Where should I RE-start EASY

[Hannah1306]

Okay, here is my problem.  My 4 mo old DD started daycare about 3 1/2 weeks ago.  Before she went to daycare she was on a 3 hour EASY.  Unfortunately I did not start the EASY routine until she was about 10 weeks old, so she was not really well established in the routine prior to beginning daycare.  When she first started daycare she had a rough time, she would only sleep in the bouncy seat and was taking only short naps.  Needless to say she went off the routine.  She has never slept through the night consistently, although she rarely wakes at night to eat since I originally put her on the 3 hour EASY routine.  It used to be that she would wake up at night but would easily go back down when I would reswaddle and give her back her paci; however, that seems to be changing.  I really want to get her back onto an EASY routine for both of our sakes, but I am not sure where I should start.  I have been monitoring her feeding times over the last few weeks at daycare, and more often than not she is still eating (on demand) about every 3 hours.  With that in mind I gave the daycare some of the 3 hour EASY guidelines to follow in hopes of transitioning her back onto a schedule.  One of the big things that has been happening at daycare is she has been taking very long naps, sometimes as much as 3 hours, then for the rest of the day she will cat nap for 30 to 45 minutes at a time.  Originally I was thinking that it was her longer naps that was causing her to wake at night, but now I am not so sure.  I am wondering if she may really need to be on a 4 hour EASY routine instead.  She is just beginning to take about 5 oz at most feedings.  Sometimes she will only go about 2 1/2 hours between feedings and other times she will go 4 hours.  She is capable of staying awake for longer periods of time, sometimes 3 hours or more at a time, and she is waking erratically at night.  The last few nights I have had to spend an hour getting her to go back to sleep.  She is just really restless, not really fussy and certainly not crying to be fed.  I know that a few of these things can be signs that she needs to be transitioning her schedule.  The problem is, that she hasn't really been on a consistent schedule for the last 3 weeks, so I am not sure how accurate the signs are.  Her daycare is really great, and has a good infant to caregiver ratio of 1-3, but it is still not the same as her being at home with me.  Unfortunately that is just not an option for us.  The daycare is willing to help me and will put her on whatever schedule I ask, but I know they don't have the time to be doing pu/pd for longer periods, or to always pay enough attention when trying to extend her awake times or naps by 15 minutes here and there.  I guess my big question is: Since I will essentially be starting from scratch with daycare, should I start with a 3 hour or a 4 hour EASY routine?

Sorry for such a long note and for all of the babbling.  I guess I am just a bit frustrated and I don't know where to begin again.

Thanks,
Jill

[LŠuren]

Jill
The following is what I would advise someone who is just starting out on EASY, the plan below is for a 3 hour EASY ;

DS put himself on 4hr easy at little over 3months, here are some signs of needing to transition:   https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=41061.15
1. Not taking as much at a feed (baby not as hungry at 3 hours)
2. Erratic Night Wakings
3. They are extending their awake times
4. Starts taking 45 minute naps
I know it goes 'against' EASY, however if you feel you are in a transition stage, you really have to watch his cues and let that be your guide - it may be usefull to keep a log https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=6208.0 so you can track when your LO eats, etc.


Here is the plan.......

To start implementing EASY, I would;

1. Set a time to wake your Lo up each morning and a bed time.   We usually say 7am wake up and 7pm bedtime and a dreamfeed at about 10.30pm.
2. Stretch your LO to 3hrs between feeds.
3. Get your LO down for naps in each EASY 3hr cycle,
4. Finally, get your LO to nap for longer than 1 sleep cycle (45mins) as often as you can, using various sleep methods i.e. shushpat, wake 2 sleep...  (your goal is 3 naps each lasting between 1hr 30mins to 2hrs)


By getting your Lo down 1 nap per 3hr cycle you should not be missing any naps in his day.

If you choose 7am as your wake up time and start to the day, any wakings prior to this should be treated as a night waking, where you feed (if necessary) and put her back to sleep using shushpat, etc (PU/PD after 4months).  In the beginning if you really cannot get her back to sleep between 6 - 7am, treat her wake up as her start time and gradually move it back to 7am.  If ehe consistently wakes at the 20min mark, go into her room before this (or sit the whole time while she naps) and lay a hand on her to help her progress to the next sleep cycle.

