6 week old day is shifting - Help!

[~Jen~]

Hello,
We've been doing a loose EASY routine with my 6 week old DD2.  She is tricky with daytime naps but gives us good nights so far.  She is becoming harder to settle at bedtime and last night didn't settle until 8:30pm. This morning she was very sleepy when she woke at 6:30am - I guess technically an EW? I fed her and she was asleep before the end of her feed.  About a 35/40min A time.  Normally she has been averaging about 1hr A time.  So tonight she wouldn't settle again until 9pm.  Has she just shifted to a 9-9pm day? How do I fix it? I'm guessing she will want another really short A at 6/7am tomorrow morning as an extension of her night.  Should I try and gently push out her first A time for a few days and hope to get us back to a 7-7pm day? 

[jessmum46]

I think there are two ways to approach this really.  The first and perhaps easier way is just to do EAS cycles beginning with whenever she wants to begin her day.  Fussy evenings are very common for young babies so the want/need to get up later is very common.  Often after 8-12 weeks things become more settled and it's fairly easy to move bedtime gradually back to a more reasonable hour, and therefore start your day earlier.  However if you'd prefer to get back to a more normal 7-7 day, perhaps aim for a wake-up 'window' of say 6.30-7.30am.  If she wants to go straight back to sleep at 6.30am then let her but then maybe wake her at 7.30am to start the day?  What do you think?

[~Jen~]

Yes I think you are right she is still so little and so we are going to have those days she wants to sleep in. I like the idea of a wake-up window to give some structure to when she starts her day to fit in with DS/DD schedules as well.  She is touchy so we often have the unsettled/OT/OS evenings and BT sometimes can be very late.  After those evenings, I struggle with getting her awake for a DF (although I appreciate she is still little for this as well). Without a DF, she has been waking to feed at 2am and then 5:30am.  She isn't ready to start her day (neither am I!) but we kind of need to get going by 7:30am latest to get my others off to school etc.   Should I keep persisting with DF?  When she does feed between 10/11pm she will usually go until 3am and then wake around 6:30am.  TIA!

[jessmum46]

It's up to you with the DF really.  You do know you're not meant to wake her per se?  Though some babies just won't rouse enough to feed.....If it's not working now perhaps try slightly earlier or later to catch a different part of the sleep cycle, or give it a miss for a few weeks before trying again.  I never actually did it with either of mine, just fed when they woke x