Ride it out for now? Poor EASY in the afternoon.

[Nosinnod]

Hi All,

My 6 month old has been on EASY for about 7 weeks now and it has made a real improvement to the quality of our days (we've gone from no naps to some naps, 11.30 BT to c 9:30pm yay!).

We are very lucky insofar that LO has STTN from an early age but BT has always been a struggle.  Sample EASY below:

Awake 7am
E - 7-8am (Breastfeed, very slow eater)
A - 8-9/9.30
S - 9/9.30 - 11
E - 11-12 BF
A - solids 12
S - 1/1.30 - 3
E - 3-4 BF
A - 4-6
E - 6-7 BF (LO often finds it hard lasting to 7pm)
A - Solids @ 7; Bath @ 7.30ish
E - Bottle EBM c 8:30
S - by about 9/9.30pm.

Shh-Pat is helping at nap time and bedtime however LO still finds it hard to self-settle after all these weeks (LO doesn't seem interested in fingers or comfort item).  I am aware there is no CN after LO wakes at 3pm (always fights it) so it is likely to be a case of being OT at BT.  Given it takes an hour to feed, non-feeding A time ends up being restricted and we find it hard to wind down.

Going by the Baby Type quiz, LO comes out as Textbook, but we often have tears at BT and it can take 1 hr or longer to get her to sleep.  Sometimes we need to APOP by waiting until LO is practically asleep on our shoulder before putting LO in the cot.  It used to take at least 2 hours of constant screaming pre-EASY).

LO is bottom of the centile charts (only 11 lb 6 oz at 6 months, 6 lb 10 oz @ birth), so it is hard to reduce the EBM bottle as we want to ensure LO is tanked up and satisfied nutritionally (plus this seems to help keep the NW at bay).

I would love to hear your experiences or suggestions to get bedtime closer to 7pm so DH and I can have our evening back.  Given we will be increasing solids over the coming weeks, I assume the late bottle will fade out so I am considering riding out the BT kerfuffles for now (hey, I've just about made it this far).  I had thought about giving EBM at 6pm instead as LO takes this a lot quicker, but it may be detrimental to LO taking solids.

Anyone else with a 'gourmet feeder'? How long did it take for Shh Pat to help your LOs learn to fall asleep independently?  Any suggestions for tweaking the afternoon/BT routine?

Thanks all!

[michaeljacknnugg]

Is it possible to get your solids and bath into the 4-6pm time slot? I would aim to get the bedtime feed started at 6 and then do the bottle as a dreamfeed. Is that possible?

[Nosinnod]

Thanks for your reply and suggestion.  If we get LO out of cot for DF, she tends to wake up and is hard to resettle. PU/PD gets her even more wound up so we have stuck with shh-pat.  I guess I am just nervous that she won't go back to sleep and I don't want to create a new waking habit just to give her the DF when she can already sleep from 9pm to 7am.  Any thoughts?

[michaeljacknnugg]

I would be tempted to prioritise milk over solids in the afternoon/evening. So if you can, maybe put in the bottle midway between your two breast feeds instead of solids? Then put her to bed after the last bf and see what happens.

You may get her wake for a night feed, but I'd imagine that will increase her calorie intake overall. Are you open to that option, if you regain your evening?

[Nosinnod]

So would that look like:

E - 3-4pm (BF)
A 
E - 5 (say) EBM in bottle
A
E - 6-7 (BF)
A - 7 bath
S - 7.30 (fingers crossed...)

Could be worth a go.  Just feel a bit 'meh' about everything at the mo.

Thanks for your help

[michaeljacknnugg]

That sounds good to me! Why don't you try it for a week or so and see if it helps?