Wake her from her naps if she looks like sleeping through her next E (feeding) time. This may seem a bit strange to do at the start but your are 'reprograming' her sleep if you like and trying to get her down one every 3 hours for naps rather than a sleep.

Your Lo will instigate in drop in feeds herself, it is very commin for LO's this age to continur their feeding cycle through a 24hr period.  Calum was still up twice a night at this age.

EASY will work for you, but like anything it takes time to 'bed-in', do you know your LO temperament, there is a quiz here https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52283.0

So, one in  every 3hr period you are looking for a nap from her, you 3hr cycle may look like this;
     E 7am
     A 7.30am (inc. a 10 - 10min at the end of this 'A' time for wind down for her nap)*
     S 8.30 - 1.5hr  Undecided if shorter and you haven't been able to extend then you would do EASA

    E 10am
     A 10.30am (inc. a 10 - 10min at the end of this 'A' time for wind down for her nap)*
     S 11.30 - 1.5hr  Undecided if shorter and you haven't been able to extend then you would do EASA

    E 1300
     A 1330 (inc. a 10 - 10min at the end of this 'A' time for wind down for her nap)*
     S 1430 - 1.5hr  Undecided if shorter and you haven't been able to extend then you would do EASA

    E 1600
     A 1630
     S 1730 - catnap only  30 - 45mins

    E 1900 & bath or vice versa    or    E 1800   &    2000  with bath in the middle (clusterfeeding)
     S 1930                                       S 2030

    DF between 10 -11 https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54662.0

he will start to sleep longer at night if she is developmentally ready to do so, however giving her the bulk of her milk intake in the core day hours (7am to bedtime + DF) will go a long way to helping this   

I usually try and build in a nap on ther journey to where ever I am going and try and time it to make his 'A' time occur when I am out and about, it is easier now he is older.  Here are some previous posts https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57592.0


* I would put Calum in his cot 15 -20 min before the 2hour mark to wind him down for sleeping. You could also just try sitting with your LO, have you read about the 4 S’s in Tracy’s books. If you miss her sleep window and he becomes overtired she will cry out of frustration, to avoid this I always follow the same wind-down routine, 4 S's
Set the stage - prepare you LO room for sleep; remove stimulation, darken room, lullaby....
Swaddle - (I used to swaddle now I use a gro'bag with his arms swaddled)
Sitting - Quietly without any stimulation, and when necessary..
Shush-pat

Is there anyway you can start the 4 S's 15 -20min before a nap? As part of your 'A' time

HTH's
Any questions just give me a shout.

lauren

Here are some other links that may be of use  Huh
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=10409.0 - when did you start using EASY?
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=59102.0 - Mantra cry info
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=58269.0 - EASY questions
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=58170.0 - Help starting EASY
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57553.0 - HELP getting on EASY
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=39164.0 - Teaching Sleep to Newborns and Young Infants
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=451.0 - A Special Sleep Interview with Tracy Hogg
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=39769.0 - Teaching sleep to 3-5mos and overcoming the 45min naps

[LŠuren]

here is the typical 4hr EASY

[LŠuren]

How are you getting on Jill?

[Hannah1306]

So far things are going well.  I put DD back onto a 3 hour EASY schedule with the help of daycare.  Yesterday was the first real test at daycare and it seemed to go well.  She ate every three hours starting at 6am, which is our normal wake up time, she took a morning and an afternoon nap of 1 hour 45 minutes and a 30 minute nap at 5pm.  She didn't eat very well yesterday, but she has her first real cold and I think that probably decreased her appetite more than anything else.  She only woke once last night and she put herself back to sleep.  I did go cold turkey on swaddling her, opting for only a sleep sack and onesie.  She took longer to settle, but she definitely slept better last night than she has in the last week.  Yesterday was about as picture perfect an EASY day as you can get, I just hope it isn't a fluke .  Thanks a lot for your input.  I will keep you updated!
Jill

[LŠuren]

That sounds excellent  well done