16 week old EASY routine help

[babiiprycess]

Hi ladies! Hoping I can get some help with my EASY routine. My LO currently catnaps for 30 mins for majority of his naps since he was about 9/ 10 weeks old. At that age I was still feeding him every 2 hours and it worked but as he got older I noticed he didn’t eat as well and spit up a lot with the 2hr feedings. So now I’ve pushed it to 3 hrs and he’s very happy with it however it’s very hard to stick to 3hrs when he only naps for 30 mins. I’ve increased his awake time to 1hr 40 min, the first awake time is still pretty short for him, not sure if I should try to extend it. Any advice would be great!

EASY schedule when I can’t extend naps

Wake up 7am
E: 7am
A:
S: 8:20/8:25am (naps until 8:55 and I leave him in his bassinet for 15/20 mins - on occasion he can go back to sleep but it’s rare)

E: 10am
A:
S: 10:40am (slept until 11:10am could not resettle got him up at 12)

E: 12:30pm
A:
S: 1:00  (slept until 1:30 could not resettle got him up at 1:50)

E: 3:00pm
A:
S: 3:40pm (got up at 4:10)

E: 4:30p
A:
S: 5:40p (got up at 6:10)

In bed by 7:50pm. DF 10pm. Nights are fairly good with one or two wakes but he usually has an early wake around 5:30am. I usually shhh/pat back to sleep.



This is my EASY schedule when I can get at least one long nap.
Wake up 6:30-7am (mostly 7am)
E: 7am
A
S: 8:20/8:25am (naps until 8:55 and I leave him in his bassinet for 15/20 mins - on occasion he can go back to sleep but it’s rare))

E: 9:30am if he doesn’t go back to sleep (10am if I need to wake him up)
A
S: 10:40am (naps until 11:10/11:15 and takes about 30 mins to resettle)

E: 12:45p/1pm (depending on when he wakes up)
A:
S: 2:25p/2:40p (sleeps for 30mins)

E: 3:30pm
A:
S: 4:25/4:40p (sleeps for 30 mins)

E: 5:30/6p
In bed by 7pm
DF: 10pm

[creations]

Hi
Is your LO an independent sleeper?  How does he settle down for naps and night sleep?  If he is independent what method did you use to sleep train?

How long ago did you increase the A time to 1hr 40?  If it's been a while you could add another 10 mins on and see if it helps.  Some LOs have a 2hrA time at 4 months.

Have you tried W2S (wake to sleep)?
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=223809.0
look at naps option 1, you'd need to start earlier than the 30 min it say in the FAQ if your LO is waking at 30 min.

When you manage to get the longer nap in the morning there isn't a need to wake him at 10am.  He isn't going to starve himself and will let you know if he is hungry, otherwise I'd let him sleep until he wants to wake naturally, say 2hrs and feed at that point.  At 4 months most LOs are moving to the 4hr EASY so feeds are every 4 hrs not 3hr.  You don't need to force him to wait for food though, being asleep will naturally extend the E times and it's okay to extend the E a little at a time.  Some LOs can't make it to 4hr for food and you don't have to force it but neither do you need to wake him to feed at 3hr. Hope that makes sense.

At BT there is usually a feed right before sleep even if it has not been 3hrs and you can still do the DF at 10pm.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

[babiiprycess]

Hi

Hi Creations!

As of lately he is an independent sleeper, I’ll put him down in his bassinet about 10 mins before nap time/bedtime and he’s able to go to sleep within 10-15 mins. We have about 5 mins of wind down. I used the shh/patt for awhile and it worked pretty well.

I increased it about a week ago but I’m not seeing a difference. Would it hurt to try to have him stay awake for 2 hours to see what happens or would that create OT?  I’ve tried both W2S options. LO seems to wake up regardless if I’m there patting him but I did try that awhile ago so I can re-try.

Update - tried the W2S option 1 and it actually woke him up before the 30 min mark and it took about 40 min to get him back to sleep  I think he’s very sensitive to touch.

As for night time I noticed he’s kicking and tossing for about 1-2 hours either sound 1:30sm or 4:30am. Doesn’t usually cry but it sounds like broken sleep, is this from OT during the day?

As for the 4hr feeds, he usually only takes 3oz at a time (ebf) and only eats from one boob usually isn’t interested in more - is this enough to last him 4hrs?

Thanks!!

[creations]

As of lately he is an independent sleeper

Great

Would it hurt to try to have him stay awake for 2 hours to see what happens or would that create OT?

