Should I try 3.5 hourly EASY or 4?

[AlisonB]

I am still new to this site but have found it very helpful so far hence I am asking for more advice with respect to what EASY schedule you think I should be following and tips on how to.

My DD is now 4 months and 1 week.

After resolving feeding and bedtime challenges, naps have been our recent focus and I have received excellent advice and support and over the last week have managed to get my DD to nap at home! However we have only achieved 45 minute naps (and one 1hour nap) so far. http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=141078.0

today's timings
A 6.30
E 7.00
S 8.35-9.20 (started wind down at 8.00)
A 9.20

yawning at 10.20. Decided to do 3.5 hourly EASY. The last 2 days I have done 4 hours (which she is fine with hungry wise) but as she is napping for just 45 mins there is just too much awake time and she almost needs 2 naps per EASY cycle (45 min nap, A for 1 hour, another 45 min nap).

E 10.30 finished at 10.45 then just sat on lap until wind down at 11.00
S 11.15 - 12.00
A 12 - 1.30 went for walk in pram at 12.45, which normally sends her to sleep when tired.
S 1.30 - 2.00

E 2.30 as got back later than planned
A
S 4.10 - 4.25, continued sh-pat S 4.50 - 4.55. woke again so got her up but very tired, rubbing eyes
A sat in rocker chair watching us in kitchen

Yesterday was similar
woke 7.00
E 7.30 bf
S 8.45 - 9.25
A 9.25 - 10.30
S began wind down 10.30 but gave up after 40 mins of trying to get DD to sleep

E 11.30 (8oz formula)
S 12.20 - 1.30 began wind down 12.00
A 1.30 - started showing signs of being tired at 2.30. tried to get to sleep but without success

E 3.15 bf
I can't remember the timings for the rest of the day but I recall DD being very grumpy

Any advice? We are still working on the naps, not confident they will get longer but in the meantime how do I stay sane and keep to some kind of routine? I feel as if we are constantly trying to get her to nap.

[Mashi]

Hi, I'm no expert, look at my own EASY posts! But, thought I would try to help while you wait for the smarter people to pop in!

Thinking to what our EASY was at 4 months and what A time my DS can handle now at 6 months, I have a few thoughts.

First nap, you started winddown at 8am, I would say this was too late.  Although, every baby is different and this will depend on your LOs temperment (have you done the quiz yet to see if you have an angel, textbook, grumpy, touchy or spirited baby?)  The first A time is often shorter than what your LO can normally handle. Ie/ I think of my DS as being 2 to 2h15min of A time, but for his first A time it is 1hr45 min.   It seems that your LO is overtired, and you may want to think about starting your wind down at 745 and aim to have her asleep closer to 800ish.  Then, when she woke at 920 if you aren't able to extend, this is the hard part - has she usually eaten on a 4 horu schedule or are you just moving to it? When we were just moving to it, I did the same, but once it was well established, I would have put my LO back to bed after that yawn and aimed for another 30+ minute nap.   It's hard when you are just moving to the 4 hour though!

I would say that for the second nap she was OT as well, because she was up from 920 to 1115 on only a 45 minute nap.  And your day probably went from there.  I really did find that with us, the key was getting that first nap bang-on that helped.

I also learned with my DS that while he can laugh and giggle his little pants off at 630 am, I can't let him.  Any other time of the day it doesn't affect him as much, but that first morning A time needs to be spent nice and chilled out, no laughs, no practicing his new skills, etc or it ends up with him tired but tired from overstimulation instead of from being awake, and the day is all off.

Hope someone else comes along soon with some better advice than mine, maybe mine will help a bit!

[charmie]

Mash you are very smart indeed    In fact I cannot add anything else. 

Alison, Mash might be onto something.  Hope it helps.

Keep us informed.


xxx
charm

[AlisonB]

Thanks for the response. I think your comments are right in that the naps are not sustaining the awake time. I feel as she is awake such a short time before needing another nap. Today she took 2 naps at home the first was 35 mins and the second was 30 mins, and she had a short nap of just 15 mins in between when we were on a car journey but she woke as soon as we arrived home. She fell asleep quite quickly on both naps at home today as I have tried swaddling her which appears to be helping her get through the jolts that were waking her between 10-15 mins of being asleep, however she appears to be waking after 30-35mins.

She seems fine with eating every 4 hours. In fact today the afternoon one was more like 4hr 25min as we had a medical appointment and she was not showing any concerns with this.

