Author Topic: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule  (Read 29798 times)

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Offline ethan's mommy

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Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« on: May 03, 2010, 15:35:08 pm »
Hi everyone,

Can someone please point me in the right direction for switching from a 3 hour EASY to a 4 hour? My baby is almost 5 months old and has always napped horribly but sleeps GREAT through the night (12 hours usually!).

Our schedule is:

7am - wake up and feed 7oz
10am - feed 7oz
1pm - feed 7oz
4pm - feed 7oz
7pm - bedtime and feed 7oz
10:30pm - dream feed 6 oz

He's around 19lbs and will be 5 months old on the 9th of May. I didn't bother putting in nap times b/c they're all over the place. He can usually go from his 4pm feed until bedtime with no cat nap these days but he still naps 3 shorter naps through the day. The most we get in bed is usually the 45 minute nap.

Anyway, how do I start to make the switch to 4-hour feeds and 8oz bottles? My first baby was breastfed so I'm unsure what to do with this one! :)

Thanks,
Jenny


scucci1979

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Re: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2010, 13:08:41 pm »
Hi there

I am no expert, but what I did was 10 min incraments, until I reached a 3.5 hr EASY. I pushed DD first A by 10min every 3-5days until I reached a 3.5 hour of A time. I did it really slow as she was a small baby. I would personally move towards a 3.5hour EASY first rather then jump to a 4 hour EASY. Los need to handle 2 hours of A before they can manage a 4hour EASY. I can see that your lo does three hours of A time from 4pm to bedtime?  Is that his average A time throughout the day? 
I think if you moved pushed his A out a little and have a structured routine throughout the day, he will nap better.

I copied and pasted some points for the FAQ:

Here are some signs of needing to transition:
1. Not taking as much at a feed (baby not as hungry at 3 hours)
2. Erratic Night Wakings
3. They are extending their awake times
4. Starts taking 45 minute naps

A window opens up during the babies 4 month, that means they can stay awake longer ('A' time) and go longer between feeds. Keep a diary of when they eat and how much, how much activity they have and how long they sleep for.

If they don't eat very much on the 3 hour mark and take shorter naps this is the time to transition.

The fourth month window sometime coincides with a growth spurt, but unlike earlier growth spurts this one not only involves giving more food during the day but also extending the 'A' time between feeds. If you don't adjust his/her routine then this is the month when sleep problems start appearing.

Most four month old babies can stay awake for up to two hours during his fourth month, but if your baby can only stay awake for 1hr 30mins to 1hr 45mins, then you will have to transition him/her to a 3.5hr EASY, until he/she can stay awake for closer to 2hrs.


If you are on a 3.5hr EASY then 'E' will be 7, 10.30, 2, 5.30 and then top up at 7.


Then you can transition baby's onto a 4hr EASY.


Below is a guide in three day increments on how to transition from a 3hr EASY to a 4hr EASY

Days 1-3 you just observe and awake time is 1.5 hours and feed every 3hrs.

Days 4-7 You only keep  them awake an extra 15mins in the the first morning slot so we would keep them up 1.75hours BUT JUST FOR THE MORNING SLOT. all other awake times are the same at 1.5hours.

Days 8-11 You keep them awake another 15mins in the first morning slot so we would keep them up2hrs BUT JUST FOR THE MORNING SLOT. all other awake times are 1.5 hours.

Days 12-16 Obviously by now you cant add anymore awake time to the morning slot as we have alreay hopefully acheived the 2hr awake time and the morning feed should now be 4hr. So now we work on adjusting the afternoon awake time .

If you are on 4hr E.A.S.Y your 'E' times will be 7, 11, 3, 7.


Somewhere between nine months and 1 year your baby will be able to go five hours between feeding.

We are not techinically following E.A.S.Y at this point more like E.A.E.A.S.Y. but it is still a structured routine.



Quote from: alligirl
That schedule on pg 230 has been the topic of a lot of confusion and many discussions on this forum.   We even talked to Melinda Blau about it.  No one is certain what exactly is supposed to be right, but here is what we think the idea is:  to extend awake times working on one awake time every three days.  For instance, after the first three days observation, you would work on extending your lo's first awake time by 15 minutes.  Then, after that is working, you would extend the second awake time.   Does that help or make any sense?

Don't forget that you know your baby best, and that Tracy suggests that EASY be a guideline and not a strict schedule.  She also posted those (and every other schedule in the book) as a guideline. 





