Sorry about the length of this post, but any advice would be really appreciated!
I think that my lo is ready to start transitioning to a 4 hour routine - she seems less hungry at each feed and, though she started moving towards sleeping through to 4 or 5 am is now waking erratically throughout the night, not always hungry.
I like the look of Tracy's 4 hour routine in her book, as I think it will work well when I return to work, in 2 months time, tying in well with trips to the nursery ( a 10 minute trip between 8 - 8.30am and 6 - 6.30 pm)
Trouble is, I cannot get my head around how to do the transition!
I have tried extending the first awake time a bit, and although it is relatively easy to extend the time between her feeds if I distract her a bit, she just starts fussing and positively reeling from fatigue if I try to extend her awake time in the morning. so I put her to bed and she ends up waking up well before the 4 hour interval is up.
Also, if I just extend awake times just in the morning to begin with (rather than going straight into a 4 hour routine all day) her late afternoon feed ends up landing right in the time she has her power nap at 5.00 which she really needs to be in good form for bathtime with Dad at 6.30
On a good day, our 3 hour routine is something like this
7 - 7.30 wake up and E
8.00 A
8.30 S (she can't stay awake very long in the mornings)
9.30 Wake up, so low key A
10.00 E
10.40 A
11.30 S
1.00 E
1.30 A
2.30 S
4.00 E
4.30 A
5.00 Power Nap
6.00 A (Daddy comes home from work)
6.30 Bathtime
7.00 E (we've managed to stop falling asleep on the nipple most of the time!)
7.30 S
10.30 - 11 DF
Night time wakings used to be once somewhere between 3.30 and 5.00 but currently anything from 2.30 onwards ... I am trying to feed only once otherwise she loses interest in breakfast feed.
She is pretty stable on her three our routine on a quiet day at home, but it is easily disrupted if we go out and about as she is a spirited (and a bit touchy) baby who will only nap lightly in her buggy or the car seat as she doesnt want to miss out on anything!
regards
Tania (and Daisy, currently sleeping!)
