3hr to 4hr but cant increase a time

[phs]

Hi, my little one is 3 months and 1 week old. He is on a three hour easy at the moment but for a while now he doesnt feed too much in the day he has 5-10min breastfeeds, and still has 2 nw after the dream feed. I really need to extend the time between feeds in the day so thought about the 4hr easy but i cant get him to stay awake for more than 1.5hr especially since the feed time is so short! Our day starts at 6am and he is normally fast asleep by 6.30pm. also his naps athe the moment are not that great the last 2 weeks have been tough! so it makes me think he might be ready for the transition but also im confused because ic ant increase the A time. Shall i try a 3.5hr easy, but my concnern would be timing,s ince our day starts at 6am his last feed is normally between 5.30-5.45 after which he has a bath and then bed, so if i did 3.5hr then it would be feeds at 6,9.30, 1, 4.30 and then 5.30 to soon!

any advice would be appreciated, days and nights are hard at the moment!

[* Paula *]

I would definitely aim for your lo to be feeding at the 3.5 hour mark.  You could then cluster feed at 4:30, and then just top up before bed at say 6:15ish.

You say that your DS is not napping too well at the moment, could you possibly post what your current routine looks like with S and wind down times etc, so that we can have a look at it.

Have a look at this post on how one of our members increased their lo's A time in 5 minute incriments.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=120362.msg1265311#msg1265311

[phs]

Wake/E   6am
Activity   till 7.15 then wind down   
S      7.35
Then woke at 8.20 and I did shhpat but he would not settle, cried a lot so picked him up and down again and then shh pat nothing worked! He was very sleepy eyes closing but could not drop off!
E      9am
A      till 10 then did wind down
S      10.35 took long to fall asleep had to do shh pat again only slept an hour then I did shh pat but nothing worked
E      12.15
A      nothing   
S      1pm but cried after 40 mins, I did shh pat for a few and he fell asleep till 3
E      3pm
A      till 4.15 then wind down            
S      4.35 till 5.10pm
A      at 5.40 started bath and bedtime routine      
E      6pm then burp swaddle song and in the cot
S      6.25 fast asleep then dreamfeed at 9.30 or 9.45


Hi, my day above! but the naps were really hard today. I have also for the last few days changed the bedtime order. I used to do feed then bath and bed but it would have to be at 5.30 so instead to push it further i now do bath and then feed. he doesnt fall asleep on the breast so im not worried about that order.

I would like to try a 3.5hour easy but its really hard to extend his A time! i always follow his cues but sometimes he yawns and rubs eyes after 40-45mins so i try and extend atleast to an hour. He was recently waking up twice at night but last two nights has only been once after dreamfeed so he has fed better in the day.

any advice greatly appreciated! i am also exhausted nights only now getting better but day hard especially when you have a toddler too!

[* Paula *]

Huge hugs hun.  I know how hard it can be when you have a toddler to look after too.

45 minute naps is a sure sign of your lo needing more A time.  The rest of the day has probably gone wonky due to the short morning nap.  I always found if we had a short AM nap then the rest of the day went downhill.

I would definitely try increasing your lo's A time by about 5-10 mins every few days to see how you get on.  That way you will slowly move towards the 3.5 hour EASY.

Perhaps start by extending your wind down routine, or some quite A time like a story (which your toddler could be involved in) before you do winddown.

Hope this helps.

Please let us know how you get on.