Sticking to the schedule?

[soph827]

Hello everyone,
this is my first post, so I hope I'm doing this correctly!

I have a lot of questions, but I think I'll start with this one. We've been sleep training using the babywhisperer methods (PUPD, shush-pat, EASY schedule) and trying to stick to the schedule has been a challenge at times. We've seen slow progress and are really enjoying having a predictable (for the most part) daily schedule.

Our almost six month old used to be on a totally baby led schedule where I fed (breastfed) him whenever he "seemed" hungry, put him to bed when he looked tired, and tried not to feed to sleep. So with this sleep training, we're on a regular schedule everyday for the first time since he was born! The schedule works fairly well in the morning/ early afternoon. But then by late afternoon and right before bedtime, our little guy gets more and more cranky - rubs his eyes, sucks his thumb - all signs that he's tired. This often happens anywhere from 30-60 minutes before his bedtime, even with the catnap. Should we just put him down when he first shows signs of being tired? I'm worried if we do that, his whole schedule will shift an hour earlier which will then put us back into the same boat of being on a totally baby led schedule again with no predictability. Also, I feed him first before doing a bedtime routine, so if we put him down when he seems tired, I'd need to feed him earlier and my milk production is pretty much on his 4 hour schedule now.

Also, along the same lines of sticking to a schedule, should we be waking him up from naps/ sleep if he's not awake at the time he "should" be? We've been using a 20 minute leeway on either side of the scheduled time (if up to 20 minutes early wake up, we just let him be awake and if up to 20 minutes past schedule time, we let him sleep and then wake him up at that point). Should we just not even wake him up if he's going way beyond the scheduled time?

Would love some advice on this! I hate waking him up if he's sleeping well. And I really want to be able to put him to sleep if he's tired (rather than waiting an hour until he's due to sleep!).

Thank you for any advice!

[Katet]

My first thought is BW is more a routine than a schedule. The time frames are more a guide than exact as not all children are the same in terms of their sleep needs. So in terms of your questions, it's best if its a mix of keeping to a EAS & following their lead in terms of tired signs etc.

The fact he gets tired well before bedtime would indicate to me that the timings you are following are more by the book than by your baby & it probably needs to be more by the baby than the book,

I'm not great with EASY routines (too long ago) but if you could put your EASY routine down I think it would help with where you probably modify it to suit him better.