Try it for a couple of days and see how it goes.  it could be just what he needs.
I'd probably increase by 10 mins for a day or 2 first then the other 10 mins.

W2S option 1 and it actually woke him up before the 30 min mark and it took about 40 min to get him back to sleep

It doesn't exactly keep them asleep, they will wake anyway as they reach the end of a sleep cycle, but the idea is that because you are already there it can be easier to sooth back into the next sleep cycle rather than them waking fully to call out for you. It can take several days as part of the short naps is it being habitual so if you keep trying for several days you might see some change.
If it's driving you crazy though just do it on one nap per day, or accept the shorter naps for now.

With the feeding. It's advised to BF on demand but if he's asleep you don't need to wake him to feed.  He will let you know if he can't go 4hrs.

[babiiprycess]

Thank you for the advice! I’ll give W2S another shot then.

A few more questions. I can’t seem to read his sleepy cues in the morning. He yawns so much that I usually go by the clock but I know later in the day he can stay awake longer. Should I keep his first awake time short?

If he has 30 mins naps all day (if I am unable to resettle) should I reduce his next awake time?

Also the last 2 nights he’s been up around 4:30/5:30 and chatting but also kicking a lot. I’m worried he’s not getting enough sleep at night since he does this for about 2+ hours. Is this a cause of OT?

[creations]

At this age the sleepy cues such as yawning are not to reliable. It can be either because they need a change of scene.  if it's been a short A time and there is yawning I think I'd go more by the clock rather than risk another UT nap.
Same with the 30 min naps, although you don't want LO OT if you reduce the A time too much you end up with more UT naps which are short.
Short naps are also common at this age due to development and the NWs are probably linked too. If he's hungry in the night it's a GS but if he's just chatting to himself you can leave him to it.

[babiiprycess]

Thanks! We managed to get a 1.5hr nap! I wasn’t too sure which A time it was. LO woke up at 9:15 for the first nap and I shh/patted for 20min. It appeared he was asleep, I believe his eyes were closed so I tip toed out of the room but he woke several mins later at 9:45. He fell asleep for his second nap at 11:35 so I’m assuming the wake time would be 1hr and 50min, counting it from 9:45am?

[creations]

If he only slept a very short first nap at 9.15 then you can't really count the second A time properly as 1hr 50 because it came after such a short nap so I would think he would have already had some level of tiredness due to that. I think I'd probably aim for 2hrs and see how it goes.

We managed to get a 1.5hr nap!

Great news!  Hope there is another

[babiiprycess]

I attempted a 2 hr awake time yesterday afternoon and it was chaos! He cried when I put him down, so I had to pick him up soothe him and he cried some more, so I ended up rocking him, placed him in the bassinet and he may have slept for a couple of mins and then woke up again and started cooing. I was finally able to get him to sleep after 1.5 hrs and he had to sleep on me. I'm not sure if he was UT or OT? Then he fought bedtime as well.

[creations]

Maybe it was just one of those days.  Tomorrow is another day

[babiiprycess]

Question about feedings - if he wakes up from a short nap and I can’t resettle, should I feed him earlier? It’s so hard to go 3 hours if he consistently wakes up from a short nap.

[creations]

Sure, feed earlier if he is hungry.  The routineisn't about forcing baby to go hungry.  At the same time if LO isn't hungry right after a nap because the nap was short then it's okay to have some A time before the feed.

[babiiprycess]

Thanks! I just returned to work  and missing the little one so much! I saw you were moving and hope it went smoothly!

I need some help with our schedule in general. LO is still taking 30 min naps we have pushed his awake time to 1hr 55 for the last 2 days, will push it to 2hrs either tomorrow or day after. My mom is currently taking care of him and it’s so hard to time bedtime for 7 everyday since his naps are so unpredictable and bless my mom she’s been patting him back to sleep. Some days are 7, some are 7:30, some days are close to 8. At this point what are his ideal naps and how many? Thanks!

[creations]

Here's a few links you might find useful:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164253.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85130.0

If your Lo is a bit older than 4 months now then you might need longer than 2hrs A time to make him tired enough for naps. The A times increase pretty quickly between 4 and 6 months.

[babiiprycess]

We finally made it to the 2hr awake times! He seems to now be doing 45 min sleep cycles now for the first two naps yay! Progress from 30 min. Do awake times increase as the day goes on? I’ve been researching online and some moms start with a short awake time in the morning and gradually increase e.g 1.75/2/2.25/2.5?