Need help starting EASY

[Mcgrad2003]

Hi Everyone!  I'm new to the BW forums.  My daughter is 4 months old, and I'm having a hard time starting EASY.  I wasn't sure where to post this.  I have read most of Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.

I want to do the routine below from the post Topic: chronological EASY samples, 4-6 months
The first problem I'm having is that my baby is waking up between 5:45 and 6:00.  A few weeks ago she was waking up around 7:00, which was awesome!  The second problem I'm having is that she is taking very short morning naps, like this morning was only about 30 minutes!  Then, by the time it's time to feed her again it's time for her nap afterwards.  And that never works because then I need to change her 2-3 times while trying to get her to sleep.  I don't even know where to start correcting all of this.     Please help!  Any advice is welcome!  Thanks in advance.

4 hour EASY
2 hour A time
two-2 hour naps + one catnap
Total daytime sleep: 4 hr. 40 min.
Total nighttime sleep: 10 hrs. 45 min to 11 hrs. 15 min.)

Here is Joey's schedule at 14 weeks.  I don't wake him unless I'm protecting his third catnap or bedtime.  I also don't do a DF.

wake up anywhere from 7-7:30 but I try to not feed until 7:30
E 7:30
A
S 9:20-11:30
E 11:30
A
S 1:30-3:30
E 3:30
A
S 5:30-6:00
E 7:00
A Bath
E 7:45ish (just an ounce or two to make sure he goes to sleep not hungry)
S 8:15 p.m. asleep

If he wakes up early from a nap, we have A time before E.  If he wakes up late, everything is pushed back ... basically he just always goes down two hours after waking up.

Posted by: Carmela’s mom-August 29, 2006

[anna*]

Hi there! So what are you ending up with, can you post a day in EASy format? If you're getting 30 mins Napa she's likely a bit overtired and needs just a tad less A time.

[Mcgrad2003]

Thanks for your help!  We have been going closer to 4 hours between feedings, but today has been closer to 3.  I breastfeed.  Everything seems all over the place, but today it has gone like this:
5:40 awake
6:00 E
6:30 A
7:30 S
8:10 A
9:00 E (just the right side bc I wanted to give her more of a snack so we could hurry up and try a nap again, could tell she was already OT)
10:15 S
11:00 A white noise went off, she woke up right after.  I won't set the timer for naps now.
12:00 E
12:30 A
1:20 S
4:00 E
4:30 A and now it is 5:00 and we're still on A.
She's been doing great at night.  I do a DF at 10:00, then she usually wakes up anywhere between 1:45 and 2:30 to eat.  But then we have the too early awake time.

Yesterday went like this:
5:45 awake
6:00 E
6:30 A
7:30 S
8:15 A (woke up, wet diaper)
9:15 E (right breast)
9:40 A
10:10 E (left breast)
10:40 S
I have to run, but I will post the rest of the day tomorrow!

[becj86]

At this age, its still reasonable to feed at that 5am-ish waking and put down for more night sleep... If you're worried about compromising the first feed of the day, you can just feed from one side instead of both.

She's waking from the first morning nap at 40 and 45min - this is more likely UT than OT or just plain old "can't make it through from one sleep cycle to another" which is quite normal for this age and can also be related to overstimulation. For this, you can try hold through the jolts by going in at 35min and holding/shushing or whatever til she is into the next sleep cycle or a slight increase in A time.

WRT white noise - best to run it through the whole nap or not at all - these ones that stop after the first sleep cycle aren't helpful, as just when LO is getting to that transition from one sleep cycle to the next, their environment changes and they wake to check it out.

What's bedtime??

[Mcgrad2003]

Okay, I finally logged back on!  Things have been going better.  Yes, Anna it did seem that she was overtired.  I have been paying more attention looking for yawns and rubbing her eyes so I don't miss that small window. 

We had 4 wonderful nights in a row where she was sleeping through the 2am feed and doing between a 5-6.5 hour stretch of sleep!  Then the last 3 nights she's been waking up at 2am to feed again, but the wake up time has been much better.  Bedtime is around 8:15 and asleep around 8:30.  Also, the last 3 nights we have moved her so she is in the pack 'n play in our room instead of she & I in the guest room.

I've been writing things down until we get to the afternoon.  Maybe I'll print out some of the logs from this site.  That may make it easier.  I swear I'm tempted to record it all on a darn excel spreadsheet!  I just really want to get more consistency!

Today has gone like this so far:
6:15 awake
6:30 E
6:45 A
7:15 S
8:45 A
9:45 E
10:10 A
10:45 S

Yesterday was: (long naps!)
6:30 E
7:00 A
7:50 S
10:15 E
10:45 A
12:15 S
3:00 E
3:20 A
4:30 S catnap in car
5:00 A
6:00 E
6:30 A
8:15 down for bed
8:30 S

Any input is much appreciated!  Thanks in advance.

[anna*]

I mean, lets be realistic - most 4 months aren't consistent in anything except their inconsistency ;P

You could try moving her bedtime earlier - at this time we're really looking for a 12 hour day/night, and the late bedtime is giving her a really long A time after her catnap.

[Mcgrad2003]

Yes, this is true!  One problem I'm having is doing the evening CN.  So, I'm going to keep working on that.  DH thinks that we had the later WU times when she went to bed a little later (closer to 9).  Last night we started an 8:30 put down for bed time, & will continue that for a few days to see what happens.  Them will adjust if need to. 
Another problem I'm having is that sometimes she's still taking short naps (30-45 mins).  Assuming this is because she still gets OT.  I try to avoid it all costs bc she turns into little miss cranky pants, but sometimes it just happens. The main problem with that is that frequently the next feed time will coincide with the start of the next nap time.  How do you correct it & get back on track?  I end up feeding her when it's only been 3 hrs instead of 4 because she needs to be upright for a little while after feeding & so I can change her.

[Mcgrad2003]

Someone please help!  We are still just all over the place and I don't know how to fix it. 

[anna*]

What's the main problem you're struggling with now?

[Mcgrad2003]

Hi Anna! Thanks for your reply.  I guess the main problem is the wake up times that are all over the place. it seems like she's ready for naps about 1.5 hrs after waking. So I try to follow that throughout the day. However today & yesterday mornings were the same. she woke up around 5:15, I fed her & put her back to bed. Then she woke up at 8:15, which was awesome!
If I try to follow the schedule that I posted below maybe I should feed her less at 5ish like the previous suggestion, & maybe set the alarm for like 7:15? Or maybe just adjust the schedule to reflect 8ish wake time.

[anna*]

She's still so very young it is totally expected for wake up to be inconsistent. You can either start EASY from whatever time she wakes (after 6am), or you can choose to wake her at say 7am if she is not already awake. Either way is fine, whatever suits your family better. Personally I never woke my daughter if she wanted to sleep in - sometimes it meant we would skip the catnap so as to not push bedtime later.

[Mcgrad2003]

Thank you.  I think I have just been overthinking everything way too much!  I'm happy to report that nap & betimes have been going so much better just in the last few days.  I've been putting her down & leaving the room (was kind of afraid to do that before bc I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing CIO.  She has been falling asleep pretty fast!  That is making everything else much smoother & less stressful.  I think eventually a schedule will just kind of fall into place.  Today & yesterday we have had a consistent wake up time of around 7:15 :-). Of course if she wants to go back to 8ish that is fine with me too, lol.  Thanks again.