Do you not just end up with an overtired child??

[Cnireland]

I'm trying to implement a three hour easy for my nearly 14 week old son. He woke at 7, I tried putting him down for 8.50 (he usually has awake time of 1 hr 50) but it took until 10am to get him down. I didn't wake him so he slept for 30 mins until 10.30. I'm now giving him a very short playtime and feed before trying to put him down again. The thing is he has been stuck in 30 or 45 minute naps for the past month and despite trying all the different suggestions I'm starting to think it's just a developmental stage. So my question is will I not just end up with an overtired cranky baby?? Do people really stick to the three hour schedule and wake their baby etc for the first week? And im still struggling to see how it fits with breastfeeding. I am at a point where I would do anything to get some sort of routine and would really love this to work. I guess I'm just having a few wobbles and am looking for some reassurance/advice.

[jessmum46]

Hi there no you don't have to be completely rigid about timings, that would (as you've said) lead to a lot of OT very quickly.  You can aim for roughly 3h feeds but feed sooner if needed and leave a bit longer if LO is sleeping.  EASY is not meant to be a set schedule, rather a predictable pattern of events so LO knows what is coming next.  The best things you can do are find the right awake time for your LO that allows him to settle easily and sleep a good nap, and teach him to settle independently.  1h50 strikes me as a bit too long an awake time for a 14 week old - at least for an average one.  Most three month olds would be only at around 1h20-30 - Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! . It may be by putting him down sooner you'd get better naps, though short naps are to an extent developmental as you've said.  After a short nap I would actually try a very short A time in the hope LO can settle for a longer nap and catch up. 

Did you want to keep track for a day or two of what's happening and post here to see if we can help?