how to change EASY as they age

[Lexiesmum]

I was just looking at a post that stated average A times for different ages and it got me thinking....
If there awake time keeps get longer as they grow, how does that affect the EASY?
If you are on a 4 hour eating schedule, S is supposed to be anywhere from 1.5 to 2hour, well if A keeps increasing you are going to start robbing from the S or the S will keep getting later and later. I thought it was good to have a consistent nap time so they get a routine. Also, once they can stay awake for 3.5 to 4 hours then they are napping at the same time as feeding. Just wondering how that works? I am sure it is simple and I just can get it

[anna*]

There are some bumpy times, where you do have to be pretty creative and flexible with mealtimes to fit in with your EASY. By the time they're up to 3.5-4 hours of A time, they're probably really well established on solid foods, which is treated as part of A time and there's no problem (for example) going for a nap right after lunch.

Does that make sense?

[Lexiesmum]

So their nap time keeps getting pushed back?

[anna*]

yes, they go from 4 naps to 3 naps to 2 naps to 1, with longer and longer awake times, so yes the timing of the naps changes as they get older. My LO is 13 months and we've just gone through the 2-1 nap transition so our EASY is now no longer really an EASY but it's still a good routine. To give you an idea, at 10 months we were doing something like this:

E/A 7am awake, BF
8ish breakfast
S 10 nap
E/A 11.30
12 lunch
S 2.30 nap
E/A 4 awake, BF
5 supper
6.15 bath, story, BF
S 7 asleep

Now at 13 months we go something like

7.15am awake, BF
8ish breakfast
11.30 lunch
12.30 nap
3 awake
5 supper
6.30 bath, story, BF
7.15 asleep

[judypdx]

Hi annafofana - I see that by 10 months, your LO is down to 3 milk feedings.  My LO is 6mo. on 4 hr easy with 5 feedings.  When did you drop the two milk feedings?  I'm thinking my next milk feeding to drop is the dreamfeed at 7/8 months.  Thanks.

[anna*]

Hi Judy. We dropped the dreamfeed at around 9 months when his nightwakings started to increase. That left us with 4 milk feeds (7, 11, 4 and 7). We dropped the midmorning feed at 10 months, once he started to take more interest in solids. I notice I didn't include on our routine below but we still, at 13 months, quite often given milk (BF or in a beaker) mid afternoon. Most books say to have no daytime milk feeds by this stage but it works for us and I see no reason to rush to drop it. If he skips that milk feed he will have a snack at around 3 (on waking from his nap) instead.

anna
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