2 Hour Schedule Help

[Jackthomsmom]

Hello,
I am new to this board and have some questions that are part about EASY and part feeding schedule so I will post to both boards.  My son, Jack, will be six weeks old on Tuesday.  He was 11 lbs 8 0z. on Wednesday.  I'm trying to get him on an EASY schedule but his eating/sleeping habits are somewhat disorganized.  I was breastfeeding (giving bottle about once per day) until about a week ago.  I'm now bottle feeding him (formula) during the day and nursing him during the night (usually about 12a.m., 3 a.m. and 7 a.m.)  He takes 4 oz at each feeding and feeds anywhere from 2 - 3 hours apart (usually 2- 2.5)  I've tried to stretch the feedings to 3 or 4 hours but he will not have it.  When he's ready - he's ready! My questions are: 

Sometimes his feedings are a bit of a nightmare...he eats very fast and get hysterical when we take the bottle away to slow him down and burp him.  (You would think we were starving him!)  He gulps tons of air giving him terrible gas and tummy aches, so I spend lots of time soothing him after feeds (which is also probably why I can't lay him down for naps).  The dr. said he might have a little reflux but b/c he is gaining weight would not recommend medicating.  I so use gas drops in his formula though.  Anyone have similar experiences and suggestions on how to make feeding time happier for my liittle man.  This doesn't happen at every feed it's almost every other or every 3rd time. 

How can I get him on an EASY schedule, which requires 3-4 hours including naps and activity when he's eating every two hours?  Also, he's already pretty much cluster feeding so how can I help him go for longer stretches during the night?  I tried dream feeding on Friday but he was so out of it it didn't work.

Even when he goes for longer feeding times, he is impossible to put down for a nap (again somewhat caused by the gas discomfort), unless we're in the car or stroller.  He doesn't even fall asleep in the swing unless he's really exhausted.

I'm sorry for the lengthy post, but I read Tracy's book in two days and have tried her methods but they don't seem to be working.  Any advice on how to implement EASY and help Jack eat and sleep more peacefully based on this information?  Thanks!

Meredith

[Mariek]

Hi Meredith

There were a lot of question in your post so please bear with me and I'll try to cover all of them.

~Feeding problems - with regards your Lo gulping a lot of air - what bottles and what size teats are you using? It could be that the flow is too fast for him (especially if he's previously been breastfed where he could control the flow himself). You could try a different type of bottle until you find one he's more comfortable with. With regards him gulping air down, we have a product in the UK called Infacol which is for helping with wind which you give before the bottle, rather than in with the bottle. I found this the best thing for my DD's wind. I don't know where you are (US,  UK or elsewhere) and if there's an equivalent if you're outside the UK. If he's still really windy after his bottle you could try some baby massage on his tummy to ease the gas (if you massage around his belly button in a C shape that should help).

~Scheduling problems - its not uncommon for a baby so small to be on a 2.5 rather than 3 hours schedule. Again if he's used to being breastfeed he's more likely to be used to a 2-2.5 hr schedule as breast milk it digested much more quickly. If you want to extend his schedule then I'd look to a 3 hour one (6 weeks is a bit small for 4 hours). It will probably take a week or so to stretch the schedule out so don't expect him to adapt to it overnight. Pick a day to start on, feed him at the usual time first thing and then work your schedule from there. So, for example, if you start the day at 7am:

7am - Eat
8am - Activity
8.30am - 10.00am - Sleep

10.00am - Eat
11am - Activity
11.30am-1.00pm - Sleep

Try to stretch out the activity time as much as you can without him becoming overtired (bare in mind that once he's past the point of no return with tiredness it will be much more difficult, if not impossible to get him down to sleep). Make sure you watch him for sleepy cues. You'll learn to know at what point you need to get him down by - with my DD I was okay until the 3rd yawn or so, but if I missed that window I'd had it.

If you can't stretch the activity time to a full 30 mins (this can include a nappy/diaper change, getting dress etc) then you can add some activity time after naps and before feeds so you get E.A.S.Y.A.E until he can last a little longer wake time before sleeping.

If you're having trouble getting him to go off to sleep for his naps then check out the Pat/Shhh sticky at the top of the general sleep forum - that has soon tips on how to use Pat/Shhh to teach independant sleeping.

HTH. Sorry if its a bit long winded.

love

[Jackthomsmom]

Thanks Marie,
I just tried the pat/shh and it actually worked...we'll see if we can keep it up. 

I'm using Dr. Brown's bottles.  I tried Avent and they didn't work at all.  It's hard to tell if Dr. B's are okay b/c the feeding issue and gas come and go.  I've been working hard on controlling the gas (burping, stretching his legs, just tried the C around the belly button too).  He still screaming during burping though - do you think the bottle could be causing that.  Any suggestions on good ones?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi Meredith,

Your original post is something that I could have written myself! My lo is 5 months now and we still struggle a little with the same issues, so believe me, do what you can NOW! We also started with the Avent bottles, and he had absolutely ferocious gas with them. We switched to the playtex vent aire, and they make a huge difference. You might consider trying those or the evenflo one that's also curved. My lo is also exceptionally big for his age, it seems the growth spurts haven't been spurts but continuous! That has contributed a lot, if not 100% to his eating so ravenously and acting like he's starving. It's important though to keep him slowed down a bit or the gas will really get out of control. You might try feeding him just a little bit sooner, like 15 minutes maybe and then he might not be so ravenous. And keep it up with the gas drops too - those have been a lifesaver for us!