How long does transition take? HELP!!!

[kkmaguire]

MY LO is 15 weeks and I have started implementing a 3 hour EASY.  He was on a 2 hour cycle, but after waking up after 45 minutes, I read that he needs to be awake longer.  So now I am having him stay up for 1 and 1/2 hours in the hope that he will extend his naps to 1 and 1/2 hours.  The first day he did great in the morning and his first nap was 1 hour 15 minutes.  As the day progressed it got worse and worse.  He went back to 45 minutes and his last nap was only 30 minutes.  The second day was not good at all.  Now here we are on the third day, he woke up at 630, and at 715 I had to put him down.  He was so grumpy and I tried everything to have him stay up.  In addition to his horrible nap schedule he still wakes up at least 2 times a night and sometimes it is so hard to put him back down.  I am so frustrated and am at my wits end! He is exclusively breastfed and is a bigger boy so I know he doesn't need to eat during the night.  Please help!!!!!! When should this be getting better?

[melloyello]

Hi there, I don't have much advice to offer but just wanted to let you know that you're not alone... we're in the same boat right now with our LO who is 16 weeks. We're trying to transition to a 4 hour EASY and naps and night time have been a disaster lately! I'm hoping that the new routine will help, but have also heard sleep "regression" is fairly common around the 4 month mark.

[kkmaguire]

Thanks for the support.  I'm sorry you are going through this too!

[Shiv52]

{{{{hugs}}}}

It sounds like your LO has gotten OT.  It can take a few days for the routine to settle down.  If you can't extend the short naps you would need to reduce the next A time and go for an earlier nap or else your LO will get more OT. 

He is exclusively breastfed and is a bigger boy so I know he doesn't need to eat during the night.

I actually think it would be very unusual for an exclusively BF baby to NOT need a night feed at such a young age.  Most BF babies are having a DF plus at least one night feed at this age.  There is also a big growth spurt at 16 weeks (give or take) so you may find you have more wakening until your supply increases again.   If he wakes at night (at least 3/4 hours after last time you fed him) I would feed.  What have you been doing at this NWs? 

Tomorrow I would watch his cues and see when he's telling you he is tired.  If you get a good nap then you can aim to push out the next A time.  If he wakes early and you can't extend I would reduce the next A time and see does that help the next nap.

[kkmaguire]

The third day was very successful.  He did great.  Now, here the fifth day, he's had some issues.  Either way, we are making progress:) He is still not sleeping 1 and a 1/2 hours, but he is sleeping an hour at a time now.  Baby steps!

[Shiv52]

Baby steps is right! Glad they are going in the right direction x