What am I doing wrong

[Doj]

I have a 12 week old and have been working on the EASY routine for about 4 weeks now and I am still running into so many problems. I have no idea what I am doing wrong.
She is on the 3 hour EASY


Problems:

1.  She only takes 3 naps a day and they are still only 45 min long. When she wakes up she is smiling, never crying, but yawns continuously until the next nap.
Could it be that she is just a short napper since she is happy, but tired when she wakes up?
I have tried wake to sleep, but it doesn't seem to work.


2. She sleeps well at night going down about 730 and wakes up anywhere from 3-5 for a feed and then sleeps till 7. She wakes up in the night because she is hungry and usually takes about 5 oz. I do give her a DF at about 1030 and she usually eat all of it. I would love it if she could sleep through the night. I know in BW it mentions to feed more during the day, but the problem is that she never takes the same amount at each feeding. I prepare 5oz bottles. Sometimes she takes all 5 oz other times she may only take 2 oz. Sometimes she eats 28oz a day other days it may only be 20oz. Any suggestions on getting her to sleep through the night.


3. She never wakes up at the same time every day therefore I am starting EASY when she wakes up and then every 3 hours from there. Am I doing this right? Or should I be feeding at the same time every day

Should I also start to transition her to a 3 1/2 hour easy with more food?
Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

[*Natasha*]

Ok before i go any further could you post a rough schedule of your day i know you said your day isn't always the same. Just need to know how many feeds she is having, bed time routine and time and Awake time.

[Doj]

Thanks for resonding.

730-Wake up

E-730 (sometimes 5oz othertimes just 1oz)
A-745-845 or so. She really starts to get tired about 1 hour after being up. I tried to extend her A time a bit till 915 or so thinking she would sleep longer, but no such luck
S-845-930 Since she up only 2 hours after her feeding we do A time again

A 930-1030

E-1030 (usually 4 or  5oz)
A-1045-Noon
S-Noon-12:45

A 12:45-130

E-130
A-145-3 or so
S - 3-345

A345-430

E-430
A-445-530
S-530-615

A-630 Bath

I have tried giving her a bottle before bath time. Does not work well. Usually after bathtime when she eats she will not eat a lot at all. She is exhausted from her bath.
E-7 Usually just 2 oz if we are lucky. Very tired

S-730

DF-1030

E-Anywhere from 3-5 am and will eat 4 or 5 oz. She nis hungry.

As far as bedtime or nap routine goes. I take her into her room, close the curtains, put music on, swaddle her try and hold her, but she cries so I put her in her crib and then she starts to settle down. Usually her naptime she falls asleep quickly so I know that she it tired.

I have tried to ecen shorten her A time, but when I get her to her room she is not willing to sleep at all even though she is yawning.

[HeatherC]

Hi.  Congrats on your new lo. 
The first thing that caught my eye was that you mentioned she really starts to get tired after 1 hour from waking in the morning.  This is totally normal, and for most babies, the first period of A time in the day is the shortest.  I actually went through a situation when someone recommended to me to put my dd down for her first nap 1 hour after waking in the morning.  The thought is that after being well rested from the night's sleep, baby will be better able to settle and sleep well for the nap.  Then, after she hopefully has a good first nap, the other naps following will be better since sleep begets sleep.  I know you said that she wakes happy at 45 mins, but that happiness doesn't seem to be carrying through the whole A time.  I don't mean to suggest that she's not a happy baby, just that she's tired.  Anyway, if she does continue to have short naps, you will need to monitor her A times accordingly.  Meaning, you will need to watch her sleep cues after the next feeding and not try to keep her up 1.5-2 hrs after each feeding since she's already had some of her A time before the feeding.  Overtiredness will lead to poor naps.
As for extending her feeds to 3.5 hrs, I would do it gradually.  Perhaps try to lenghten one feed time at a time.  Each feeding doesn't have to be spaced exactly 3 hrs apart.  If you notice that there is a consistancy in which feed she takes less at, lengthen that one for a day or two and see if she starts to eat more.  Hopefully, once you find a good pattern for feeding during the day, she'll take more and maybe stop waking at night.  However, night wakings are not uncommon at her age, so don't fret.  Also, 3 months old is a prime time for a growth spurt, and if she's not taking it during the day, she'll be looking for it during the night (or even if she did eat alot during the day she would still wake at night during a growth spurt).
I hope some of this helps.  What is her temperment, by the way?

[GG]

Just wanted to second Heather's answer.  I was going to post a similar response.   

[Doj]

Thanks for the response.

This is where I get confused. I have read posts on the site that mention for the first nap to keep them up a little longer because they just woke up from a long nightime sleep tand if you only keep them up for 1 hour then the nap will only be 45 min, but i know that if i keep her up longer than she is over tired than that leads to a bad nap... I just need to get rid of these 45 min naps.

Any suggestions for wake to sleep? I get in there before she wakes up, but i cant stop her from waking up. Her arms and legs are out of control and I have a hard time conrtrolling them and keeping her soother in her mouth.

[GG]

Are you swaddling her?  It's not too late to start... you can do it for as long as she flails her arms and legs uncontrollably.

[HeatherC]

Doj-I know that it can be confusing when you read such conflicting advice.  Just remember that every baby is different, and all you can do is try different things.  I second the swaddling.  Also, if she is already taking 45 min naps, and you want to try something different with her routine, what do you have to loose if she only takes a 45 min nap?  It's alot of trial and error right now, and you'll soon find the "magic numbers" with A time and S time.