Hello!
I have just started my LO on EASY 3 days ago and things are mostly going well except that we are having some big issues with her morning nap. I would really, really appreciate any advice/insights as to what I could be doing better.
LO is 5 ½ months old (born prematurely, adjusted age 4 months 1 week) and is a two-thirds Textbook and one-third Touchy baby. She has never been on any kind of routine before. I am following the 4-hour routine with feeding times at 7, 11, 3, and 7 (+ dreamfeed) and nap times at 9, 1, and a catnap in the late afternoon.
In the mornings, LO wakes up between 7 and 7:30 and I feed her. By about 8:15, she starts showing signs of getting tired (slows down, looks away, yawns, and then starts rubbing her eyes). That’s when I start our wind-down routine (looking out the window in my arms, talking to her softly, lowering the shades, and walking around her nursery a bit) which takes us about 10-15 minutes. Then I put her down and she usually manages to put herself to sleep by about 9. The problem starts right before 10 when she wakes up (crying and unhappy) and can’t go back to sleep. She starts crying really hard, and there is no way of calming her in her crib, so I’ve had to do PU/PD for at least an hour, until her 11 o’clock feeding time, every day. So basically she only has a 45 min nap. (She also wakes up in the middle of her afternoon nap but usually settles after 10 min. of PU/PD.)
The problem is that after an hour of crying, LO is extremely tired, and it’s difficult for me to keep her up long enough during the following cycle which makes it really hard to stick to the routine time slots. (I know that in her book Tracy encourages flexibility but warns against it during the training phase, so I’ve been trying very hard to stick to it.)
What should I be doing differently so that my LO doesn’t have to cry her heart out as soon as her first sleeping cycle is over and can actually stay asleep for the whole 1 ½ - 2 hours? Should I extend her A time in the mornings despite the fact that she is clearly tired? I’m also aware of the wake-to-sleep method, but I’ve been a bit reluctant to try it as LO wakes up very easily and I’m afraid that it will only make things worse. But maybe I should give it a go anyways – how much worse can it get?
I’d be extremely grateful for your comments and advice!