Help with adjusting EASY

[Vee119]

My DD is 11wo and EBF (although was on formula exclusively for 2weeks stopping 5 days ago).  We started sleep training 3 days ago and although naps are now working pretty well with less ssh/pat required, bedtime and nights are a challenge but I'm not sure where in my EAS I'm going wrong.  Please take a look and let me know where I may make adjustments.

Day 1
Up 6:30
E 6:30
S 8:15 - 9:30 took a while to go down
E 9:35
S 10:35 - 11:50
E 12:30
S 1 - 3 woke her
E 3:30
S 4:25 - 5:05 couldn't resettle so did bath time
E 5:15 bath
S 6:10 - 6:50 woke up crying, didn't try to resettle
E 6:50
S 7:50 -8:55 then at 9 (took 40mins of crying so I fed her at 7:45)
DF 10
NW 12:15am (poop lights on so was up until 2 -I tried shpat from 1 to 1:55 when I fed her), 5 (fed her)

Day 2
Up at 7
E 7:15
S 8:10 - 10 woke her
E 10:15
S 11:10 - 1 woke her
E 1:10
S 2:10 - 4 woke her
E 4:05
Started 4s at 4:50 and she was crying before I got to the swaddle part and kept up the angry cry so I fed her (I feel like I took a step backward here but she was just so upset to even hear my ssh!)
E 5:15
S 5:20 - 6:05
E 6:10
Bath
S 7:40- 8:35but not without a lot of crying starting from when I tried to put her in her sleep sack.  I fed her at some point
DF 10:30 since I fed her at 8:35
NW 12:35, 1:40 (seemed to have bad gas pain) I fed her...too tired , 2:40 eventually gave her gripe water, then fed her at 3:10. She resettled on her own and fell asleep at 4

Day 3 goal was to extend A times
Up at 7:10
E 7:15
S 8:20 - 10 woke her
E 10:10
S 11:15 - 1 woke her
E 1:10
S 2:15 - 4 woke at 3:10 but resettled
E 4:10
S 5:20 - 6:05 I fed her to avoid missing this nap because she started crying as soon as we got into the room and I assumed she was OS from the goings on at DD1's birthday party
E 6:10
Bath. Started showing tired signs - flailing arms - while getting dressed around 6:40 and started crying before I put her in her sleep sack. Tried shpat for 20mins she kept dozing and waking up angry
E 7:30
S 7:40 - 8 woke up angry but resettled easily.  As I write this, she is still squeaking a little and I'm not sure if it's gas pain again...why does gas act up so much at night?!?

There seems to be a lot of hard crying that happens around bed time and I can't figure out if she is OT or UT and I feel like I keep caving in and feeding her which isn't helping either of us in the long run. Help please.

[becj86]

Ok, so her naps are loads better when she has a shorter A time which is consistent with her age - really her A time should be around about 1:10 - 1:20 or so, that's including feed and wind down, etc - likely to increase up to 1:30 in the next couple of weeks and 2hr by 4 months or so.

Early evening/BT crying can be very normal with little babies this age, the witching hour is nasty but normal though I do think she's probably a bit OT by that hour. Provided its not happening all day, I'd say it should start to reduce in time. A time to BT is probably too long off a CN - really you'd have time from WU from CN to BT to have a bath and a feed. I know that's probably incredibly tricky with another child in the mix.

Gas at night... Its because you have more milk at night than during the day, simply put, your body is resting and able to make milk so it does. You may notice you're more engorged before night feeds and that waking about an hour after the NF is almost always gas pain Its well worth trying lying back to feed or expressing a bit to reduce the flow so she can cope with it better. Its also important to burp her well before she goes back to bed.

Hugs xx You're doing well.

[Vee119]

Thank you!

Last night was the best we've had in weeks. DF at 10:15 although she was semi awake, and NF at 1 and 6 ( should we have started the day here instead of going back down and waking at 7?).  The first nap today went a bit wonky (A time of 1.5hr) but hopefully we will catch up later and have another good night.

How much A time is reasonable after CN? I thought 45mins (which is when she seemed tired) was too short so I extended it, but maybe after CN it's appropriate?? 

Burping is a huge challenge!  We spent 20mins trying after NF.  It seems like every time a burp is coming, she is in pain. She arches her back and cries and it never comes out. All this invariably wakes her:(. Usually I give up after 10mins and hope it keeps coming out the other end which it seems to all night.  I will try lying down tonight to see if that helps.

Thanks again!

[becj86]

Yeah, 45min is about right after a CN at this age. Really up til 3 months, they need that 12hr night (with feeds) and about as much day sleep as awake time. That A time extends pretty rapidly through the month between 3 and 4 months though from 1:30 to 2hr, so good to watch for cues around the time you'd be expecting them and let the A time out gradually rather than setting a clock-based schedule.

With burping, there are so many ways to do it and you just have to find what works for your LO. Mine needed a bit of pressure on his tummy (not heaps or they vomit). He burped best at night lying face down on my arm, head resting in my hand, legs dangling either side of my elbow and gently rubbing rather than patting. He also liked sitting on my lap with the heel of one hand on his tummy and the other rubbing his back. Patting the back I found just made the whole thing worse. Have a bit of an experiment - hope you can find something that helps and that gas pain when it comes out the other end will often wake them and it is just worth that perseverance to get the burps out before going back to sleep - you'll both get better sleep.