LO won't take the last feed - Confusion on EASY Schedules

[bossanovile]

Hi I'm new here but have been using the routine since my LO was 3 weeks! I'm confused by the feed times clustering closer at the end - have read all the 3.5-4h transition schedules and 3 month old schedules, but my LO won't take a feed (last feed) early and so bedtime keeps hovering around 8-845pm! Help!  She's 3 months and I just am confused about feeding at 5pm and then another at 7 to hit an earlier bedtime. She simply won't take the bottle unless she's hungry! So it becomes an 8pm feed which is not ideal

She only has one other NF at 3-5am and doesn't really wake in between for the past 2 weeks

Her time between each cycle varies 3-3.5h, and her wake times are consistently 1h20mins in between unless she's had a terrible nap (which is very often these days - short naps which I try to extend)

Any suggestions or help?

[Martini~]

And what's the problem Honey:)?
I understand your dd is bottle-fed. Can you make the 5pm feed a smaller one? The idea of cluster feeding at 5 and 7pm is that LO takes more on these two milks feeds than being only on one. If she takes only a bottle at 5 it's not worth making bedtime later as it will make her OT. So either resign or decrease amount for this 5pm feed so she happily takes a feed at 7pm.

If her A time is only 1:20 (from eyes open to eyes closed with feeding incorporated) it may be too short one and that's a reason for short naps Honey:).

[bossanovile]

Thanks!

I just wasn't sure about the clustering at the end of the day to get an early BT. My daughter won't take her bottle at all unless she's hungry, not even an ounce if it's earlier than a 3h mark, so this leaves me with a 5-530 feed and then... I'm always faffing about until 815 for that last feed! Dream feeding is a big fail as it causes far more NWs and she is dead upset about being even the slightest bit roused.  She won't sleep any earlier even if I try to convince her it's bedtime after that 5pm feed. Any other 3 month olds having this in-between stage? Can't wait to transit to a 4h schedule!

With the short naps - I'm constantly puzzled by UT/OT as many new moms are! She has minimal cues (even has learnt to stifle yawns!) and goes from happy to fussy in a heartbeat. I've experimented with every wake time, but you may be right - I'll just extend it again

[Martini~]

My son was similar - if not hungry, not eating at all. But on the other hand going from 3pm to 7pm was too much and it is too much for many LOs. So we were doing here 3, 5 and 7:15 if I am correct for ages and then transferred to 3 and 6:30 - but we did dreamfeed so 7 or 6:30, it didn't matter. As I said, try feeding at 5pm if she takes the bottle (she takes one even if at 3pm she had a feed?), but offer just half on normal portion or so.

[bossanovile]

Thanks Marta! I'll try that today and will report back 
The routines have been going so well and I guess I'm still learning the transition ropes to a 4h schedule eventually.

[bossanovile]

Well, that attempt went poorly! Sigh.  Transiting to 4 bottles on a 4h schedule is too much to handle like you mentioned as well.

I feed at 715, 1030-1045, 2-215, 515 (so EASY at about 3h15-3h30) and the last one is problematic since 815 is the absolute earliest she'll accept a feed - despite me cutting the 515 one to about half. She basically screamed at me in horror for offering her the bottle at 745. Took me nearly 40 minutes of coaxing after. Then she gets so OT from being up since her last catnap ended. Grrrr.

What are your thoughts? Should I just put her to bed super early after the 515 feed and re attempt a DF?

[Martini~]

Have you tried moving the feed from 5pm to let's say 4pm? So to have a gap from 4pm to 7pm?