Tweaking 4 hour easy

[BabyBsMommy]

I recently put my just 4 month old onto 4 hour EASY in respect to his feedings because he was acting very distracted on the three hour during feeds as well as when I tried 3.5 hours - he just didn't seem to be eating enough, his feeds were taking forever because he was fiddling so much and his sleep and naps got crazier than usual.  He can't always make a 2 hour A time, though somedays he does.  He easily goes the 4 hours between the first 2 feeds and more often than not can almost make it to the third with 4 hours but the last stretch is very hard for him.  I think part of the problem is that he doesn't take 2 hour naps very often (although usually close to 1.5 hours now) so I think having A time before a feed sometimes makes it more difficult for him to hold out that extra half hour or so til the next feed, whereas when he sleeps until almost right before a feed, it's no problem!
Does anyone have a routine you can post for me to see that might help out - meaning, where baby can get through longer stretches early on but not later in the day?  I can't seem to wrap my head around how to make sure he feeds close enough to bedtime that he has a full tummy for sleep!  Right now he wakes anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 to start the day and is usually asleep between 7:30 and 7:45 at night.  He is currently waking twice for feeds, anywhere between 1-3am and 5-6am (ie, if he wakes at 1, he'll wake at 5, if he wakes at 2 he wakes at 6) - I'm pretty sure he is genuinely hungry when he wakes as the times vary within these ranges every night.

[corrina01]

I'll post my 5 month routine.

She was feeding every 3.5hrs upon waking. She was doing 2hrs awake before her 1st nap, then 1hr 30mins/40mins throughout the day

7am Feed
8.55 Sleep for 1hr 35 mins
10.30am Wake and Feed
12.10pm Sleep 1hr 50mins
2pm Wake and feed
3.30pm Sleep 1hr 30mins
5pm Wake and Feed
6.40pm Feed
6.50pm Bed
7pm Sleep
10pm Dreamfeed



HTH

[LŠuren]

BabyBsMommy

Hi again, I wouldn't worry too much!
Around the 3 - 4hr transition everything gets thrown in the air for a while - ours did.
I wouldn't worry if you end up doing ESA or EASA, as long as you don't start feeding to sleep - if he is due a sleep right after a feed, make sure he is awake before you put him to bed.

Have you tried doing 4hrs in the first part of the day (which he seems comfortable with) then dropping back to 3.5/3.75hr EASY in the second half of the day? Until he can extend his afternoon 'A' time?

Do you want to post you current routine for me and we can see how to make sure he feeds close enough to bedtime that he has a full tummy for sleep??

The night wakings seems normal for his age.  Did you drop the DF recently?

[BabyBsMommy]

This is what our routine looks like, generally though he has been awake at 6:30 or 6:45 the past few days!
7am wake and feed
8:45am-9:00am sleep
10:15am-10:30am awake
11am feed
12:15 -12:30 sleep
1:45 - 2:00  awake
3:00 feed
3:45 - 4:00 sleep
5:00 - 5:15 awake
6:15 bath (usually quite grumpy at bath time because he is getting hungry!)
6:45 feed
7:15 -7:45 sleep - depends on how long he feeds for, and I always try to sit with him for about 10 min past the feed before putting him in the crib
1-2am (somewhere in between) feed
5-6am (somewhere in between) feed

When he gets up at 7am, I can often get 2hours out of him before nap time, if he gets up earlier, he doesn't last as long.  This morning he was up at 6:45 and he was asleep at 8:25, couldn't get any more time out of him at all!  Like you, I find no problem going 4 hours between the first 2 feeds but he is fussy earlier than 3pm and the last stretch gets really awful!  My pooor DH is sad about this because bathtime is one of his special times and now Brenden is so fussy during it because he's hungry!  I'm just not sure how to tweak the routine to make sure his tummy is full for bed but making the feeds closer later in the day.  Sometimes he has gone with only one feed between 3-4 and that seems to be his most restful nights.  I'm finding now that he wakes for a second feed between 5-6, he doesn't take much at 7 so I worry if he eats enough with only 3 more feeds throughout the day.  I've found the past few nights the second waking feed isn't a full feed but waking first between 1-2 doesn't keep his tummy full enough to get through to his morning wakeup.
Oh, and I did drop the dreamfeed after 2 weeks about a week ago. I found his wakings were the same through the night with or without it, I think it was just disrupting his sleep.  His first stretch of sleep is always very sound but after his first feed, he is very restless the rest of the night!

[LŠuren]

7am wake and feed
8:45am-9:00am sleep
10:15am-10:30am awake
11am feed
12:15 -12:30 sleep
1:45 - 2:00  awake
3:00 feed
3:45 - 4:00 sleep
5:00 - 5:15 awake
5.45 feed to try and satify his hunger for the bath
6:00 bath
6:30 feed
7:00 -7:30 sleep - depends on how long he feeds for, and I always try to sit with him for about 10 min past the feed before putting him in the crib

I found my early wakings were due to too long an 'A' (sometimes) from last nap to bedtime.

[BabyBsMommy]

Thanks for looking at my routine - so you think that how things are going up to your suggestion to feed at 5:45 is good?  Also, were you suggesting that I cut back on A time even more before bed or just having that half hour befoe the 5:45 feed and then going right to the bath will suffice?  Sorry for all the Q's but one more - when you say the 5:45 is to satisfy his hunger before the bath, would you only let him have a little or eat until he's done?  That's what I did tonight and I'm gonig to let him just have however much more he wants after his bath (DH is bathing him right now).  When you are giving two feeds that close together, should I feed him from the same side or switch (I give him one side a feed, unless he finishes one as he does once in a while, and still wants more)
Update: Last night we were a little behind (Sunday plans) and so Brenden ate at 6pm, bath at 6:45, ate again at 7:15 and was asleep at 7:55.  He woke up at 11 and after an hour he was still waking up every 10 min and one of us had been sitting with him the entire time so I decided to try to feed him since this was really out of character for him.  He took a full feed then went back to sleep until 2:00.  We left him to take care of himself (wasn't crying, just fussing) but after 15 min it was escalating so DH went in and it took 20 min to settly him.  He woke at 4:15 and I fed him a full feed.  He woke again at 6:00 and again couldn't settle (had gotten his hand out of his swaddle and was starting to really get going) I spent 5 min putting him back to sleep but he woke up 10 min later.  This time sat beside him for 25 min (was 6:50 by then) and he slept for 45 minutes more.  Fed him at 7:50, was hungrier than the past few days but still didn't take a full feed.  Was exhausted from 3 hours less night time sleep than usual and went down easily for a nap at 9:15.  Geez, before there were never any nighttime wakings except to eat and he couldn't put himself to sleep for naps!  Any ideas on why we're having all of these night wakings that he can't put himself back to sleep for when he can put himself to sleep at nap times now?