4 hour easy early

[staciabc]

My lo was 10lbs+ at birth. Now, at 6 Weeks she's close to 12lbs, can go 6-7 hours at night without a feed & can eat 4 Oz at a feed without any problems. She can do about an hour and an half wake time (depending on the time of day).  Is it ok to move to a four hour easy routine. Would love some opinions on this? Do you think she's just too young? Anyone else moved to a four hour feed early? She eats so much better if I wait the four hours, but I'm concerned about nutrition & sleep/wake times being so young. Thanks!

[Lolly]

Is she draining the 4oz bottles? If she is you need to add more milk to the bottle so that she can stop because she is full and not just because the bottle is empty.

It is quite common for formula babies to move to a 4 hour EASY, it usually happens around 12 weeks and the signs they are ready to extend feeds is that they aren't hungry at 3 hours.

I wouldn't move to a 4 hour EASY yet, she needs to be doing 2 hours A time for all of her A times to be able to sustain the 4 hour EASY. What will happen now is that even though she can do 1.5 hours sometimes if you push it she will get over tired and that will have an impact on night sleep and naps.

You are better of sticking to a 3 hour EASY for the next few weeks at least and increase the feeds as she will need to be taking at least 6oz a feed to sustain her on a 4 hour EASY really. That's how it works, as they get bigger and their tummies get bigger they can take more at a feed which lasts them longer so they can go longer between feeds. If you go to 4 hours too early she may not be able to increase her feed size enough to compensate for the dropped feed.

HTH!

Laura

[staciabc]

Thank you, Laura! Your reponse was so helpful! She isn't always draining the bottle (some feeds she does, some not), but she always acts content. I don't see her eating 6Oz yet for sure or sustaining a longer A.

[dovebvi]

I'm in a similar boat. My baby was 9lbs at birth and at just over 4 weeks was 12 lbs. She eats anywhere from 4-5.5oz a feed. She's good to do about 3.5 to sometimes 4 hrs between feeds but then I would end up with too long a naps- right?  She's just over 5 weeks now and her awake time is about an hour 15. I tried to stretch her awake time and it backfired and now I have an OT baby who wakes up after 30 min from naps. Any help would be appreciated. I don't want her to get too much nap time and it affect her night sleep.

[Kiwi_one]

Some babies respond really well to a 4-hour routine right from birth. Tracy obviously recommends starting with a 3hr EASY but always made things dependent on cues (including results) so if you think longer between feeds would work well, you could always try it and see.

When my 2kg not-quite-term baby was admitted to a new SCBU, they said they always put babies on a 4hr routine and just divide the same amount of food between the smaller number of feeds. So she was taking the exact same amount of milk, just spaced out differently. She thrived on that routine and literally was only doing 4 A times of 45min each in the day! So I'm not so certain that they need to sustain a particular A time to do a 4hr routine. It didn't affect her nights at all that she slept so much during the day (although admittedly she's HSL still at 13 months adjusted).

[Shdef]

DS1 was on a four hour routine, too and was always above average height and weight. He moved to a three hour one at four months. Go figure 

[nozzel]

My doctor said to feed my child every 4 hours at 7 weeks. They are well able for it. I had been feeding him move every three hours, with him draining his bottles, but it was too much for his little tummy. Now, he does EASAS.

[Lolly]

Now, he does EASAS.

That's the point really, with a baby under 4 months you really can't do EASY, it has to be something else. If you think your baby needs 4 hour feeds at this age then it's fine to do BUT they are then having less calories during the day which they may well need to make up during the night and EASY in that order just doesn't work properly.

The whole point of the age and developmentally appropriate 3 hour EASY is to help get the calories during the day rather than the night, to make sure that Eat is separate from Sleep so you don't get an eat to sleep prop and to make the day predictable. If A times are too short or too long it has a negative impact on naps which has a negative impact on night sleep. 45 mins is one sleep cycle which isn't a restorative nap.

If you want to follow Tracy's EASY pattern then it's best to *try* and stick to the 3 hour EASY until about 4 months when they are better able to stay awake for 2 hours and take more milk to last 4 hours between feeds as they will be dropping a day feed and need to make up the calories somewhere. If you want to follow your own routine then that's fine too!

I have a good friend who is a Ward Sister in a NICU/ SCBU who has said before that the 4 hour feed pattern they try to get babies onto is mainly to help the nurses, especially when the ward is full and they are rushed off their feet!

I know my DD couldn't wait more than 3 hours between feeds until about 12 weeks when she suddenly started to need 3.5/4 hours to take a full feed of about 6/7oz.

Laura

[Lcraig]

Hi there.. This is my first time posting on any baby forum! My baby is 9 weeks tomorrow and weighs nearly 12lbs. We are not following any routine except for feeding. So he feeds at 7am(5oz)/11am(5oz)/3pm(5oz)/6pm(3oz), bath @7pm followed by final 4oz. He goes down just before 8pm and will sleep until 3.30/4am when I give him 5oz. In terms of daytime naps they are not consistent. They can last between 30-120 mins. The longest bring between 12 & 2pm. So I have a few questions - if I'm to start him on EASY it would be the 4 hour one as there is no point in going backwards to feeding every three hours  -right?? Also when I put him down after his 3.30/4am feed he is asleep until about 5.30am when he starts thrashing around the bed. His eyes are closed & I can usually leave him till 6.45am like that until I know he eyes are fully open & he wants to get up but is there something I should do at 5.30 when he starts. It's becoming a pattern now that he is waking at that time. Would love some advice!