3 month old on 4 hour EASY

[Keirben]

My 3 month old started taking 45 min naps about a month ago.  In the past week she has refused to breastfeed after waking from her naps. It has been very difficult to get her to breastfeed. My milk supply is decreasing because she won't feed.  It is very stressful. Should I switch her to the 4 hour E. A. S. Y?

Here is our routine: NOTE: she is an efficient eater

Wake: 7:00
E: 700
A: 7:20
S: 8:30 (Nap 45min)

E:9:15
A:9:35
S:11:00 (45min)

E: 11:45
A: 12:00
S: 1:15 (45min)

E: 2:00
A: 2:20
S: 3:30 (45min)

E:4:45
A:5:00
S: 6:00 catnap (35 min)

E: 6:35
A: 6:50
     Nudey time
     Bath
     Bottle
S: 7:30/7:45
Sleeps usually from 7:30- 1 or 2am.
I don't dream feed because I go to bed at 8:30/9pm

She usually wakes around 4:30 am and then wakes in the morning at 7am sometimes a bit earlier 6:45


This was her schedule for a while up until this past week where she has refused my breasts after naps and started waking at night more frequently. Her day time naps are now even shorter.  After she is awake for a hour and a bit I do some quiet time. I have not seen her yawn or show any sleep cues. It's been a bit more difficult to put her to sleep because she seems wide awake.

Please help!!
Thank you!

[creations]

Hello welcome to BW forums

It looks like you have your LO on a good A time for her age but this is a common time when LOs start taking short naps (usually closer to 4 months but they are all individuals).  You could try a slightly longer A time, just add another 5 or 10 mins to her A time and see if this helps.  Or it could be that you could increase the level of stimulation a little instead. If you are beginning quiet time after just over 1hr of A time it might be that she is not quite as tired as needed for her nap.  You could begin the quiet time and WD later in the A time but still plan to have her put down and asleep by the 1hr 30 mark.  Some LOs like less of a WD (wind down) as they get a little older.

You could also use W2S (wake to sleep) to help her transition from one sleep cycle to the next, here's a link, I suggest you look at naps option 1:
How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)
You would do this for 3 days, hold off day 4 see if she transitions alone, then continue day 5 for another cycle if she doesn't. You may ned to do several rounds of this to get her back in the habit of longer naps.

You didn't say if your LO goes to sleep independently - have you sleep trained?  This can also impact on whether she is able to transition into another sleep cycle on her own or not.

With regards to feeds, I would keep her E times at roughly 3hrs regardless of what time her nap is.  The EASY routine where eating follows sleep is a routine which avoids feeding to sleep (becoming a prop), when naps are short it is not expected that LO is fed at the end of every nap. Instead you will put in a little A time before the E to keep feeds more regular, your routine might look more like EASAEAS which is fine.
I suggest you record your EAS times (looks like you are anyway) and as the day goes on keep a look out for any E which might clash with S, if you see that E is going to be due at the same time as S then go ahead and feed a little early (so less than 3hr) but if it is likely to be closer to the end of nap time then you can wait until the end of the nap.  If she wakes from her nap and only 2hrs 15 has passed since her previous E then put in some A time to get her close to the 3hrs.  She might feed better then.

Would you also like to post on the BF board for tips on how to maintain your supply - it looks like you are a bit concerned about this?
Here's the board:
Breast Feeding

Hope this helps some - please do let us know how you get on and if you have any more questions.

[Keirben]

Thank you for the reply!

My milk supply has returned. I was pumping vigorously to get it back. 

Since posting, I have started to suspect that she is refusing my breast because she isn't hungry not because she doesn't like it. She is able to breastfeed in the middle of the night with no problem. 

I do not feed her to sleep. I trained her at 1 month to put herself to sleep. I only use the "shh"-pat method to soothe. She is able to transition to the next sleep stage. Sometimes she does give me a random 2 plus hour nap. But most of the time she only naps for 45min. I give her plenty of time in her crib to put herself back to sleep before going in.  When she is tossing and talking I know she isn't going back to sleep. She never wakes crying. She is always very happy. Which I thought meant she has gotten enough sleep. 

I am going to try the AEAS as you suggested. I think that will help so that she isn't eating too often.  I also record all of her times. If I didn't, my mommy brain would forget everything!

I suspect she may be going through some type of sleep regression or growth spurt. I have had to get up every three hours to feed her at night.  I usually get a 5-7hour stretch at the start of the night,  then either a 4/3 hour stretch.   I do know that sleep and feeds during the day affect night time sleep. Hopefully this will all get sorted out. I'm absolutely exhausted.

[creations]

Great to hear your supply has returned

Based on her ability to self sooth and transition I would suggest the slightly longer A time or slightly higher stimulation during A time and the W2S method I mentioned above. These can both help with the short 45 min naps.
GS (growth spurts) are frequent in young babies so, yes, you are likely going through one if you have additional feeds at night.
You might also try feeding in a less stimulating room during the day, some LO become quite alert and take less interest in feeding during the day as there is too much going on, a darkened quiet room may help in addition to changing the times as you are going to do.

Do let us know if you still need help x

[Keirben]

Do you think it is possible that 45 minutes is all she needs? The only reason I ask is because she does occasionally have a 1.5hr or 2hr nap.  These lengthy naps usually only occur once a day.  She is able to transition but maybe she doesn't always because she feels rested? I will try the wake to sleep. I will admit I am nervous to try! Yesterday she woke after 30 minutes of sleeping and tried to put her back to sleep and she screamed for 30 minutes straight.  I was not successful.  But I am aware that trying to put her back to sleep once she is already awake and wake to sleep are two different things.

[creations]

Yes often W2S is much easier than trying to resettle a LO who has already fully woken. It can be hit and miss though, some people have more success than others and some people (like me) found it unhelpful for certain parts of my LOs baby-hood and a life-saver for others.

LOs taking 45 min naps and seeming to be happy and refreshed tend to be UT (under tired) for the nap. We consider a nap restorative if it is 1.5hrs or longer. A 45 min nap is considered a CN and really only enough to tide LO over to fit in a bath and BT routine.  But it's true many have this phase of short naps and they do survive!! My own had approx 2 months of 40 min naps, 4 or 5 per day.  It's harder work on parents of course if LO is not napping well, just harder to fit in a shower, meals and so on.  There are those of us who tried to extend naps and decided eventually it wasn't worth the effort and that just getting LO up and getting on with the day was preferable, letting LO grow out of this developmental phase and re-establish the longer naps when they get through the regression. It is of course your choice.  Getting one good nap per day is certainly better than all short naps.