15 wo EW at 5:00 am... pls help

[pixelbox]

Hi,
My DS is 15 wo this week. He used to wake up at around 7 am and I was usually able to put him to sleep again and he'll sleep till 8. After the time change, he has been waking up at 6 am and I have not been able to put him back to sleep till 7 am. Recently though, he is waking up earlier and earlier and this morning, he woke up at 5:00 am This past week, he also did a BM during this EW. So I have to get him out of his crib and change him. After being changed, he is probably more awake and refuse to go back to sleep even more. Is there anything I can do to make him wake up later? I can handle 6 am (although 6:30 or 7 is preferable)... but 5 is just way too early.

Below is my EASY routine. DS has been going through the following changes lately:
- not eating well at the 3 hr or sometimes even 3.5 hr mark. He would play with his bottle and takes forever (sometimes up to 45min) to finish a feeding. But if I stretch E to 3.5 - 4 hr, he will have no problem finishing his bottle.
- A time is still 1.5 hr. He is not able to handle anything much over 1.5hr.
- Naps are still at 40min long. I am now able to extend his naps if he still needs the sleep. If he doesn't, I am not able to extend no matter what.
- BT are less of a struggle. Although DS still cries before every BT. But at least shush-pat works to calm him down.

Here's my EASY from yesterday
W: 5:45 am (Did a BM, no E because his last feed was at 3:00 am, so DS is not hungry when he woke up and refused to be fed)
A:
E: 7:15 am
A: (short A: burp and swaddle)
S: 7:30 - 8:15 (45min)

E: No E again as DS was still not hungry
A: 8:15 - 9:45 (1hr 30min)
S: 9:45 - 11:30 (1hr 45min)

E: 11:30
A: 11:30 - 1:00 (1hr 30min)
S: 1:00 - 2:30 (1hr 30min)

A: 2:30 - 3:30 (1hr) (Not hungry yet so no E)
E: 3:30
A: (Short A, burped and swaddle)
S: 4:15 - 5:45 (1hr 30min)

A: 5:45 - 7:00 (1hr 15min)
E: 7:00
S: sleep for the night right after E

E: 9:30 (not a DF, baby woke up on his own)
S: right after

E: 4:00
S: right after

W: 5:00 am (again BM when woke up, could not get him back to sleep)


Thank you!

[Tweakster]

Hi there, do you think your LO is ready for the 4 hour EASY?  Sounds like he could be with his UT naps and the not being hungry.

[pixelbox]

Hi
I was thinking about moving him to a 4 hr EASY as well. But not sure how that would work with his short naps if I can't extend them. Also I'm nervous about letting him stay up longer then 1.5 hrs.

[pixelbox]

Sigh... not sure what's happening the last few days. DS has been really difficult to put down to sleep. He just won't settle with shush-pat in his crib anymore. Just when I thought that shush-pat is finally working, everything suddenly reverts back to before I started EASY.

I've been AP'g the last few days (rocking and letting him sleep in my arms) just to prevent DS from getting OT. I'm hoping that this is just a phase that he's going through. I have noticed that DS is doing (learning) a bunch of new skills like grabbing his toys and everything else, rolling sideways, lifting his head while rolled on his side and chatting a lot more. Please let this just be a phase because I don't want to have to wean him from any bad habits. Someone please assure me that things WILL get easier.

[Tweakster]

It does get easier hon.  Very much so.  The first 6 mths are the toughest for sleep and then they go through developmental blips thereafter, things got ironed out more smoothly for us at 12 mths but even now at 21 mths there are nights or days where we just throw our hands up and wonder what's going on.  All part of the growing process and sleep unfortunately, is not a linear progression, it's a winding road rather than a straight line.

We did a 4 hr EASY with short naps, just make sure the next A time after the short nap is reduced.  It's not easy, I won't lie, but there are many moms muddling through it every day.  If you want you can put a post on EASY for some suggestions of how to move him over...also this link is helpful:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0

and some sample routines:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164029.0