This is reference only. If you have questions, please create a new post with your specific situation. These routines have been taken from Tracy,s new book "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems" pg 34.

Tracy has provided suggested routines for 3hr EASY and 4hr EASY. These are flexible routines only and every baby will not fit into these guidelines. The 3hr EASY is from 4wks until 3mths (the activity length is based on a 3mth old, at 4wks it will be a lot shorter but will gradually extend). From 4mths Tracy suggests gradually moving to a 4hrly routine.

3-hour EASY:

E: 7.00 wake up and feed
A: 7.30 or 7.45 (depending on how long feed takes)
S: 8.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 10.00
A: 10.30 or 10.45
S: 11.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 1.00
A: 1.30 or 1.45
S: 2.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 4.00 feed
S: 5.00 or 6.00 or somewhere in between – catnap (approx. 40mins) to get baby through the next feed and bath
E: 7.00 (cluster feed at 7 and 9 if going through a growth spurt)
A: bath
S: 7.30 bedtime
Y: the evening is yours
E: 10 or 11pm dreamfeed



3.5-hour EASY:

E: 7.00 wake up and feed
A: 7.30 or 7.45 (depending on how long feed takes)
S: 8.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 10.30
A: 11.00 or 11.15
S: 12.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 2.00
A: 2.30 or 2.45
S: 3.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 5.30 feed
A: inc. bath time
E: 7.00/7.30 (cluster feed)
S: 7.30/8pm bedtime
Y: the evening is yours
E: 10 or 11pm dreamfeed



4-hr EASY

E: 7.00 wake up and feed
A: 7.30
S: 9.00 (for 1.5-2hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 11.00
A: 11.30
S: 1.00 (1.5-2hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 3.00
A: 3.30
S: 5.00 or 6.00 or somewhere in between – catnap
Y: your choice
E: 7.00 (cluster feed at 7 and 9 during a growth spurt)
A: bath
S: 7.30 bedtime
Y: the evening is yours
E: 10 or 11pm dreamfeed (until 7 or 8mths or whenever solid food is firmly established).

Offline ethan's mommy

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Re: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2010, 14:13:43 pm »
Thanks for this. My confusion lies in how to increase his amount of formula while slowly moving to a 3.5 or 4 hr schedule. Our feed schedule is above and in order to keep to approx 40oz/day, how do I do this when I'll be dropping a feed in the end?!?!?!?

Offline Lolly

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Re: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2010, 17:44:28 pm »
I would just increase the amount of milk in the bottle and offer it to him. He may not take the amount to start but as you increase the intervals between bottles he should take the extra oz or so. Is he draining his bottles at the moment? If he is then he is telling you he is ready for bigger feeds, there should be enough in the bottle so that he can stop because he is full rather than because the bottle is empty.

HTH!

Laura


Offline ethan's mommy

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Re: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2010, 03:27:40 am »
my worry was more b/c he spits up so much after almost every bottle so i was starting to think maybe he's getting too much?!?! i'm so unsure about bottle feeding!!

i guess the only thing i can do is just give it a try and see how it goes.

thanks for all the support and i'll post again if we're having issues!!

Offline ethan's mommy

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Re: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« Reply #5 on: May 08, 2010, 02:22:25 am »
we were out and about today so i just went for it. he managed to feed at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm. i'll dream feed and keep my fingers crossed that he doesn't start waking through the night now b/c i've kept him at 7oz per feed. he barely spat up at all today so i think maybe he was taking in too much before? who knows...time will tell! he's a BIG baby but since he's bottle fed, i want to make sure it's not me making him a big baby!!!

Offline Shoniej

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Re: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2010, 16:11:21 pm »
Thanks for the tips on this!  I am also trying to move my LO from a 3 hour to a 4 hour routine, he too is bottle fed and is currently 10 weeks old. 
He doesnt seem to want to always feed every 3 hours so i think i will try the 3.5 EASY routine.  He is currently sleeping through the night (with the dream feed, so my only concern is that he will start waking.

has anyone else found that switching from 3-3.5 or 4 has resulted in their baby waking in the night again?

Offline Lolly

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Re: Switching from 3 hour to 4 hour schedule
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2010, 19:05:37 pm »
Shoniej - in theory switching shouldn't cause waking because they should be taking more at each feed so the overall milk intake is more or less the same.

If you do have problems start a new thread and you'll get some help!

Laura