Getting Started

[SDBaby]

Hi, All! I'm a new member, just wanting to try the EASY method, but I don't know where to begin. Until now, my 6 month old has almost always nursed to sleep. She has at times gone down for naps without nursing. She currently gets up 2-3 times a night, sleeping 2-4 hours a stretch. I typically nurse her every time she wakes up. I would say in total, she averages about 10-11 hours a night in sleep.
During the day, she has been incredibly difficult. She refuses to nap longer than 30 minutes. It seems she's fussy/ready to go back to bed within an hour of waking, if not immediately afterward. Hence, her "A" time is tough to even stretch to 2 hours. This also makes it hard for me to feed immediately after waking, or I will be feeding her too frequently.
I'm at my wit's end, and don't know where to begin. I feel like, more than anything, I'd love for her to take better naps/be happier during the day. It's such a struggle. Any advice on how to begin tackling these problems would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[nevinsmama]

HI there! Welcome to BW. Can you post a "typical" day of when LO wakes, eats, naps and wakes and so on? Is LO an independent sleeper? Any discomfort or reflux? If you don't mind to answer these questions, I am sure we can help!

[SDBaby]

Hi. Thanks for your reply! It's hard to say our exact EASY, because it can be all over the place. I'm trying to get things in order, but it's not that easy for us. Here's a decent example of what our day might look like:

WU: 6:30-7:00-ish
E (BM)
A
S: Anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30 (she starts getting fussy/tired about an hour after being awake), normally only naps about 30-40 minutes
Y
E: (Solids and BM) Somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30, I don't normally feed as soon as she wakes up, because it hasn't been that long since her last feed
A
S: Somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00 for another 30 minutes
Y
E:Somewhere between 1:30-2:30, BM
A
S:I might get her to take an afternoon nap, but sometimes not, if so, maybe around 3:30-4:00 for another half hour
Y
E: Feed more solids around 4:30, often Breastfeed also
A:
E: Feed again (BM) right before bed, around 6:00-ish
S: Goes to bed around 6:30 or 7:00
Y
I've been doing a dream feed around 10, but she wakes up usually once before then, and we do PU/PD. After the dream feed she wakes around 2-ish, and we do PU/PD, which can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and a half. She wakes again around 4-5-ish and I feed her then put her back down for up to a couple of hours.

As you can see, our days are kind of a mess. I'm kind of finding the EASY system to be intimidating, as I don't see how we'll ever get on a reliable schedule during the day. She used to take at least one hour long nap a day if not 2-3, but she stopped doing this about a month ago. I find I can get her to take more naps if we're out running errands (sometimes she'll do 3-4 cat naps instead of the 2-3 I can get her to do at home) but that doesn't really lend itself to developing a schedule.

I think she's doing a better job of getting herself to sleep in general since we've started the PU/PD. Up until about a week ago, I exclusively breastfed her to sleep. She's adapted pretty well to this being changed.

Any ideas or advice you might be able to give would be greatly appreciated. I'd really LOVE more than anything for her to get back to taking good naps.

[nevinsmama]

Hi there! It looks to me that your LO just needs a more age appropriate routine. Try moving that A time ( this may take some doing and distraction as she WILL show sleepy/bored/ "just tired enough for a lousy nap" signs when she is used to having a nap) right up to 2.5 hours.

Good work with your PUPD! 2 NFs is good for this age.

Well done on on getting away from the feed-to-sleep, that can be tricky to change around!

Hold the new A times for several days, all changes take some getting used to, and let us know how you go. I would aim for 2 good naps ( in a prefect world) and a CN of less than 45 minutes. Last A to bed would probably for down to 2 hours or slightly less after the CN. Hope this helps and keep us posted!

[SDBaby]

Thanks. I'll try to do that, though I think we might be hitting the regression. She has a cold and was up every one to two hours last night. I did a dreamfeed at 10:00, but gave in and fed her again at 3:30, as I wasn't sure she got enough to eat during the day. Any advice on getting through the regression while the baby is sick? Should I keep trying to do everything as normal or adjust a bit? I'm a little sick as well, so this is definitely difficult...