Help needed with EASY for 3 months old

[iyaya]

DD is 3 months. She was colicky so I didn't try to put her on EASY until recently. I've been having trouble to put her on EASY. Sometimes she can follow the order of things but sometimes she can't. The problem is, she would eat then have some activity. Then, she would poop and becomes hungry again so I'll have to feed her again. So, her order becomes Eat, Activity, Eat, Poop, Activity, Sleep. I am not forcing her to do certain things at certain time. I am just trying to put her on this routine first. So, the routine sometimes is EASY and sometimes is EAEPAS. What should I do?

[Noelle]

HI!
Does she take full feeds at each feeding? How long does she go between each one?  Also, could you post what your routine looks like so far?  Thanks 

[iyaya]

I breastfeed and I am not sure if she is getting a full feeding. I always let her eat until she no longer sucks. She used to eat for at least 45 minutes but she's been doing about 30 minutes feeds the last couple of weeks. But, she usually eats every two hours since birth. I always make sure she eats for at least 20 minutes on the breast so I would try my best to wake her up if she falls asleep.

Her typical day goes like this..

8:00   EAT
8:30   ACTIVITY
9:45   SLEEP
11:45 EAT
12:30 ACTIVITY
1:30 POOP/EAT
2:15 ACTIVITY
2:30 SLEEP
4:15 EAT
5:00 ACTIVITY
5:30 POOP/EAT
6:15 ACTIVITY
6:30 SLEEP
7:15 EAT
8:00 ACTIVITY
8:30 BATH
9:00 EAT
9:45 rock, shhh and pat..
10:00 SLEEP
2:30 EAT
3:00 SLEEP
5:00 EAT
5:30 SLEEP
6:30 EAT
7:00 SLEEP

I know this looks a mess. She usually takes two "longer" naps. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. The naps are typically 1.5 hours to 2 hours length. She doesn't do the evening nap all the time. I've been trying to get her to sleep earlier but no matter how early I start the bedtime routine (bath etc), she would always sleep at 10. At bedtime, I usually feed her until she is very sleepy then put her down but for the last few days she's been resisting to sleep. She would cry when I bring her into the bedroom and even refuse to eat. I've been spending an hour each day to rock her to sleep. She's got a cold for the last two weeks and still has runny nose. The last couple of weeks she's been waking up every 2 hours at night instead of giving me the first longer stretch of sleep. She just got back to sleep that first 4/5 hours again last night.

I guess I have a lot of issues with her feeding and sleeping. Where should I start? :oops:

[Noelle]

I didn't breastfeed (or at least not long enough to really know :wink: ) so I'm not completely sure about the eating.  I know it's not uncommon for BF babies to go 2-3 hours in between feeds for a while.  If she's taking full feeds then I would say she is hungry.  Otherwise, it looks as if she may be a snacker. :!:  :?:

How does she put herself to sleep? Do you rock for all sleep times?  If it's getting harder/longer to rock her,  I would recommend starting some sleep training.  Remember to BE CONSISTENT.  Check out the sleep and nap forums, there is LOADS of info there.  Also, if you don't have Tracy's third book I HIGHLY recommend it. Alot of how to's for much of the things going on here

How long does she usually sleep at the 6:30 time.  Ideally bedtime would start between 7-8.  I was thinking by 10 she may be overtired, thus much harder for her to go to sleep.

[iyaya]

I hope she is not a snacker.  I really don't know if she is taking a full feed but she does seem hungry when I feed her.

I do have Tracy's newest book, that's why I am trying to get her on EASY. It seems so hard though. I read on one of the postings about PU/PD for 3 months old. But Tracy's book says to do this after 4 months. Is it too early for me to try this on dd now? She is almost 3.5 months.

The evening nap usually only last about half an hour or 45 minutes. Yesterday it only lasted for 15 minutes. I tried starting the bedtime routine at 8 last night and she still slept at 10. To put her to sleep, I have to rock her. It usually starts with running the bathroom tap water (we found that this is the only thing that will stop her from crying while she was colicky.). The tap water sound calms her instantly. Then I'll rock her. Sometimes I'll need to feed her a little vitamine D drops (she loves this) and give her the pacifier. She doesn't take the pacifer all the time. Usually after all this, she will eventually fall asleep. Last night, I had to feed her and she finally fell asleep. I also left one of her arm out of the swaddle last night hoping that she would somehow find her fingers at night but she woke up every 2 hours (sometimes even less). I am not sure if I should let her get used to this one arm out or swaddle her again tonight.  :cry: