For my particular 4 month LO would you suggest a 3, 3.5 or 4 hour EASY?

[katiebee18]

I used EASY with my first at 5 months and it worked pretty great seeing as he was hardly even catnapping all day long. He was a spirited/touchy type.

I am hoping it may be even easier with DS2 as I think he is mostly textbook except for being an extremely fussy and impatient nurser.

Here is somewhat of his routine now

WU and E 6-7:30
A
E 2 hours after 1st feed so usually 9ish
S this is all over the place I would say 20 mins around 9:30 and then another 20-30 at 11 or so (we are usually out at this time with DS1 who is 2)
A
E 12:30
A
S 1:00-3:00 (1.5 hours - 2.5 hours)
E 3:30
A
S 5-6 (usually a 1/2 hour and happens 2-2.5 after afternoon nap WU)
E 6:30
A
E 8-8:30 - sometims he won't really eat here, he gets mad, I think he is sometimes OT
S anywhere from 8:15-9:45 if he fights it
E between 2-5 he gets me up

Some things to note:
- Having a hard time figuring this out with my 2 year old son in the picture. He (my older son) usually goes up for nap at 12:30 and sleeps 1-3:30 ish
- I find the DF to be tough and would rather just be woken a few hours later. Pumping is very tough for me.
- He will not take a bottle
- He gets very impatient for let down, sometimes he will skip a feeding (not happily) as he gets so mad about it but I usually think that is when he is very tired
- He currently is swaddled in the bassinet. I just did 1 arm out today but he will be moving to his own room and crib this weekend possibly with no swaddler.
- I put him to sleep now by holding him and patting his butt or arm. I usually APOP about 2-4 times to extend afternoon nap and that mostly is my hand on his tummy and putting in his paci. Sometimes I hold him in a chair for a few minutes.

Thanks for any starting advice you can offer!!!

[jessmum46]

Hi there, sorry you've had no replies yet.

Are you hoping for your two LOs to be down for a nap at the same time in the afternoon?  What commitments do you have to be out of the house in the mornings?  Just helps when thinking about the routine

It's fine not to do a dreamfeed - we never did.  But if you did want to do one there's no need to pump or use a bottle - you can just feed straight from the breast if LO will latch on.

A 3/3.5/4h EASY is really determined by how much A time your LO can handle followed by how long they nap.  It doesn't have to be quite as rigid as the name suggests - so it could be 3h in the morning and 3.5h later on, or any other combination.  Typical A time at four months is 1h45-2h (that's eyes open to eyes closed) so rather than thinking about exact times between feeds, I would instead concentrate on feeding when he wakes for the day, having some A time, winding down when he shows tired signs (one eye on the clock just to check you're in the right kind of ballpark) and then aiming for a good 1.5h or more nap.  Then starting again with a new EAS cycle when he wakes.  However you may need to adjust the routine a little if you are hoping for a long lunchtime nap overlapping with DS1 which is where knowing your plans will help.

A couple of things I do notice from what you posted though - some of the gaps between his feeds are really quite short.  Does he feed well each time?  I'm just wondering if in fact the cues you're seeing are tired cues and he's using the feed to soothe rather than because he's really hungry?  His bedtime is also pretty late, normally we'd aim for around a 12h day at this age.  So if WU is 6-7.30 then BT probably needs to be closer to 7pm to prevent too much OT. 

What do you think?

[katiebee18]

Thanks Jess! And congrats on the upcoming bundle.

We really don't have any scheduled things to do on a daily basis but I like to get out of the house from like 9:30-11:30 if we can and do grocery shopping/errands and then something fun like a park.

I think I will try to do a nap before I feed Luke for the second time after waking, that is probably throwing us off.

He eats okay I guess, sometimes he gets mad and won't eat much but lately he seems to be eating well since I have mostly stretched him to 3 hour feedings.

BT today at 7:45 so a little better but he really only took a 10 min catnap so he NEEDED it.

Thanks for your help!