Starting EASY with 4 Month old - not quite EASY rather EASASAE

[hope-leigh]

Hi ladies,

A friend of mine gave me the Baby Whisperer book last week and I can't thank her enough.  I was definitely accidental parenting and just couldn't read my DS and couldn't understand why he was so cranky all the time.

I've been trying to implement EASY for about 5 days now and think he has slotted in really well, but I do have a few questions regarding sleep/nap times.

This morning he woke at 6:15, we played quietly until his feed at 7.  By 7:45 I put him down as he was showing the sings (he usually likes to go down for a morning sleep early - I can't keep him up until 9am, however I will try to extend the A time slowly).  He slept for 1.5 hours until 9:10 then was up for an hour and went back down at 10:15.  He is still asleep and I'm about to wake him for his 11 feed.  My question is, should I worry that he is wanting to nap so soon after a long sleep?

Any advice would be welcome.  I can't tell you how much easier our lives are since getting EASY going!

Leigh

[lilac83]

Hi!
Do you think your LO was OT before you started BW? This could be why he's so tired, he's trying to catch up on lost sleep. Give him a few days to catch up and then start slowly extending A times. My LO will be 4 months in 2 days and she does 1h 45m for her first A time and then 2h (sometimes a little more) for her second A time now that she's beaten the OT cycle. If you post your routine a lot of times people will pop in and give you some "tweaking" tips!

[brenda2]

welcome to BW!  a friend gave my the book and i felt the same way, it changed everything for the better 

how old is he?  post your routine and we'll take a look.  does he have props to sleep?

[hope-leigh]

Thanks for the responses ladies.  Adam is 4 months 4 days.  I give him a dummy to sleep which he normally spits out once he's asleep.  I have a soft blanket which I'm trying to get him used to holding so he finds comfort in the night when he does stir.  he is mostly bottle fed since 3 months, with a breast feed if he's up during the night.

This is yesterday's timeline:

6.15 Wake
7.00 Eat
7.45-9.10 Sleep
10.15-11 Sleep (Didn't have to wake him in the end as he woke up spot on 11)
11.00 Eat
12.45-1.30 Nap
2.30-2.45 Nap
3pm Eat
4.30 Nap for 30 mins

And it all went downhill from there.  The evenings are always tough, but he tends to go down for the night at 7.30 and is usually down til 6 with maybe 1 wake up during the night anytime between 2 and 4 - I usually put him on my breast for 5 mins at this time as I cant seem to get him back to sleep, even though he is not quite wide awake either.

Today so far:
6.15 Wake
6.50 Feed as he was crying for his bottle
8.20 Sleep - I took him to his room at 8, turned the light off, changed his nappy and read a little and played some quiet baby songs and sang a little with him - when he started yawning I put him down on his tummy (only way he'll sleep) and he struggled for about 5 seconds before closing his eyes.  I'm hoping he has a good nap.

I would really appreciate some help for the afternoon.  He is now on a E, A, S, A, S, E, A but I know with slowly extending his A time he'll slot into EASY.  I'm grateful that at least he sleeps well through the night.

Leigh

[brenda2]

it doesn't look too bad really.

why aren't you feeding him when he first wakes up?  will he not take a feed first thing?

i would try to slowly stretch the first A time towards 2 hours, which you accomplished today and we'll see if he does a long (2 hour) nap here.  if he does then i'd say he can handle the 2 hour A time and i would stick with that.  if he does a short (30 or 45 min) nap then he may need a shorter first A time which is common.

i think the stretch from 2:45 (15 min nap) to 4:30 was the problem yesterday.  after a short nap generally you want to reduce the following A time which you did earlier in the day but this was quite a long stretch.  then after the evening catnap you want him asleep for the night about 1.5 hours after he wakes from this nap, not longer.  even if this means putting him to bed earlier than "bedtime"

[hope-leigh]

Thanks for your response.

I was trying to get him on the 7 to 7  schedule.  I know its not the time so much as the 4 hours schedule that's important but I thought I'd read somewhere that Tracy said to initially start at 7.  Anyway, I'm not looking at the clock anymore, just making sure he eats 4 hourly and has a good nap in that time.  He is doing so well - I think he is just so pleased he finally has parents who can recognise his signals and he can catch up on 3 months of sleep 

The only problem I now have is that he is waking every morning at 3 and wont take anything but the breast to get him back down.  I've tried shush/pat, PU/PD and giving him a little water but he literally burrown into my neck or chest and sucks like a vampire until he gets the breast.  I've started shortening the time I have him on  the breast so hope to eradicate that wake up that way,but would appreciate any other advice.

He has also been waking at 5:30 the past 2 mornings.  This morning it was 5 but I managed to shush/pat him back for another half hour but then he was wide awake.  He'll happily chat to himself for a while, so I left him until just before 6 then fed him. He went back down at 7:20 and has been sleeping since, with 1 10 minute wake in the middle.

I think we're getting there and am again so thrilled about discovering EASY.  He is a different child - I thought we just ended up with a very touchy, serious little boy, but now he's been getting sleep, he's the most social, smiley, happy baby and I don't think he's actually "cried" in 3 days, just the usual hungry or tired moans.

[brenda2]

that's great!  sounds like you are getting somewhere!

7am is just an example, some do 6 to 6 or 8 to 8.  the key is a 12 hour day.  some babies are early risers and their schedule would be earlier, some will sleep later.  do what works for your family.  but if he wakes up and is hungry at 6 then feed him and start the routine.

at 4 mo one night feed is totally normal.  so if he wakes at 3 and is famished maybe he is having a gs or something and you should be feeding him.  are you doing the df?  waking at 5 though is not normal, that would be an EW and may mean he is OT (doesn't sound like it though) or actually needs more A time during the day.  is he on a 4 hour EASY with 2 hours A time yet?

[hope-leigh]

I am doing a df at 11 - he only takes about 3 or 4 oz though (daytime bottles are generally 6oz).  He probably does need more A time during the day as he isn't quite at 2 hours yet - I'm managing about 1.5hours before the tired signals start.  I am trying to extend his A time slowly each day.  He is eating every 4 hours but only because I feed him then - he never cries for food unless he sees the bottle, then he gets very animated.

I work part time from home so am with him all day except Mon and Wed 4 to 6 when DH takes over and this afternoon he cried with DH from 4:15 til 6pm.  He said he tried everything - he is a very involved dad and is learning as much as he can about EASY too so he can help get him on a schedule, but he just couldn't settle him.  I did take him to the aquarium this afternoon so he didn't get his proper afternoon sleep in, only had 45 mins between the car and his crib, so he must have been overtired although he had 2 good sleeps earlier today, 1 was 2 hours and the other was 1.5 hours.