Implementing EASY - not clear on coordinating nap times during transition

[AmberM]

Hi,
My husband and I are starting our 5m+1week old daughter on EASY. We've followed the routine loosely to date, but part of the change tomorrow is moving her from sleeping in her moving swing to sleeping in the crib. We've tried a few times to do this without success, but we're scared that as she gets older it will become even harder to remove this prop.
 
A/E - 7-7:30ish am
S - 9:00 (1-1.5h)
E - 11:00
S - 12:00 (45m-1h)
E - 2:30
S - 2:30 (45m-1h)
S - 4:30 (~30-45m)
E - 5:30
E - 6:30
E - 11:45pm (NW)
E - 5:30-6am (NW)

I've read the books, scoured the forums. I know in theory what needs to be done - transition to 4h between feedings, and lengthen her naps. We're going to use pu/pd to transition from the crib, and figured that as we're doing the swing to crib move, we might as well work on the other issues at the same time.  So, I have some questions I'm hoping for some help with.

As we start pu/pd for her first nap of the day, assuming she should have roughly a 2h awake time..her first nap would be around 9am. If she doesn't nap at all during the transition, do I wait until what should be her next nap time (so, if nap #1 is at 9, and should be 1.5h long, her next nap would fall around 12:30)? Or do I move nap#2 up since she wouldn't have slept? And if so, how far do I move it up? I've seen others mention that for a nap, after 45m of trying to take a break, then try again, but we're unclear how long the break should be. This ties into my first question on timing of all these naps during the transition.

Also for the NWs...she's pretty predictable right now for when she wakes up, but each time she's taking a full feed. I do leave her for a few minutes to ensure she is really awake and needs me - 75% of the time her crying escalates, and I feed her. She isn't falling asleep when I feed her in the middle of the night - she's actually quite wide awake after, most of the time, and goes back to sleep in her swing after I've left the room. So, I'm not sure whether to tackle the NWs right now or not - because she is taking a full feeding, and is a little small for her age, I'm tempted to continue the feedings and tackle them later, as long as they aren't props for getting back to sleep. Is that alright, or do I need to nip these off now too? I'm BFing, and struggle with supply issues, so I constantly worry that she's hungry.

Help/advice?

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi Amber and welcome to the boards!

I think there is a difficulty that you might not consider and that's with her A times.
If the 2h A time in the morning is often just 1h then she is Ut and is ready for more A time. At her age average A time is 2-2.5h (Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! ) so it might be that she is ready for more than that and that will in itself extend naps (at the same time as ST). For sure, after a full nap (1.5h) she shouldn't have less than 2h because from looking at your EASY she is UT the entire day and keeps on giving you UT naps for every nap.
The higher A time should put you on 3 naps a day at the moment, approaching slowly to the 3-2 transition (actually the 4h transition happens around 4m). You should expect to see a rise in her A times in the next few weeks/month.
More on the 3-2 transition here: All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

Regarding short naps it's right what you read. You try for 40min and when the nap doesn't happen then you take the baby out of the room for very low key A time, perhaps 10-15min and then try again. If you wait a full A time she will be extremely OT.

The other thing about PU/PD is that Tracey meant it to be a last resort tool after Shush-pat has been tried and didn't work.
It's totally up to you which method you think you'll manage better with but you need to prepare yourself either way that there WILL be a resistance as she is used to things done in a different way, that there WILL be lots of crying (but you don't leave her so she knows she can trust you to be there) and that it WILL take some time.
If you are going to do ST and then after 2-3-4 hours decide that you can't do it anymore then you let your baby cry for nothing this whole time, yk?

The NF are totally normal and would highly recommend NOT to stop with them now.
First of all your are BF and she is small - that's a reason enough. Many BF babies to STTN till much later.
Second, you are going to bring a lot of changes right now and after all she is still such a little person. Perhaps you can tackle the day first and then if you decide later on to tackle the nights then we can look at it then, but for now I'd feed IIWY.

I hope I answered all you questions. I am here if you have more or even just need hand holding through the ST.
Good luck!

[AmberM]

Thanks for the response!

Just to make sure I understand, when you say pu/pd is meant only if shush/pat doesn't work, do you mean to try to console her in the crib with shush/pat and then pick her up if she isn't calming with shush/pat?

Also, for the night wakings - if she wakes more frequently during the transition to the crib, since she was consistently feeding twice a night at predictable times, should I nurse her those times, but use shush/pat to get her back to sleep for any other wakings?

Thanks again!

[Ima shel Alon]

Just to make sure I understand, when you say pu/pd is meant only if shush/pat doesn't work, do you mean to try to console her in the crib with shush/pat and then pick her up if she isn't calming with shush/pat?

If she doesn't calm down and is very upset then you can pick her up, yes. But the way I see it is that one needs to try Shush-pat for a few days, perhaps a week and then if it doesn't work then one goes for PU/PD. Shush-pat, like PU/PD takes long to work, so one needs to give it enough time, yk?
At her age most parents have success with Shush-pat because baby doesn't find it disturbing (like later on) and can find PU/PD rather stimulating. But of course, every baby and every parent is different, so do what is right for you.

To your other question, IIWM I would feed only at the times that I used to and other NW would resettle with shush-pat. Just remember that around 6m there is a GS so she might wake up more than to eat.

[lauradj]

If I may add to this, when I do Shhh-Pat I hold T, (he doesn't like lying on his side and he often has a burp somewhere in there) and I usually start at a decent pace, about 100 bpm if you read music  and then as he calms down, I slow down. 
I actually have to do a wee bit of a bounce to catch his focus for the first 30 seconds, then I sway side to side for another 30 and then just the Shh-Pat.  I make sure to phase the extras out pretty quickly though or it's not really a Shh-Pat, I just use them to get him to focus in on the change.
I've never been able to use PU/PD with T because he gets really upset, and it doesn't really fit with his reasons for waking up.  He's also not really a crier but if he doesn't settle after 20 minutes I do Shh-Pat.  Do you read a story, set the scene, snuggle and then to bed?  I find the story and a lullaby is key to getting T to fully relax and embrace the nap.