NW - Prop Issue or Transition Issue?

[Seren mum]

Hi Everyone

I'm very new to this BW thing, so hope someone can help me before I go way off track.

How do you know if increased NW's are due to a need to change their EASY routine (ie needs to transition to 3.5 Easy with more A time) or a prop issue that I just need to wean her off night feeds?

My 3.5mth dd (ebf) self-settles at every sleep and nap except during NW when I feed her.  I normally let her feed and then she just suckles for a while until she goes back to sleep.

I didn't realise that this may be the wrong thing to do, but after reading through forum it seems as if she may be using my boob as a prop and could be causing more NW.  Is this possible?

We have been following 3 hour EASY since about 6 weeks.  From 6 weeks until 12 weeks, she would sleep from 7pm - 7am with one feed between 3-4am.  In the last two weeks, she is now waking up at about 2:30am, 4:30am and then 6am.

I'm just not sure how I should tackle the increased NW?  Do I focus on adjusting EASY routine or do I focus on just weaning her off night feeds?  She is hungry when I fed her during the night.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Tweakster]

HI there, at this age it is likely not a prop but probably genuine hunger if she's eating.  I suspect a growth spurt, some last longer than others.  However, this is the time when things start to throw wonky because they tend to stretch their feeds in the day and start leaning towards needing less day sleep and more activity.  So NW where she's not hungry could be due to a need for more A time.

What does the routine look like?  Could you post for us.

[Seren mum]

Hi Wendy.  thanks for your reply!

Our 3hour EASY looks something like this (this is the last two days):

S Bedtime 7:00pm Normal Windown Ritual (swaddle, shush/pat 5-10mins then into bed), but she only slept until 7:20.  We then had to shush/pat and hold her until 7:55 when she finally calmed down and went into bed and fell asleep.

NW 1:50am Feed and back to sleep
NW 5:07am Feed but was quite awake after feed.  Put back into bed, but she just light slept and fussed a bit until 5:55am.  Tried to shush/pat for 45mins but didn't go back to sleep so got her up for the day at 6:50am.

E 7:00am (wasn't really hungry)
A Didn't really have much A as she has been awake since 5:55am
S 7:25-9:30am

E 9:50am
A 10:10-10:55am
S 10:55-12:10pm
A 12:10-1:00pm

E 1:05pm
A 1:20-1:40pm (short A time as she has been awake since 1pm)
S 1:40-2:45pm
A 2:45-3:45pm

E 3:45pm
A 4:05-4:30 (short A time as she had been awake since 2:45pm)
S 4:30-5:00pm
A 5:00-6:00pm bath
E 6:00pm
S 6:45pm (Norma Winddown Ritual.  Went to sleep easily)

NW 2:30am Feed and back to sleep
NW Woke at 5:15am.  Fussed but left her and she slept lightly until 5:45 when she really cried.  Tried to pat/shush but sounded like hungry cry so did 1/2 feed.  She was quite awake after this, but did pat/shush and PU/PD from 6am-6:20.  She then slept until 7am when I woke her to start the day.

E 7:00am (not overly hungry)
A 7:30-8:25
S 8:25- this is where we are now.  She will probably sleep until 10:25ish.

I guess what I'm wanting to know is:
1) Since she seems to be waking up at around 5:15-5:45am - do I treat this wake up as a NW or her morning wake up time? I'd prefer to see if I can get her to sleep until 7am, but if that is unrealistic at this stage then I wil work with that.
2) If I treat it as a NW, do I feed her or just try and get her back to sleep without feeding.  My concern is that if I feed her then she isn't very hungry at her 7am normal feed.  But if she really is hungry then I'm fine to feed too.
3) However, if I just need to accept it as her Wake Up time at 6am, do I just start my 3 hour EASY routine from that time with first feed at 6am?
4) I haven't started a dreamfeed at this stage - do you think that it could help my situation.  My thoughts are maybe if I do a DF at say 10:15pm, then she might do another feed at around 3-4am and then sleep until 7am??

Thanks so much in advance for your help.  I know you have so many mum's out there needing advice !

[Tweakster]

1) Since she seems to be waking up at around 5:15-5:45am - do I treat this wake up as a NW or her morning wake up time? I'd prefer to see if I can get her to sleep until 7am, but if that is unrealistic at this stage then I wil work with that.
2) If I treat it as a NW, do I feed her or just try and get her back to sleep without feeding.  My concern is that if I feed her then she isn't very hungry at her 7am normal feed.  But if she really is hungry then I'm fine to feed too.
3) However, if I just need to accept it as her Wake Up time at 6am, do I just start my 3 hour EASY routine from that time with first feed at 6am?
4) I haven't started a dreamfeed at this stage - do you think that it could help my situation.  My thoughts are maybe if I do a DF at say 10:15pm, then she might do another feed at around 3-4am and then sleep until 7am??

1)  I would treat as a NW and get her back to sleep if you can.  It's not unrealistic :-)  Sticking to a 12 hour day/night cycle will help your routine.

2) It's normal for them to have an early morning feed and then a wake up feed is more of a top up.  Eventually they merge into just a wake up feed.  Finn was the same, he woke at 1ish and then again between 4-5ish and didn't take much at 6:30 or 7 when we started the day. 

3)  If you get her up at 6 then that is the start of your day.  SO you need to adjust your routine and A times accordingly.

4)  We didn't have luck with a DF but loads of people have so if you think it would help you could try it.  You want to keep it on the early side so 10:15/10:30 sounds good.  You could do it for a 3 day period to see if there is any result.  When we did it Finn would wake at 1ish regardless so it seemed a bit pointless.  We ended up having 3 night feeds instead of just 2.  He did his longest stretch of sleep in the first part of the night so we just went with it.

[Seren mum]

Thanks so much Wendy.  I will definitely try out all your suggestions. I have been actually have some success with getting her back to sleep after the 5am feed but pat/shush so will keep trying that!  Might give df a go after we're back from holidays.
Thanks again for your advice.

[Tweakster]

Have a great holiday and sometimes things just change up on their own when you come back.  They are changing at such a rapid pace.