Extending A time in chronic EW?

[rachelusc]

My DS is just past 13 weeks old.  I am hoping to begin extending his A times over the next several weeks to go from a 3-4 hour EASY day.  (He is never hungry at 3 hours and is also a 45 minute napper, so we're on a crazy schedule anyway!)  The trouble is, he usually wakes at 4 or 4:30 am and never really gets back to deep sleep.  I have stopped this feeding as he only ate 1.5oz or so and then wouldn't eat his morning feed (he's not a great eater anyway, never seems hungry).  The problem is, he is generally ready for his first nap after 1 hour 20 min A time.  I have actually gotten a couple longer naps out of him this week by putting him down at this time.  However, if he has a good 90 minute nap, he does not seem ready for his next nap at after 90 minutes, and often will sleep only 55 minutes or 1 hour.  Should I start by stretching this second A time first?  With short naps, bedtime is rarely past 7pm.  I feel like we also need to make this later to combat the EW.  Any advice is appreciated!

[Jiinx]

Hi hun
can you display your EASY...I know it's all over the place, but whatever you have will be great. Just so I can see what's going on and where everything gets fit! thanks hun.

As for the A times, he's a little over 3 months right? You look great with your A times. 1 hour and 20-30 minutes is fine for his age. If he's giving you a short second nap and waking happy - you would be correct to add some A time for his second A. Not too much - 5-10 minutes should do it.

What does he do after you feed him at 4-4:30? Is he awake? Are you with him?

sarah

[rachelusc]

Here's a sample EASY day.  Varies greatly based on length of first and second naps.

4:30 or 5am - usually begins waking...we try to keep him in bed til 6:30 using paci and shh/pat variation

6:30 - wake and eat (amount of feed varies from 0-4 oz regardless of night feedings)
7:50 - sleep (we try to follow his cues but...)

8:45/9:30 - wake (depends on length of nap)
9:30 - eat
10/11:00 -  sleep

(As you can see - this ends up varying greatly based on nap length!)

10:45/11:45 - wake
12:30 - eat
1ish - sleep

(I can usually extend this nap as DD is also napping and I have the time and quiet)

3:00 - wake
3:30 - eat
4:30/4:45 - sleep

5:15 - wake
6:30 - feed, bath, etc
7:00 - bedtime

About once a week we have a really bad day with 5 or 6 short naps and we're all miserable.  I have a really hard time making our day work with the early waking and short naps.  I am so ready to get to two naps!  As it is we usually have one stretched A time either before or after the catnap just so he is not going to bed a 6pm...I'm afraid he'll wake up even earlier if we make bedtime any earlier. 

Today we did w2s for second nap and he did about 1 hour 40 minutes of A time after because he was well rested.  I think that this is definitely the right direction.

[Jiinx]

Hi Rachel,
 Is he swaddled? Sleeping in a dark room with any white noise? I'm just wondering if he's waking from low A time or discomfort? Does he wake happy generally?

How do you know he starts to rouse? Does he sleep with you? It's very common for babies and los to start rousing as their day starts to near to an end. I would leave him? What happens if you left him in his cot..does he start to cry? I'm just wondering if you'll start to become a prop..?

How did his night/day go? Have you kept a log of his A times?

sarah