5am wake up with 7.5 mth touchy angel

[weatherlyn]

hi everyone,

i would love some advice on how to tackle my EW problem-or maybe i just need someone to tell me that it is what it is and accept it! sebastian is a touchy angel and it has been a huge battle to fix his naps and get him on an ok EASY (as Danni- Chicane knows-she has held my hand through most of it)
Seb is a very touchy sleeper and the slightest things disturb his sleep and then he is AWAKE, calm wide eyed looking round the room awake.(eg soiled nappy, cant reach his bunny etc)I can rarely, if every get him back down with pupd. It has been a long road, but he is finally an indep sleeper with his bunny for comfort and his rain CD and black out blinds to  help him on his way. He has always had a longer than normal A time for his age group and i rarely get a 2hr nap from him, they are always an hour or an hour twenty. He is very easy to get to sleep at night (falls half asleep on the bottle and then i sling him in the cot, he grabs his bunny, rolls and thats him off)
I am rarely at home for the 2nd nap and there is no way round that unfortunately. i have another child who is four and run my own business from home so between kindergarten, errands play groups etc sebs second nap is usually broken into two catnaps in his pram or car seat. he has a 3.5 hr A time and i am really battling with his milk feeds i think i need to drop one but dont know whether to cut the amount of milk or a feed completely.

Our EASY pretty much looks like this:
5am wake (leave him in his cot and he talks to himself until about 5.30 sometimes even 6am never ever falls back asleep)
5.45 or 6 formula 220 ml
7am breakfast cereal and fruit
S 8.30 (3.5 hr Atime) nap usually 1.5 hrs and he wakes happy.
E here it all starts to wobble he doesnt ever really want this feed and wont take it before 11 am and only about 150ml
solids at noon or 12.30
S13.00 nap in car 40 mins
try to give him another milk feed at around 14h30 or 15 h00 and its a battle 90ml
S16h20 another forty min cat nap (if we are at home then its 3.5 hr A time between naps and second nap also 1.5 hrs)
solids at 1700
bath a 17h40
240 ml feed and asleep by 18h20
sleeps through till 5 am. never goes back to sleep if he has gone through night and this is his first feed  since bedtime. then he is wide awake.

 sometimes will wake at around 2 am or 3am take full feed of 240 ml back to sleep till 6am and then wont drink when he wakes at 6am so incorporate milk into breakfast cereal and then he will take a full milk feed after first nap of 240 ml .

so my main issues are the EW( which is nearly always from hunger or a poo nappy) and the milk feeds.i think he is ready for only three but dont know which one to drop.  he is also teething and i know my eldest went off his milk at this time too.
he rarely gets cranky from being over tired, very angel in this respect. i would love a 6am wake up. any advice?
many thanks lynsey

[jackman]

Hi
I am no expert at EWs as we are having some issues currently, but I can possibly comment on the milk feeds since your DS is formula fed and I always had a hard time getting my DS to take his milk too.

First, this is only a suggestion and you have to do what is best for your lo and what you feel most comfortable, but I would cut out the night feeding completely especially since your DS is eating 3 solid meals. I know it is a scary feeling since you feel that your lo isn't take enough during the day, but once you do it, you will notice a difference. I can speak from experience. I felt I was constantly trying to offer the bottle to my lo and no matter how hard I tried, he would never drink more than 3oz at a time. Here is a link that explains how to drop the night feeding.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=46907.0

Secondly, in terms of dropping a milk feed, again it is up to you but I did it when my DS was 6.5 months and his amount at each milk feed increased considerably. I dropped the 11am feeding, so now he takes a bottle at 7am, 2pm and one right before bed.

Both of these will help to increase your lo's milk intake during the day and you won't feel as though it is a constant battle.

HTH. Good luck.

[weatherlyn]

thanks so much i am going to leave the night feed for now as it only happens about three times a week (at about 3 or 4 am never same time really ). he falls back asleep afterwards, and thats when i get those few times that he wakes for the day at about 6.30 or 7am. The rest of the time he will get his 6pm bedtime feed and the next is when he wakes at 5am (the dreaded early waking)maybe he will start waking later when he can go that extra hour in the morning? what did your lo do?
i have the battle with the 7am feed when he wakes at 3am for a feed. he doesnt want that and then takes the 11am one. today was a good day he woke at 5. 45 (through the night) from 6.20 pm took a full feed at 6.30 am and then another one at 11 want to see if he takes the 3.30 pm one . if not then i know he is ready to drop that afternoon feed. i find its too close to dinner and then the next milk feed after that... come to think of it, he hasnt been finishing his milk before bedtime lately either. so maybe the EW will get better when he can go bit longer to his morning feed and if i drop the 3pm feed he will finish his milk at bedtime. going to give it a try.

thanks again x

[Chicane]

Hey Lynsey!

I sent you a pm did you get it?

Anyway in reference to your current issue check out this link http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=87109.0

Also, my remedy for an EW is, believe it or not, and early bed time...try aiming for a 6pm bed time or even 5.30 on those EW days and see what happens

mwah x

[Chicane]

by the way - i think the plan you outlined is a good one too...xxx