Author Topic: Awake & Eat Overlap  (Read 1533 times)

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Offline NattysMom

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Awake & Eat Overlap
« on: January 23, 2018, 17:12:46 pm »
Hello, I’m not sure if I’m just over thinking this...

My daughter is almost 9 months and breastfed. Her weight is on the low end and she wakes up 2-3 times a night (but I think she only needs 1 feeding). She can’t do 4 hours in between feeds even with solids.

Anyway my issue is her Awake time is 3-3.25 hours but she also eats every 3 hours so I’m not really sure how to do EASY. For example today she woke up at 730 and ate and after 3 hours at 1030 it was almost time for her nap but also time for her to eat. She won’t go to sleep when she’s hungry (and I don’t blame her). Of course she gets sleepy while eating so I keep her awake and change her diaper so she doesn’t feed to sleep.
Rachel          ~ 🌷🌼 Natalie Aurora 💗 May 2017 🌼🌷 ~

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Re: Awake & Eat Overlap
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2018, 19:02:58 pm »
At 9 months the EAS routine has ended for most LOs because they eat twice (milk and solids) and their A times and E times have shifted to accommodate changing sleep needs so you are not alone in not having an exact EAS but the idea of not feeding to sleep remains the same as when they are younger - a bit of A between E and S even if it's just a nappy change and wind down routine.  There is no need to feed directly after a nap if it is not yet E time.

In the example you give I would just offer the milk earlier, say 10 or 10.15 so that you can get her down for a nap in time.  I am assuming you offered breakfast solids around 8.30am as this often helps LOs get through the extra time between milk feeds.
I'd expect her A time to be a bit longer than 3hrs at this age so just be aware of that too, if she is napping really well though there is no need to change her A or S times.


Offline NattysMom

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Re: Awake & Eat Overlap
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2018, 21:20:10 pm »
Thanks!

I only nurse if it’s been 3 hours and she eats solids an hour after milk. She was on 3-3.5 hr A time in October/November but got sick in December and A time was down to 2-2.5 hr so we’ve been slowly working our way back up. In the past I’ve tried feeding again an hour before the nap but she wouldn’t take it, I’ll just try to keep her awake for a few mins before the nap. The whole day just gets so messy. So today she woke and nursed at 730. Solids 830. Nurse at 1030. Nap from 1045-1215. Nursed at 130. Solids at 230. Which gets so close to her next nap around 315. She’s a very slow solid eater.  Morning nap times vary from 30mins-2hr10. Depending on length of morning nap we do 1 or 2 afternoon naps which are usually 40mins.

On a different topic if she won’t take a good feed when she wakes up for the day (in quiet dim place) do you think it’s because she didn’t need to eat at the last nightfeed around 4am? She also eats around 1230/1am so if I cut out this feed then the 4am one will hopefully be earlier and not affect the morning feed?
Rachel          ~ 🌷🌼 Natalie Aurora 💗 May 2017 🌼🌷 ~

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Re: Awake & Eat Overlap
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2018, 14:54:08 pm »
It makes sense that her A time reduced during illness. If she is better now you might be increasing the A time a bit too slowly, generally you don't need to creep up on the times especially if you are returning to a known suitable A time so you can go up in 15 min increments each day.  It looks like she is not napping consistently (short or long morning nap) which could be due to a too low A time.

I think it's pretty normal for BF LOs to have a second NF.  If you would like specific advice on the NFs I suggest you post on the BF board where you will get more experienced advice on how you might alter the NFs to encourage a better WU feed.