Imlementing 4hr EASY- where do i start??

[sebas]

I am hoping to get some assistance in implementing 4hr EASY with my 6 1/2 mth old Spirited DS. 

Currently I do follow a routine which has somewhat worked up until now, but I am becoming unstuck in some areas.

Below is an example of a typical day for us (there are a couple of accidental parenting issues that I need to sort out too!)

6am - wake (I usually leave him to play for half an hour in his cot  before I feed him)
6:30am - feed - (bottle - usually takes anywhere between 180-210ml)
7am - 8am - ACTIVITY
8:00am - cat nap (20-30 mins) - have tried extending with limited success - goes down without a fuss for this nap
8:30 - 10:15am - ACTIVITY
10:15am - bath and bottle - approx 220ml (falls asleep on this bottle)
10:45am - put DS in cot already asleep (occassional resettle at 45mins)
12 - 12:30pm - wakes
12:30pm - ACTIVITY
2-2:30pm - bottle - approx 220ml (sometimes falls asleep on this bottle too, if not, I will wait for his tired signs (usually 10-15 mins after and then winddown and place in cot drowsy but awake and shh/pat
2:30pm - cat nap (20-30 mins)
3pm - 5:30pm - Activity (play time with DH from 4:30pm to 5:30pm)
5:30pm - start bedtime routine (bath)
5:45pm bottle (approx 270ml) - again falls asleep on this bottle
6:30pm - put DS in cot already asleep (will usually stay asleep - occassional resettle at 45mins)

After his 6:30pm bottle DS will usually sleep until 11pm or 12am at which time he will wake for a feed (about 150ml) and then back to bed until 6am.  Although lately he has been waking up at 4am and I am having to resettle and then he will sleep until 6am.

We have currently stopped solids as he was totally refusing to eat them and throwing tantrums each time he saw the spoon approaching and was also continuously night waking, so I have stopped them for a couple of weeks and will start again then.

His current awake time is anywhere between 2 to 2.5 hrs.

I am using the sshh/pat method for resettling (would prefer not to use the pu/pd method - have tried once before without any success - it upset him more).

Also when I place him in his cot awake (the times that he doesn't fall asleep on the bottle), he doesn't cry or carry on but is just awake and babbling to himself for a while, then he will whinge, I will go in and shh/pat and he will drift off to sleep.

My questions are the following:

1.  When I place him in his cot calm but awake, do I shh/pat until he is asleep or do I leave the room whilst fully awake?
2.  He also has trouble getting past the 1st 10 mins, I usually go in and resettle with shh/pat, how long do I do this for?
3.  I fear that he is using the shh/pat as a prop also, as when I stop it, he will lift up his head and look at me as if saying "why did you stop"
   

If he wakes, I know he can resettle himself after 45mins because I have seen him do it

Sorry this is so long winded but I really am hoping to 'fix' our days as the feeding to sleep issue is becoming very apparent.

Also if you could provide me with some tips for extending his naps that would be a big start, because I know he can fall asleep independently, its just a matter of getting him to stay asleep.

thanks for your help
 

[HeatherC]

Hello  .   I really think we could fix his feeding to sleep issues if we could nip the overtiredness from the beginning of the day.  I think he might need to sleep longer for the morning nap, and that might help the rest of your day.  He's probably napping so well during the second nap because he's exhausted and has a full belly.  I'm going to enlist the help from our sleep moderators to assist you with the ssh/pat method.

[Jaime]

hi!

i agree with Heather... if you can extend that morning nap, you will probably have a much better day, so i would probably put lots of effort into extending it.  (i am assuming he does not wake happy from it???)

there is a post in the nap board about teaching sleep to 6+ month olds & extending naps, you might want to have a look at it:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php/topic,34567.0.html

shh/pat can still work at this age; pu/pd is meant to be the last resort (might not have worked before cause your lo was too young?).  it is meant to be used to calm him down if he is crying; if he's not crying i'd leave him to it.  if he begins to whine, go in & shh/pat.  when he wakes early, go in and try to extend his nap by continuing shh/pat.  if after 40 minutes you haven't succeeded, take him out & continue with your day. 

hope this gives you some place to start!   

[Intransit]

I agree with both of the above. The morning issue being sorted may solve the rest of the problems. Pat/shh still works for my 8month old, whereas PU/PD never ever did.
Good Luck!