EASY issues - 11 week old

[Austin's mom]

my son is 11 weeks on thursday, and has been on the 3 hour EASY since birth. But i just recently found BW, and so im still trying to figure things out. He is a Spirited, reflux, extremely alert for this age baby, which makes things "interesting".  He was going 8-10 hours after the dreamfeed, for a few weeks, but this past several days, he has reverted back to 4-5 hours.  At the same time, he has decreased the amount of his feeds, which were 5-6 oz of formula every 3 hours. Now, especially in the mornings, i have to struggle to get 3-4 oz. in him. I think this is because he has added that extra 3/4:00 feeding in. Im trying to replace the pacey and shhh/pat him back down, but unless i catch him the right second, he is totally awake and alert, and i have to start all over again. At this age and weight, he is right under 13 pounds, is it ok to move to a 3.5 hour routine? And if so, how do i work naps into it, because he starts to get tired right at that 1 hour and 15 minute mark. So i'm not quite sure how to make it fit into a 3.5 hour routine. He is sleeping from about 7:30-7:30 and taking a 1.5 hour nap at 8:45, and a 45-50 min nap about 10:45, a 2-2.5 hour nap at 1:30 and a cat nap about 5. The times don't add up, and i end up feeding him right before its time to go back down again. Please, if you can, point out what i need to change! Thanks!

[*Liz*]

What is your LO's current A time? Can they stay awake for 1.5hrs yet and still manage a long nap after?

[Austin's mom]

I thought i put that in there...sorry... right now he has been doing very well with 1hr and 15 mins. He seems to get pretty fussy at that point. The last two days however I've been having a difficult time getting more than 30 minute naps out of him, but I think he is teething )-:

[*Liz*]

He is very young to be properly teething really - they can get a bit of movement from early on though - it is kind of hard to know really.

Moving to 3.5hrly feeds might help your LO take bigger feeds but they really need to be able to handle an A time of 1.5 hrs and then take a 2hrly nap to do it  . So I think you might be entering a difficult period where the feeding needs and sleeping needs are not well aligned - it does pass after a few weeks though.

But if all your naps are now short then I would say that could very well be due to needing an A time extension - perhaps try 1h 20ish and see if your LO will still go down easily enough? I suspect that 45-50 min nap in the middle of it is a sign that A needs upping as well really - it is very common for the first A of the day to be shortest. So if your LO suits 1h 15 first thing, they may very well need 1h 30 the rest of the day to get decent naps.

You do say that as the times mess up you are feeding before naps soemtimes though - is your LO falling asleep on the bottle at all? As a prop issue might also be creating the extra NWing.

[Austin's mom]

ok i will try to up the rest of the A times. I do hate to feed right before sleep, but he doesnt ever fall asleep eating (except for dreamfeed). I usually try to feed in a diff room or change his diaper at least, for a small break before naps. Is it more important to have a set "nap time" each day, or to keep his A time the same? Like if he wakes early, and shh/pat doesn't work, then im risking over stimulation, but then his naps are at varying times. Like you said though, maybe this will all line up again in few weeks or after his next growth spurt.

[*Liz*]

It is more important to use the right A time which should have been found by following your LO's cues. So that A time can vary a little depending on who a LO looks or the amount of stimulation they have had etc.

Set nap times tend to work for MUCH older LO's and toddlers - they tend to cause OT at this sort of age.

[Austin's mom]

You have been so helpful! Thank you! I began to try the 3.5 hour feeds today, and it seemed to work awhole lot better. He took better naps as well.

[*Liz*]

That is great news