw2]

Thanks for the quick response!

Actually, for the past two days he has been waking up to feed later, around 7:00/7:30 so I end up eliminating one feed because he eats last at around 7:30 and he still makes it through the night.  I find that as long as it is 7:30 or later he is fine but if he eats last at 6:30 I think it's too long to go through the night??

It always depends on what time he wakes up to eat but most of the time it is:

E: 6:00/6:30 bf
back to sleep until 8
A: 8-9
E: 9:00 bf then solids (but he can barely stay awake for cereal)
S: 10-11:30 (just started 1 1/2 hrs!!!)
E: 12 then solids
A: 1-2 ish
S: 2-3
E: 3/3:30
A: 3:30-5ish
S: 5-5:30
E: 6/6:30
A: 6:30-8
S: sometimes takes a nap at this time for 30 mins or I push it until feeding him at 9/9:30 and he can barely stay up to eat
E: 9/9:30, bedtime routine then bed until morning

So is it that we need to put them on a 4 hr schedule??  They don't do it on their own?

Thanks again!

[Bryony]

Hi there and welcome!

the main thing that strikes me is that his day is really really long - most people aim for a 12hr day and a 12 hr night.  So I would try slowly moving his beditme earlier so that he gets more night time sleep. There are some examples of routines for each age in the EASY forum, you might want to have a look there. They vary a lot as the important thing is to find something that works for your baby - but I they are pretty much all based around 12hr days and 12 hr nights. Have a look there and see if you can find something that you think would work for you!

Bryony

[mom2ene]

Once we started moving Ellie to a 4 hr schedule she started eating more at each feed and then sleepingbetter at night too. I would maybe try and stretch things just a bit every few days and see if you see any improvement.  It really did help for us.  Although right now(well the past month and a half Ellie has been sick ALOT and has been having eating and sleeping issues). 

I hope things continue to get better for you!!