New to EASY - help on when to start the day sleep issue

[Lauramew]

Hi all so sorry but couldn't find an exact answer to my problem. After a very rocky start with awful reflux issues I have my 4 month old on a 4 hour easy. She's always been a good sleeper and as she doesn't take a DF she sleeps 7-5.45. She wakes up starving so I feed her abs she will happily go back to sleep until 8 ish but that mucks up our feeding routine.
Should I start the day at 5.45 and hope she'll extend wake up as she gets older or put her back down and wake her at 7 ish, or just leave her to sleep in?
She naps well in the day - 2 x 1.5 hours and sometimes a cat nap.
In a way I prefer it when we start the day early as although early for me at least I know where I am.

Any help would be most appreciated!!

[Shiv52]

I wouldn't start the day at 5.45 as I think you'll get stuck with it.  I would feed and resettle.  I tended to still feed on wake up but if not ready just left it for a bit. Our EAS was more like AEAS most days and it worked well. It's not unusual that they first feed is a bit messed up because of the early feed at this age.

[*Ali*]

Personally I would let her sleep. If she is going back down for another 2hrs+ then she is obviously tired. I would do what shiv recommended and just wait a bit when she wakes up before offering the feed. If you feed at 9am for example that would still give you an hour or so of A time I imagine before the next nap.

It doesn't sound like she is getting much sleep in the day if she sometimes only does 2x 1.5hr naps. At this age mine were getting 4hr30-45 mins in 2x 2hr naps plus a 30-45 min CN. That is pretty standard for a 4hr EASY otherwise their A times would have to be really quite long (1hr45-2hrs typical). If you prefer an earlier start then maybe getting her to sleep more in the day would help her need less sleep at night. Up to you of course. Personally I would love a 13hr night! 

[Lauramew]

Thanks ladies very kind of you to comment.

My only worry is that the feed time will eat into sleep time
E.g -
E 5.45

S 6.10-7.45
A
E ?? This should be 9.45 if I'm on a 4 hour routine but my LO would should already be asleep.
S 9.15

I am prob getting a bit obsessed with the 4 hour thing but it's so much easier to know when to feed is when she wakes up or a short while after she wakes up. I have had two days of letting her sleep in but it's made the day quite chaotic.
I hope that eventually that she might start waking at 7 ish herself but as this is my first baby I'm not sure if this happens??

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

If she sleeps in until 7:45 should the first nap be a little later? Maybe feed at the 3.5 hour point and just make sure there is a bit of time before the nap to avoid the association. We did EAEAS for quite awhile as DD3 had high A times and we had the same issue of feeds falling during naps so I did a top up about 20-30 min before naptime which we phased out a couple of weeks ago.

[Haribo2012]

Hi, personally if wake at 7 if that's a reasonable time for you to start the day. At LO age I wouldn't start day early or you could get into a EW cycle as LO gets older that you can't get out of.
Having said that it's really what works for you hun.

[*Ali*]

Yes on a 4hr easy the A time is typically 2hrs. I wouldn't worry if it has been 4hrs or not just whether she is hungry enough to eat. I'd probably feed around 9 and then do the nap closer to 9.45. You might get longer naps that way too.

[butterfly_x]

Hi. I don't know how good my opinion will be here as ive just started all this too however I would suggest treating the 5am start as a night wakening and get her back to sleep after the feed. My boy wakes at 6 even though id prefer 7 so I just let him have a quick feed and then I set my alarm to start my EASY day at say 7.30.. that way you can set the schedule within reason for the day.

[Lauramew]

Thank you! Do you feed him when you wake him at 7.30? So basically a top up then start the day from that time? I tried giving her a little feed at 5 this morning but as she'd slept since 7 she was so hungry. I've just topped her up so going to start the 4 hour feeding from 8.
Really appreciate you contacting me

[Layla]

I would start the day at 7am and give her a top up feed (if she takes it) and count my Es from there. If she refuses upon wake up, try an hour or so later. EASY doesn't have to be followed to a letter and as long as she isn't eating to sleep every single time, that's ok too. The other thing you could do is give her a smaller feed in the early hrs of the morning and try for a full feed when she wakes for the day.

Hth a little 

[creations]

Hi, I see you already had great advice from butterfly, paying it forward

I agree, I'd give the NF at 5am ish then put straight back to sleep and start the day at 7am (or 7.30 if you choose).  On morning WU I would feed. Don't worry that it is not a full feed at the morning WU, she is young yet so of course she wants a big feed after her long sleep, it's great that she is willing to go back to sleep after it.
So feed at the start of the day (this will top up from the night feed at 5am), just watch for hunger signs as she might not manage a full 4hrs after this, maybe 3.5hr. If she is asleep she'll likely go the 4hr if not she might need a feed a bit early and that's ok.  There are many babies this age can't manage the 4 hr E for various reasons so the routine is whatever fits best for the individual.