I think I need an EASY tweak

[~Sarah~]

 hi all

DD is 13 wo and she is back to being well controlled on reflux meds

my question is this. She was on 3 hour easy STTN. She seemed ready for more A time and she was not as hungry at 3 hours so I have been doing 3.5 hour easy. Now she is having 1-2 NW

should I go back to 3 hour feeds with 1.5 hours A? This would work because she has been napping 1.5-2 hours (most times)

thanks
Sarah

[~Sarah~]

Also, over the last three days she basically wakes early from nap #3 and will not go back to sleep or catnap.  She ends up being awake for about 2-3 hours then goes to sleep for the night.
Here is what today was like:

E  500(treated like NW put back to bed)
w/E 630
S  800
A  930
E  1000
S  1045 (gave what I thought were sleep cues)
(woke and resettled at 1140 )
E  115
S  230
(here it gets fuzzy)
(woke and resettled)
A  345 (woke and would not resettle)
E  415
430  tried to settle to sleep would not go
500 had to give up to start DS dinner (home alone no hubby tonight)
545  her bath and PJ's
600  Nursed while DS took bath-not a full feed because I needed to wash him
645  into her room for Feed and wind down
650  fell asleep woke her lightly and resettled onto bed
730  woke up and wanted to finally finish her feed
752 and she is upset again.

Normally she is settling herself to sleep, but I know she is OT right now

Do I go back to 3 hour EASY?

I want my easy daughter back

[Chicane]

Hi Sarah

How long have you tried the 3.5 hr routine for? And did you do a slow or fast transition?

You really need a few days to a week for a routine change to take effect...that said I am wondering if maybe she needs to start out with a 3 hr 15 min routine? According to the samples and to Tracy the transition to 4 hr doesn't usually start until 4 months, that's not to say that your LO is not ready to start the trans. I would try going backwards a bit and seeing if that helps...the other thing to watch out for is the growth spurt at 4 months - she could be having her's early which may account for the NWs and extra feeds. You could try feeding her more often in the day and/or doing a cluster feed in late afternoon...but start with scaling back the EASY first and see if that helps...

Here are some links that maybe of interest http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.msg476652#msg476652
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0


hugs x

[~Sarah~]

I was thinking about it after I posted my EASY and I think I do need to drop it back some. She really doesnot have to eat every 3 hours but I think she is happier if she does. She did seem to need more A time than I was giving her though so I may have to play with that a bit.

I am worried about the long afternoon. Part of yesterday was my fault bc of being alone.  DS always slept better in am and bad in afternoon so I am anxious to avoid that.  Having said that she has never had a good third nap and the catnap often has to be APOP to get one at all. Is that an all day build up of OT? She seems fine and then it just goes to pot   Or is this just how both my babies will be? I guess I am mostly just looking to make her afternoon better not necesarily needing to change her IYKWIM

[Chicane]

Hi ya - I think if your intuition is telling you that you need to drop it back then you should do it. It may take a bit of playing to get the E and the A right. We often end up doing EAEAS which may or may not be helpful for you. We always struggled with the CN, from the minute his routine stabalised at around the age your LO is now right up to just over 4 months when I finally gave up trying to get him to have it. Some LOs never take to it. It can make for a way too long afternoon so we ended up doing really early BTs (around 5.30pm) for quite a while. It all worked out in the end though when he eventually was able to deal with much longer A times and the odd OT drama much better.

I used to wonder if it was a build up of OT as well, its hard to know. I think you could do some experimenting and see what happens. You could try shortening the first A to bring all the naps early and see if she will take the CN at an earlier time, you could try doing an earlier BT. Its always going to be hard with two kids...suffice to say the baby is still at the stage where things are still stabalising...I reckon in a another month it will get a lot easier.

keep me posted with what happens

xxx

[~Sarah~]

Thank you again for your advice.  You have helped me on a few occasions with always good advice.

I also think afternoons have been poor the last few days because of maybe a build up of hunger?  Also, I am expecting too much.  Last week at this time her reflux meds were so screwed up I could barely get a nap out of her!  It is just hard bc we had reflux under control and she did awesome for almost 3 weeks, then we had to do a change and had 2 awful weeks.  She has just been back on track for 1 week, so I know I need to not push too much.  Just with the 2 so close in age it is just hard to go at her pace.  I just want a routine for both of them that we can live with. (Even if it is not perfect, just something so that we all know what to expect out of a day.)

Also, on a separate note, I have been trying to help 2 lovely ladies, but I think their problems are more than I can handle.  I advised them to make separate posts with specific   questions on the EASY board.  Bumblemum and Junni(something) are ones to look out for if you don't mind.  You are an awesome Mod!!  Thanks!!

[Chicane]

Hi Sarah

yeah, I think when on meds its really hard to keep routines in place, especially when changing meds around. It does sound like she doesn't need a big routine change at the moment. She's still so little (so cute!) I can't imagine what its like with 2 LOs! I think about this a lot when I think about having out next one...I am not sure how anyone does it!

Thanks for your kind words.

I will keep an eye out for those mums you mentioned. Its really fantastic that you've been helping other people. We are all in the same boat, mama's trying to help each other, trying to work it out.

keep me posted as to how you get on

xxx