3 or 4 HOUR E.A.S.Y?

[blessedbear]

Hi,
It feels like we were on a good EASY for a while and now we are doing 3 cereals, rolling in crib, naps are wonky, even had a NW due to being stuck on tummy  So I'm trying to tune the schedule up a bit and enjoy the time in her life so I also want to know the significance of choosing a 3 verses 4 hour EASY?  How do I determine whether we are on a 3 or 4 hour EASY?

Are growth spurts counted by chronological or adjusted age and does anyone know if there is one at 6 months?  Thanks!
 
Just when you think we are in a routine they change it on us and look soo cute doing it!    

[aimeeL]

Yes, yes - JUST when you feel like you have it, they go and change.  HOW DARE THEY.     I know that exact feeling...

Definitely not the expert, but I'd think that growth spurts would be counted by adjusted age.. and if I remember correctly, there's a pretty big one at 6 mos..

As your LO goes through these developmental milestones - starting solids, rolling, etc - , things definitely get a little crazy...  But I'd think that at 6 mo, you definitely want to push towards a 4 hr EASY.. I think L made it to 4 hrs by about 5.5 mo...

The biggest reasons for going to a 4 hr EASY are that a) they are able to stay awake longer - i.e., increase A time - and so a 3 hr cycle naturally becomes too short and b) they can go longer between feeds.  For us, that was the sign to slowly push towards a 4 hr EASY... L just wasn't hungry anymore at the 3 hr mark.. so instead, she'd only snack-bf, and then end up hungry and night, increasing NWs.. finally getting to the 4 hr EASY made life much better.

Here's a link to a helpful sticky:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0

HTH

[blessedbear]

Ok so if I understand this if my DD wakes at 7 am and gets bottles at 7:30, 10:30, 2:30, 5:30 (cereal only) and 6:30 sleep by 7 pm she is on a 3 hour EASY?  At 5 months adjusted I'm wondering is it ok...She is also on the petitie side, 14 lbs but completely healthy.  Do I compute only the bottle feedings?  She is also now getting cereal 8:30, 11:30, and 5:30.  Do, I count how many hours between actual feedings based on beginning of last bottle to beginning of present or count the cereal?   I hope I making sense.  I reread some of my sleep books and will try to get her naps back on track.  I  am not liking these 30 minute naps    So if she wakes early I will not go in and get her up like usual I will let her stay in crib till end of hour.  She never cries just practices her rolling.      I know i have several different issues in this post.  Thanks for your advice!

[*Liz*]

Hi 

We only count the bottle feedings - as solids as just for fun before age 1 so we tend to view them as part of their A time.

You seem to have your lo on 3hrly feeding still. The problem with sticking to 3 hrly EASY at this age is that they need a longer A time to take a proper nap, so you either end up putting them down too early so they take a UT short nap, or you wake them for a feed.

Can you post what your day looked like today so we can have a look and advise on the timings? In EAS format please  .

Is there any reason why we couldn't think about moving to a 4hrly EASY as I am sure that will solve your napping issues as well? Most LOs can go 4 hrs between bottle feeds by 5/6 months even if they are small. I guess severe reflux would be the main reason not to move the feedings.

My DS is a very small baby as well - 14lb at 6 months and 18lb at one year. It doesn't affect what sort of EASY they can do though as that is primarily decided by how long their A time needs to be to get decent length naps.

[blessedbear]

Hi!  Ok today is a little out of sorts since we had Gymboree and also I am letting her sleep on her tummy during naps.  At night I have been using the sleep positioner but I want her to feel comfy sleeping on her tummy.  I will def move to a 4 hour EASY since she has no reflux.  I am pretty desperate as her naps don't seem to be getting any better.  I really appreciate any feedback and LizJ sounds like you have a mini mee too!!   Do you think she can go 3 hours A time even though she is 5 months adjusted age?  I mean this am I gave her bottle at 7:15 am (does 15 mins early/later make a huge difference) and by 8:50 she was falling asleep on the changing table so I put her down in crib and she took another short nap!  Is this first A time of day still the shortest?  I am soo confused.

A "normal" day is

E 7:30 am - bottle
A 6:50 am (I don't go in till 7am)
E 8:30 am - cereal
S 9:30 am

E 10:30 am - bottle
A 10:05 am
E 11:30 am - cereal
S 12:50 am (try to stretch this till 1 pm no way)

E 2:30 pm - bottle
A 1:20 pm
S  4:00 pm

E 5:30 pm - cereal, bath
A 5:10 pm
E 6:30 pm - bottle
S 7:00 pm

[*Liz*]

Yeah - I definately have a mini one  . He's so skinny that my mum has been putting tighter elastic in his trousers as he keeps crawling out of them.

I think at 5 mths corrected it is likely your lo will have the same A time as a 5 mth old rather than a 6 mth old. So somewhere round about 2.25hrs.

So we will be aiming for a 4hrly feed routine with 2.25 hrs A time and 1.5 - 2hr naps and a 30 min catnap at the end of the day. I don't think she will handle 3hrs yet - J used to handle that at about 6.5 mths - but he was a lower need sleep baby.

In your routine does the nap last until the E ie is she asleep all of that time? Just want to be sure so I can see how long she is sleeping after the A times.

[aimeeL]

Just another two cents' - and that is that Tracy - in one of her books - mentions that a "magic 2 hr A time window" opens up at 4 mo.. and I was SO ready for it!, but L wasn't.. =)  It took us till about 5 mo to get her at 2 hrs.. =)