Starting EASY with a 7 month old

[calebsmomma]

hi! This is baby #3 for DH and me. We've used the bw book with our older 2 and now I'm needing help with our newest LO.  I am feeling quite overwhelmed and I'm not sure where to  start. The easiest way I can think of doing this is listing our issues and our current routine and maybe get input.
So here is where we are:
#1. She is pretty much setting the routine-we nurse on demand, she falls asleep when tired, etc. this is failing miserably. 

#2. She won't take naps longer than 45 minutes.

#3. She wakes every 1-2 hours through the night. DH attempts to get her to sleep. We give up and she sleeps next to me.

#4. Every attempt at getting her on routine ends ups thwarted by teething, constipation, a cold. Can we just push through something like that or wait for it to pass?

I started in earnest yesterday in implementing EASY and the biggest challenges thus far are: her morning nap (she cried for over an hour), not nursing on demand (i've been distracting her and giving her finger foods to snack on), and bedtime. I'm not 100% sure what our evenings should look like . Yesterday she was exhausted and took a little catnap around 5 pm. Should I encourage that at this age (almost 8 months)? I'm also thinking that a slightly earlier bedtime might be in order, but then we won't be on a4 hour EASY.  Also, dream feed - yes or no? I'm thinking her night wakings are habit not actual hunger.
Okay, that was my sleep-deprived ramblings for help!  Thanks

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi there!

All the issues you experience now can be changed but they are going to take a while and they are going to take EFFORT. It's not just going to happen by itself.
You know her best - what would be better, tackling all the issues at once or doing one step at a time?
How does your day looks like now? When is she waking up in the morning, how long are her A times, when are her naps and how long is she napping at each nap? When is BT? Is she going down ok or fighting? How are you settling NW? Does she sleep in her own room? Do you use white noise? And how are solids going?

Sorry, many many questions but I would need a bit more information to try and give advice. Meanwhile you can have a look here: chronological EASY samples, 7-9 months how her day should approx. look like.

[calebsmomma]

I had tried to put our day into an EASY format, but we have no routine past wake-up time. She typically wakes around 6-7 am. I try to get her to nap around 9 (I'm also homeschooling my older boys trying to synch our routines!) She used to go down fine. I'd hold her and lay her down awake. She's turn over & sleep  she hasn't been napping regularly for at least a month, maybe more. I usually get frustrated and give up. Then she is cranky all day.  I got her to nap yesterday (only in the afternoon. Today she took a morning nap, but nothing in the afternoon.  I also stretched out her nursing sessions today & yesterday.  Right now, we are getting 2-4 hrs. of sleep at night. I feel like a basket-case. I'm pretty much ready to do the whole overhaul at once.
She loves solid food, but we're constantly dealing with constipation. I'm pretty much doing every "laxative" type food. 
She wakes up like clock work at night. She falls asleep rather easily, but is always up at 9 pm. Again at 11...etc. Our aim right now is getting her back to sleep without nursing (although she rocky stays awake even if I nurse her).
she has been in our room, but I moved her today to my walk-in closet (we're short on space!). I haven't tried any white noise. She seems to sleep better with just a little light coming in the room.
Up until now, we'd just set her in her little chair and wait for her to sleep & she'd never sleep long stretches.  Although, I had her on a routine as a newborn (she adapted quite easily) and she slept through the night. Its been gradually getting worse & worse the last 2-3 months.   
Sorry for any typos, I'm on my phone.
Thanks!

[Ima shel Alon]

It's really hard for me to help if I can't see a specif A time and how long is the nap that follows it - 35min? 45min? 1h?
I think it's great that you are making progress with spacing the feeds, I know how hard it is.