Today DD woke at 6.15 and I decided that given the lack of sleep during the day I'd give her a half feed (bf just one side) and put her back to bed and she slept without any protest. She then woke at 8.30 and gave another half feed.

Our day was not really following EASY however she woke more alert and chatty than she has been for a few days now.

E 6.15 half feed (bf one side)
S 6.30 - 8.30

E 8.30
A 9.00 - 11.00

E 11.00 8oz formula
S 11.50 only 35 mins. Began wind down at 11.35 (15 mins after finished feed)
A 12.25 - 2.40
S 2.40 only 15 mins in car
A 2.55 - 3.25

E 3.25
S 4.45 - 5.15 I would have preferred to have tried for a nap much sooner but we had visitors so it was not possible.
A 5.15 - 6.30 although she was very unsettled and I resorted to rocking her in my arms and she fought sleep for about 5 mins and fell asleep for about 10mins before I woke her for her bath.

bath 6.30
E 7.00
S 7.15 although she settled in 15 mins she woke a couple of times before finally settling at 7.45

DD was exhausted by the end of the day so I dread to think how tired she would have been if we'd have started the day at 6.15 when she first woke.

So looking back over today, should I have tried to get her back to sleep at about 10? She was not showing any cues of being tired whereas normally she'd yawn. She also rubs her eyes as she gets more tired.

For tomorrow I will try and cut her A shorter by 15 mins if she has a short nap and see if that helps. Anything else you can suggest?

[charmie]

You need to cut those a times by much more than 15 mins.  Your lo is OT, that's why she is having 30min naps.


xxx
charm

[AlisonB]

Thanks again.

So let me just check I've understood - I will aim to start wind down for 1st nap at 1.15hr after waking. If it is a short nap and I am not successful at extending (haven't been yet) then to cut the next A time too. Would that be also 1.15hr after waking? And sooner if there are tired cues?

The other day DD started yawning just 20mins after waking from a nap. In that situation should I go back and start wind down immediately?

Forgot to answer a previous question. In the questionnaire DD comes out as mostly TEXTBOOK, and perhaps a little SPIRITED too (jerky movements, doesn't like being dressed). I know very little about babies, as you may have gathered (!) however alot of people comment to me about her eyes, how alert and knowing she is (?). DD is constantly looking at all that is going on around her and easily distracted.

[charmie]

Try 1hr 15mins but if you still get the 30 min nap cut down again until you get a nice long nap.  And after that you still need to keep a times really low until she is completely caught up on her sleep.  When she is back to normal we can revise again and see if she needs to transition to 3.5 or 4hr EASY.


I think when she yawns after 20mins it might be from having woken up rather than from being tired.  But keep an eye on that.


xxx
charm

[AlisonB]

Thank you!

Our EASY schedule is all over the place at present but at least we had some success this morning with a 90 min nap, yippee! We nearly had success again this afternoon however I started to cough/choke when shhing and ended up waking and scaring DD, doh!

This was our day. Any suggested improvements or tweaks?

Woke 5.10 cooing and chattering for nearly an hour before crying at 6.00
E 6.00 like yesterday just bf one side, then straight back to sleep
S 6.30 - 8.45 I let her sleep as late as she wanted as she was so OT yesterday. i was thinking that once we've got the naps a bit more sorted I can have a go at waking her earlier and beginning the day nearer to 7.
E 8.55
A 8.45 - 10.20
S began wind down at 10.00 DD slept 10.20 - 11.50 with sh-pat in the middle to extend nap (there was no way I was waking her for a feed at 11.00, also there was no set time for her feed as we didn't begin the day at 7 as scheduled. my thinking was she would wake if she was really hungry)
E 12.00
A 11.50 - 2.30
S wind down started 1.15 fell asleep 1.35 but I started coughing/choking at 1.45 and accidentally woke DD, she started crying, carried on sh-pat for 15 min but she was still upset. gave up at 2.00 and had 30 min of quiet time downstairs
S wind down 2.30 asleep 2.48, slept 2.48 - 3.25 (didn't go back in as wanted to see how long she'd sleep for on her own)
E 3.30
S 5.00 - 5.30 when out for a walk in pram
bath 6.30
E 7.00 asleep by 7.30

Last night DD woke just before her DF. I am interested to see if she is more settle tonight as she has had very little stimulating activity today (most A time has been lying on blanket kicking around or awake in pram).

[charmie]

It's entirely up to you, but your EASY will keep being allover the place till you start waking her at the same time.  She can still catch up on her sleep if you keep her a times short.  The rest of your routine looks ok.

LMAO at you  scaring dd when coughing 


xxx
charm