16 wks old Question about 4hr EASY

[needasleepingangel]

DD is 16 weeks now. And her wake time has increased to around 2 hours. I guess we are almost ready to move to 4 hour EASY.

I have a question about the EASY schedule.

On Time to Transition - 3hr, 3.5hr or 4hr EASY, it posted a sample 4-hr EASY:

E: 7.00 wake up and feed
A: 7.30
S: 9.00 (for 1.5-2hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 11.00
A: 11.30
S: 1.00 (1.5-2hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 3.00
A: 3.30
S: 5.00 or 6.00 or somewhere in between: catnap
Y: your choice
E: 7.00 (cluster feed at 7 and 9 during a growth spurt)
A: bath
S: 7.30 bedtime
Y: the evening is yours
E: 10 or 11pm dreamfeed (until 7 or 8mths or whenever solid food is firmly established).

However, if DD's nap is 1.5 hour long instead of 2 hours, I can space out her feeds, but it will result in earlier bedtime and problems for last feed as follows:
E: 7:00 wake up and feed
A:
S: 9:00-10:30

A
E: 11:00
A:
S: 12:30-2:00

A
E: 3:00
A:
S: 4:00-4:45 catnap

And then the problem arises. after 2 hours at 6:45, it's time to sleep, but it is not yet time to eat (should eat at 7). If I feed earlier, DD may not be hungry enough, and not eat much, and therefore will not sleep as long. I don't do dream feed anymore, since she has already had many NW, I don't want to accidentally wake her up at the dream feed.

Can you advise me what to do, should I give her a longer nap at 4 instead of a catnap? Thanks a lot.

[creations]

Hi there
Just letting you know your post has been seen and I'll try to get back here tomorrow if someone hasn't responded before then.

[needasleepingangel]

Sure, thanks. 

[Lindsay27]

The BT feed might be slightly smaller but it should affect her night sleep too much.  When she she usually wake for a NF? It might mean she wakes a bit earlier but will likely take a larger NF which may get her through to a good WU yk? 

[needasleepingangel]

Thanks for your reply, Lindsay.

The BT feed might be slightly smaller but it should affect her night sleep too much. 

Then given my proposed 4-hour EASY, do you think it is good that I feed her at 6:30pm, so that I don't feed her right to sleep?

When she she usually wake for a NF? It might mean she wakes a bit earlier but will likely take a larger NF which may get her through to a good WU yk?

Usually she wakes up 6-6.5 hours after bedtime, which is usually at 6:30-7pm. Then sleep for another 4-5 hours. So I am not sure whether she will be able to sleep a long time after a good NF.

I will go back to work in 2 days. I really hope this 4-hour easy will work out. 

[creations]

Our last feed before BT was always just done when it needed to be done before BT regardless of when the previous feed have been.  If EBT was needed we could see to Es quite close together but somehow my DS always knew when it was his BT feed and got on with chugging it down.
I see no problem with E at 3pm and 6.30pm.

Another option is that you put one or more of the earlier Es at more like 3hr 30 or 3hr 45. This way if a smaller feed is taken due to it being a smaller time interval between E then you will still be looking at a good interval and good feed at BT as that is where your concern lies.
So you could do E at 7, 10.30, 2.30, 6.30

As to whether or not to give a longer nap at 4pm I think that really depends more on if she is tired, if she would sleep longer or needs to or if there is OT by BT.

[needasleepingangel]

Thanks a lot, creations. Sorry for the late reply. It has been one crazy week for me since I went back to work.

But one amazing good news is that DD started to fall asleep on her own, with me on her side, but no need to shh or pat or hold. I just stay nearby and pretend to sleep. She still needs help to go back to sleep during naps, but now we get more success.

But her night waking has been weird for a few nights in a roll now and I hope it is just temporary. Long stretch also becomes shorter, from 6-7hours to 4-5 hours now. I hope her long stretch will come back soon as I need good night sleep. But anyway, I will go with the flow. Thanks again. 

[creations]

it must be very hard being at work and having two LOs to care for too.
Whatever you achieve is amazing!