Help with habitual waking

[Rozzyroski]

Hello,
I know this must be a common topic but was having trouble searching so am creating a new thread in hopes of getting advice from some of the veterans out there.
My little girl (4.5mo) is classic textbook and seems to respond to the EASY program but we are having a recent problem in that she wakes at 5 am every day.  recently she isnt even really hungry but she is howling from her crib and requires the bottle for one or two draws until she settles and falls back asleep.  She is a decent napper and fall asleep on her own typically, happy in her crib except when she is hungry (hungry = howling).

Other things to note, we are still using the 3 hr EASY since baby girl was/is small (10%) but are thinking of trying to transition soon.  I have some concerns about her not getting enough to eat and then doing another hungry-night wake since we used to get up at 2, 3 or 4 every night before we institute the dream feed.  but i will cross this bridge when i get there...  I also read about how to increase amount of a given feed and switched to the #2 teat which worked well.  Switching to #3 seems to cause a big does of spit up so we're sticking with #2 for now.  Any other tips on increasing amount in a feed would be helpful!

Here's our EASY:

A 5:00 wake up (not really hungry, goes back to sleep somewhat easily)
E 6:30 wake up, 4 - 5 oz
A  play, chat, bumbo, help mommy get ready for work etc
S  7:30 sleep
A  8:30 wake up & play
E 9:45 5 oz
A playtime
S 10:30  (naps start about 2 - 2.5 hr after waking)
A 12:00 (naps last 1 hr - 2 hr)
E 1:00 5 oz
A play time!
S 2:30
A 3:30
E 4:00 5 oz
A play time!
E 6:30 4 oz (we do this interim feed otherwise we dont get through our bedtime routine)
A play time!
S 7:00 (cat nap)
A 8:30 bath & bedtime routine
E 9:00 4 - 5 oz
S 9:15
E 11:00 dreamfeed

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

Hello, both my girls have been early risers so I can sympathise.  I think your dd is ready to move to a 4 hour easy. 
The early starts, short naps, and the fact she's not very hungry at 3 hours.  I can't type much as I'm on my phone but have a look at these and see what you think.

Time to Transition - 3hr, 3.5hr or 4hr EASY

Early Waking- Useful Links
3-4hr EASY Transition – In 5 Minute Increments

[Rozzyroski]

Hello, thank you for your reply.  I am starting the process of transitioning.  Fingers crossed this doesnt take us back to hungry night wakings.

I am also trying the wake-to-sleep recommendation from the Baby Whisperer Solves All your Problems.  Fingers crossed on this one.

Question - in one of the resources you recommended, it said that having too short of an Activity period after waking up in the morning can also cause problems with the routine and night wakings.  I haven't seen this in any of my reading.  Do you have an available resource for this?  or can you tell me the theory and recommend a more appropriate timeframe?
Thanks very much,
Jackie

[Skadiver13]

Hi Jackie I can't give  a pg reference but from my experience with my own lo and from all the advice I see here too short of an A time in the AM can contribute in this way.   A lo may treat the morning A time as a long NW so in essence they are treating that first nap as an extension of their night sleep.  I had this issue with my lo a few times through out the first year when transitioning from the 3 to 4hr easy and from the 2 to 1 nap transition. I had to stretch her morning A times each time to help with her EW's. Is there a reason she is taking a CN at 7 and going to bed so late?  I think this may contribute to her OT and her EW. If she wakes at 5 I would shoot for a BT of no later than 6 to help her catch up on sleep.