help...need to start easy wih 6month old

[toscacat]

So lo is 6months old and still wakes at night for a feed but it can be hit and miss.  Last night he fed at four but I am not convinced he was hungry.  I wonder if his wakings are due to lack of routine but how do I start when his wake up times are different each day as this puts the routine out completely.   He self settles with minimal amount of fuss and his a times are between 2-3hrs.having introduced solids it's all a bit wonky!
My ideal day looks like this
E 0600 breast feed
S 0620-0730
E 0800 porridge
A 0830-0930
S 0940-1110 (sometimes will only be a forty min nap though)
E 1130 breast although not really bothered
A 1135-1230
E 1230 - solids
A 1300-1400 will offer breast about 2 if didnt feed midmornig but not fed to sleep
S 1400-1600
E 1630 breast feed
1700 solids
A 1700-1830
1830 bath and breast
put down in cot about 1900 asleep between 1900-1930

If the naps have been shorter bath starts 3 hrs after wakeup from last nap as otherwise he is too tired
 Then nw can either be 2230ish and then nothing til 6am or a 2am feed and 6am last night we had 0400 and 0730.

As u can see its all over the shop.  Ideally I would like to start the day at 0730-0800 and bathtime start around 1830 or after. 

All naps and sleep he goes to sleep independently.   I take him upstairs draw curtains place in sleep bag with his taggie play his musical bear (which last about two mins) and walk out shutting the door.  He may moan for upto 15 mins but more often it is five mins so settling isnt the problem.
How much day sleep should he get?

sorry for the rambling and hope it makes sense

[creations]

You can work a routine on varying morning WU time, just note the time of WU and start your day there working out his ideal A time to nap and 4hrs between milk feeds. I would suggest BF on WU rather than the solids breakfast, then give the solids an hour later. Milk is very important at this age and up to 12 months and it looks like he doesn't have much interest in the mid morning BF, if he isn't getting enough milk in the day he is more likely to wake at night for it.  Every day doesn't have to look identical, in fact the activities you do can have higher or lower stimulation each day, each A time, which is why EASY is a routine and not a fixed time schedule, sometimes LO will be more tired, sometimes less so.
When you introduce solids it does feel like things go a bit off track because of all the extra Es in the day, just focus on the milk Es and fit the solids roughly an hour later. It can also feel like you are constantly feeding between milk and solids but that will ease up as you settle into the routine and as LO becomes more efficient at handling the solids meals. There is no requirement to feed 3 solids meal yet either.

Sleep needs vary from LO to LO
Typical Amounts of Day and Night Sleep
You might liek to look at some sample routines to see how others days look
Sample EASY Routines from 0 - 13mths+

hth

[toscacat]

Thank you that is very helpful...I did try feeding at wu but he wasnt really interested which is why I went with porridge made with 2oz of breastmilk but I shall definitely give it a go as he isnt really into his mid morning milk so somehow I need to get more into him.  I should have said earlier that the hv were concerned about his weight so the three meals are on their advice but he seems to take so little milk now it cant be good. if I let him I am sure he would only want three milk feeds in he day but I offer more than that...I shall concentrate on 4hourly milk feeds and add solids in after and see if that helps. Should I be capping his naps...he did 90mins then only managed a 2.2hr a time before having a 2.15hr nap.  Some day's he will easily do three hrs awake so should I be trying to push him to the three with low stimulation a? Sorry for all the questions  I am just so confused.

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

There's far more nutritional value to milk. Up to one year, solids should just be an extra, milk is more important.

[creations]

Totally agree that milk is more nutritional. Solids can fill their tummy too much with fewer calories than the milk provides, not sure why your HV was encouraging more solids rather than focusing on the milk.

There's no need to cap naps if your days and night are going well, one of the patterns for a 4-6 month baby is 2 naps of 2 - 3 hrs each rather than 3 naps. There may be times of the day when he can manage a longer A and other times of the day he likes it a bit shorter, and that's ok too so long as you are able to figure out the best routine for him/you. So, yes you could gently move up towards a 3hr A now but it is not a necessity, it's more important and helpful to work on what suits him to have him sleeping and feeding well.  You might want to look at this:
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months