It's really important to be consistent at times one tries to figure out A times. It's good if you could set a certain A times, say 2.5h A time, stick with it for 4 days and then increase it gradually by 10min. You stick with it again for 4 days and if you still get short naps then you can increase it again by 10min. the reason we always give those 4 days is because we want to prevent OT and this is also how long it usually takes a baby to get used to a new A time.
At 7m she should be doing around 3-3:15h A time (but can't jump to it from doing 2h A time) and when you increase gradually by 10min then you can find out exactly what is her A time (as it can 2:55h or 3:10 or even longer than that for high A needs babies).
After you figure out her A time then you can go back (if you wanted to) to watching cues because you will know approx. what her A times need to be like in order for you to get a good nap out of her.
I believe that when her A times are right and her naps are better then your night will be better as well.

How are you settling the NW? Are you doing PU/PD?

[calebsmomma]

Hmmm, I'm going to try to put our routine down. It varies from day to day.
E wake up around 6:30 nurses, sometimes falls back to sleep for 30 minutes
A 6:30/7 am - 9/9:30 eats breakfast
S (if I'm lucky) 9:30-10:15

E  when she wakes up & when she fusses to be nursed changing to every 4 hours
A 10:15-12or1
S try to get her to sleep in afternoon, sometimes will sleep if nursed or if I lie down and nap with her. Maybe an hour.
E upon waking from nap (maybe 2)
A 2-5
S may take a small catnap around 4 or 5 pm (falls asleep while nursing)
 E 6/6:30
A bedtime routine, pjs bath, maybe read with her brothers
S no later than 7
NW are currently like clock work, every 2 e night. I'm not doing true PU/PD. I consider it success at this point that she falls asleep at all without nursing or being in my bed. I just hold her  quietly (no lights on, no talking, bouncing, etc). Until she falls asleep (much crying on her part). My hope in all this is to get her on a 4 hour EASY routine.   Something like this:
E 6:30/7 am
A 7:15-9/9:30
S 9:30-10:30
E 10:30/11
A 11:15-1
S 1-2:30 (or so)
E 2:30/3
A 3-4/5
S (catnap if needed) 4/5
E6:30
A bedtime routine
S sleep until morning. 
 Of course thats just an outline, she.may not fit those times perfectly...
I'd like it #1 she'd go down easily for naps (at least easier, not this nursing and bouncing and an hour later I just give up. #2 she'd sleep at night.
Thanks for the input!

[calebsmomma]

I just reread your reply and I'll try starting tomorrow to see how long she's up between naps. I think I almost wait too long (until she's actually fussing) to lie her  down. For instance, last night she woke up at least 3 times. However each time she's up crying for at least 30 minutes. Then she was awake at 6:30 am. She took a nap around 9:45-10:30. Thats her only nap. She didn't nap after. Not that we didn't try!  She's quite cranky when she's awake...

[Ima shel Alon]

Looking at your EASY, even the one you are aiming for, her A times look quite short to me. She should be having a bit more than 3h right now as A time, aiming for 2 naps of 1.5h each and no CN.
It sounds like the NW are caused because of not enough A time during the day (so UT) and because you have changed things so drastically for her in the last few days. I am not saying that you did it wrong - I thing you are doing awesome! but she will need some time to settle into all these new things as 7m (which is her entire life) things have been different, yk?
I would keeping on pushing A times, gradually and slowly and I think it will help with the NW. That and that she will get used to not being fed during the night any more.

I know it's exhausting, I have been there myself, but as someone looking from the side - YOU ARE DOING GREAT, MOMMY!

[calebsmomma]

Thanks so much for the input!  We had about
50\50 week. But she has adjusted really well. I think the hardest thing right now is getting her down for naps when tired, but not overtired. Sometimes that is an hour - 3 hours of A time. I have noticed abig difference in nights when her days are on track. It just seems like there's always something to get us off track! Thanks again. I def feel less overwhelmed 

[Ima shel Alon]

I am happy to hear that.

I found that after about 5m sleepy cues were not so reliable for us anymore and I had to find the exact right time to put DS for his nap looking at the clock and not cues.