Napping and EASY

[virginiad]

I have just started sh/pat with my Maddy and it is working so well she is sleeping over the time suggested in EASY. We work on a four hour programme. Should I wake her or should I leave her until her next feed or she wakes up? Sometimes she will sleep past when her next feed is due - maybe she just isn't hungry. It confuses the whole routine if she sleeps past her feed - does this matter?

I would really like to get her into a routine as it is easier for my C.F.S.

[Meg's Mom]

To get her body used to the routine and also to not throw off the rest of the day, i would wake her at the natural breaks in sleep cycles.  So at the 1hr, 1.5 or 2.00 but NOT the 45min mark.

[virginiad]

Today so far she has had a three hour nap this morning and now she has only had a half hour this afternoon and just won't go back to sleep. Don't know whether to get her up because she has already had so much more sleep today than usual, by now she would have only had two half hour sleeps or to leave and do pu/pd as sh/pat isn't working, until her next feed in an hour.

[Meg's Mom]

If she is happy, i would just get her up.  If not, then probably needs more sleep and would use shh/pat (not pu/pd) to get her back to sleep.  Try for 30-40min then give up and feed at next scheduled time.

Can you post your typical day, maybe we need to make some changes to your schedule.

[virginiad]

Typical Day:

Waking sporatically between 3am and 6am. Pat/sh to sleep. Sometimes in bed with Mum to get back to sleep.
Feed 6.15am
Sleep between 6.45am/7.15am (not always)
Usually one more 1/2 hr sleep between then and 9.30/10am
Feed 9.30/10am (when hungry or at scheduled time)
Rest of day awake 1 hour to 1.5 hours (have been trying to keep her up longer today)
Then sleeps of 1/2hr
Depending on how it works out bath between 5.30 and 7pm and bed between 6.15 and 7.30pm
Dreamtime feed about 8.30-9pm (usually 9pm at the moment) hardly wakes up for this

She does have a cold at the moment so that may be affecting her waking during the night. I have been sleeping in her room for the last three nights to pat/sh back to sleep during this time. Hard work!!!!

[virginiad]

Forgot - after that post before the schedule i decided to get her up after three quarters of an hour and took her for a walk into town. she was wide away until just before we got home at 3pm. Which was her scheduled feeding time. Now she is still asleep and it is 3.25pm. Ummm.......

[Smarti]

Had the same problems with my little guy.  I didn't let him sleep through his scheduled feeds.  If I did he  would wake up more during the night.  I try to "go with the flow" but I stick to the feeding times because if they don't get enough in the day they have to make up for it sometime and for my little guy  it is usually at 2am. ':cry:'

[virginiad]

We never seem to have a problem getting feeds in. We always feed at first feed at 6.15am and last feed at 9.30pm so it all evens out in the end. But if I want to get her into a routine then i guess i should be waking her at about four hours.

Though..... I have just started reading the book and it says that it isn't about schedules and the clock doesn't matter. Therefore... I think that maybe it is best to leave her and feed her when she wakes up, then i can get some YOU time.

it seems to me that all this time related info is not what was intended by EASY. Am i right here?

[Meg's Mom]

I think that BWer'ing is following what works for your LO and listening to your own baby whisperer.  So if you find that a more flexible EASY works for you, your LO is getting in enough calories, is gaining the appropriate amount of weight, is sleeping enough and most important happy then you are right on track!