In such a muddle and really need help!

[ClaireWizz]

Hi

I'm new to this so please bear with me! My DD is 12 weeks old and I've been trying to implement a 3 hour EASY with her since she was 6 weeks. Initially this was going well in terms of 3 hourly feeds but she's never been a great napper! Will only ever sleep for an hour tops.  I've found myself over the last week following more of an EASASE routine, and her feeds are now more 4 hourly as she's happy to go that long and if I try to feed her at 3 hours, she'll only take about 3oz, whereas waiting 4 hours she'll happily polish off a full 6oz bottle. When I had my first child he was textbook and took to EASY straight away, which meant he slept through from 11 weeks. DD will sleep from approx 7pm until 1/2am, take a full feed and then will wake every 3 hours thereafter. I'm finding it so difficult establishing a successful routine whilst also having to entertain a 3 year old. I feel bad that I can't give my DD as much attention with regards her routine as I did my DS 
I guess what I'm asking is how to implement EASY with a second child and how can I get out of the EASASE routine I seem to be in, and is 4 hours between feeds acceptable at this age, as I know Tracy promotes 4 hourly EASY from 4 months.
Any help, advice, reassurance would be much appreciated!!! 
Thanks x

[creations]

Hi and welcome to BW forums

Sounds like you've followed baby's cues on moving to 4hr E and if that is how she eats better then that's what I'd do too. I've always thought there is a slight ambiguity in the 4hr EASY as in one part of Tracy's book I think it reads "in the fourth month" which would be between 12-16 wks roughly (rather than "at" 4 months) but as BW is about individual babies and their needs it doesn't much matter so long as LO is eating well.
EASAE is fine if she is short napping. You could post your current EAS times for us to look at, see if a tweak on times would help to extend those naps.
I honestly don't know how anyone copes with more than 1 LO...but it must be possible
Have you seen this
And then there were two...
There are a couple of stickies on that board which might be useful
Implementing EASY for the 2nd child was SO worth it!!
Ideas for how to sleep train and deal with naps with #2

hope this helps

[ClaireWizz]

Hi Creations

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I've noted down my LO's routine for today, and it goes a little something like this;

E - 7:30am (6oz)
A - 7:45 - 8:30
S - 8:30 - 9:30 (fell asleep in the car, otherwise doubt she'd have napped so early)
A - 9:30 - 11:00
S - 11:00 - 11:30

E - 11:30 (6oz)
A - 11:45 - 1:15pm
S - 1:15 - 2:20
A - 2:20 - 3:30

E - 3:30 (6oz)
A - 3:45 - 4:40
S - 4:40 - 5:20
A - 5:20 - 7:00

E - 7:00
Bed 

Hope this makes sense! Having actually written her routine down today, it's just highlighted to me her need to EASAS, due to having short naps, but her activity time is too varied throughout the day, which is probs my main problem!!!   
I'd greatly appreciate any input to try and correct where I'm going wrong.

Thanks 

[creations]

Those naps of roughly an hour long may be a little UT.  You have the first A at 1hr, and later on there's an A of 2hr 20, that might be because she was in the car or it might be because she prefers a shorter first A time (some LOs do) - you will likely know the answer to this based on what your usual days look like.  A times don't all have to be equal through the day but it's something to aim towards if you don't know what her preference is. Some LOs do better with a shorter first A, longer later on, some do better with a longer first A and shorter later on.
Either way I'd suggest trying an A time increase.
If you usually do 1hr first A increase to 1hr 15 - but if you usually do 1hr 30 then I'd increase to 1hr 45 (hope that makes sense).
For subsequent A times I'd do 1hr 45.  See how you go for a few days and then possibly increase by another 10 or 15 mins.

It's a bit of guess work to begin with but a little longer A should help with the nap length.
I would continue to record your EAS times whilst you are tweaking the routine so you can see any patterns emerging.  maybe keep a short note if she woke happy/crying or was happy/grouchy during A time, if you were able to get her back to sleep after a short nap etc.

let us know how it goes