Thank you for all of the great advice and suggestions. I am new to my town and don't have alot of moms with young children to talk to, so I really appreciate the time you've taken to help me.
I have some questions regarding your thoughts on EASY. You see, my lo ate every three hours at birth and would nap several hours at a stretch. Then, he started to stay awake longer and his naps eventually shortened to 30 minutes. So his three hour schedule looked like this:
E- 7:00
A-
S-8:30-9:00
E-9:00
A
S-10:30-11:00
E-11:00
and so forth. So a 2 hour schedule, if I keep things in the same EASY order. This schedule made him gassy--he also constantly spit up. It also reinforced the 30 minute napping regiment, which lasted at least 2 months. Since he was taking short naps, has eratic night wakings and is 4 months old, I decided to try to transition to 4 hours. I have stretched his naps to 45 minutes, which is the good news, but I have to keep him up 2 hours to do so. If I put him down after 1.25 or 1.5 hours, I will get LESS than 30 minutes sleep, usually around 15-20 minutes, which certainly cannot constitute a nap. How can I break the cycle? If I put him down earlier the naps seem to actually get shorter!! And, if I keep the routine consisently EASY, then he ends up eating every 2 hours. Right now I am doing EASYAEASY.
Also, trying to extend his naps has been an abysmal failure. When I go up to get him from his 45 minute nap, he is smiling and happy. Then I try to get him back to sleep. I do not pick him up and just sshhh/pat. Both of us walk out of the room hysterically crying. I also have a 23 month old, whom I cannot really leave downstairs alone to spend 45 minutes trying to put him back down. I could try to rock him or nurse him, but I know that is the start of accidental parenting. Should I give up on the nap extension?
Also, we did not do the dream feed before trying to implement the 4 hour EASY and he woke at 1:30ish and 4:30ish to eat (so he slept at least 5.5 hours straight). We did the dreamfeed at 11:00 pm for one week and now he wakes around 9:30/10:00 to eat. Now he wakes THREE times/night on his own to eat and only gets about 4 hours straight. Should I eliminate the dream feed and go back to the other two night feedings instead of trying to eliminate the 1:30?
Again, any thoughts you have is sincerely appreciated.
Nicole