Moving to the 4 hour EASY at 19/20 weeks with lots of short naps

[katkniep]

Hi there

My LO (19 weeks) has suddenly started waking up every 1 - 2.5 hours after midnight, waking earlier in the mornings and crying when i try to put her down for naps and generally being miss grumpy pants. She is taking a lot of milk through the night. She was, until a couple of weeks ago only waking at 1-2am and 4-5am for feeds and was easier to put down.

ATM she's been averaging 1hr 30-40 A time. I've been getting more successful with extending her short naps, but they still average at 35 mins-45 mins. WU is between 7-8am and BT is between 7-8pm (thank you ). DF at 10.30-11pm.

She's now 19 almost 20 weeks old, so i'm starting the transition to the 4 hour EASY and i'm confused by the schedule on P230 from BWSAYP, and I'm a bit scared about extending the A time when she often has such short naps!

I've started to move her E time by 15 mins (i'm on day 1) and this morning she had a 1.75 A time but the rest of the day 1.5hrs. She was totally tired after 1hr10 mins every time! She had no problem waiting the extra 15 mins for the feeds.

How do i go about this when her naps are so short?
Every 3-4 days increasing the feed time by 15 mins until it reaches 4 hours and also at the same time work at increasing the first A time till it reaches 2 hours then work on the next A time and repeat as detailed here?: Time to Transition - 3hr, 3.5hr or 4hr EASY.
Or extend the first A time by 15 mins for a few days, then the 2nd A time for 15 mins for a few days etc. Then start from the first A time again when i've extended all awake times by 15 mins? (I think this is what is meant by the quote on that page?) This sounds maybe more plausible?

As she's a sensitive baby, PU/PD is a little too much for her, she tries to self sooth by turning her head left and right and mumbling but she does use a pacifier and i hold my hand on her chest and her little hand whilst sshing.

Thanks for your help! 

[creations]

It's possible to shift her E times without necessarily extending A times too much. Yes your EASY may not look like the example but that's fine.
If you are working on extending the naps you might need a longer A time anyway, it's really hard to extend an UT nap. Try some change of scene, move to a different room or change activity for the A time extension to distract her a bit, at this age they are more alert and the sleepy cues can actually be a sign of boredom rather than proper tiredness. They can also be in the habit of sleeping after only an hour or so and ready themselves for the nap time even though they are not fully tired, just because it is the known routine/habit.
You will probably find if you push the A time up 15 mins she will adapt after about 3 days then you can push again.

Track E and A/S times to help you.  If you write down the time of first WU and E then add your individual amount of time up to the next S and next E you will be able to judge if they are going to fit together. If you see an E and S about to clash just feed a little earlier for that one, you only need a minute or so A time between E and S if the times come close together.  Your EASY may look more like EASAEAS, that's fine.
hth

[katkniep]

Hi That's a very good point about extending naps and being UT!
I track absolutely everything in my total baby app, it's fantastic and i'd be lost without it!

Should i be working on extending only one A time every few days (and ending up with the first A time at 2hrs and every other at 1.5hrs), or like the quote says on that page:

For instance, after the first three days observation, you would work on extending your lo's first awake time by 15 minutes.  Then, after that is working, you would extend the second awake time.

So for eg: A time of 7-8.30 increase to 8.45 for three days, then after three days 9.30-11.00 would increase to 11.15 for three days until i've worked through all the A times and they're all 15 mins more. Then i would start again at the first A time and increase that for 15 mins.

Hope i'm making sense

Kat x

[creations]

I think it's quite individual which way you tackle it and depends how long the naps end up.  I increased all A times at once but my DS's first A time was always longer than the others. So you could end up with a 2hr first A and the others being shorter, 1hr 45 and 1hr 30 - it really depends on what suits your LO and if there are other things in the day which determine nap times too (like shopping trips or mum and baby groups etc).
On the other hand some LOs like a shorter first A time but are happy (and need) a longer second and third A time so if you waited for the first A to get to 2hrs before shifting the others you might never shift them and result in UT naps in the afternoon.

Sorry, it's not a cut and dry answer. It does depend on if your LO likes a long or short first A or if they like all the As equal through the day.  That's why EASY is a routine based on individual needs.

[katkniep]

Ahh gotcha Many thanks for your help again x

[creations]

See how it goes with the A increases and if you find yourself stuck somewhere post again