how do i ge tthios EASY thing right?..HELP!

[vboncs]

Hi I have been trying to use the EASY method with my 4.5 mo old for a while now.  I read the book, but I don't know if I am doing this right....here are my questions
here is our day
5-6am wake (since he is 18 lbs & eats at 7pm I take this as a habitual waking & do not feed-I pat him back to sleep..sometimes it works, othertimes he fusses or stays in his crib until 6:45-ish)
E 7am 1.5 tbs cereal & 7oz bottle
A from bottle to 7:45 (we are battling 45 min naps & a baby who has a hard time soothing so I put him down to try to get him to be asleep by 8am)
S 8am-845 & maybe 9:30-10:15here is where it starts to get screwed up if he takes a 45 min nap, I will go in, try to pat back, if not I will change his diaper, do bedtime routine again & then try to get him down again this can go on until his next bottle sometimes! (I feel if he doesn't nap more than 45 min, he is totally cranky all day long!
E 11am 7oz
A from bottle to 11:45 ish
S 12-1245?
.
.
.
this pattern of eating every 4 hrs (3pm & then 7pm) & trying to get him to sleep continues (these 45 min naps stink!)
here is his bedtime routine....
E 7pm 1.5 tbs cereal & 7oz
A bath @ 7:20-ish, dress, story & in crib by 7:45
S 8pm-5-6am
he goes to sleep at night with no problems It's the naps that are screwed up....here are my questions...

- Should I be feeding him when he wakes (bet 5-6 am) I thought no because like I said above, he is 18lbs & I know he can go to 7am w/o eating-but if he doesn't go back to sleep is this cutting into his activity time & making him ultra sleepy after breakfast & unable to nap easily or stay asleep for more than the 45 min?

-if he wakes after 45 min should I keep trying to put him down again.  if he does sleep some more, is it still that light sleep & is not well rested at all? (or rather does 2 45 min nap equal the same rest as an hour & a half nap? or is he starting his day very unrested?)..oh, I have tried the W2S but have no ideas on when to go in or what to do

-any other comments/advise would be appreciated.  We were battling reflux since he has been 3 weeks & now with that under controll I have been trying to get him on the EASY schedule.  He used to nap long in the beginning, but honestly I didn't take notice to when that ended (always attributed the sleeplessness to the reflux & then read whisperer & realized it was just a sleep pattern of not progressing to next stage of sleep)

Thanks so much!
Valerie & cranky Vincent

[HeatherC]

- Should I be feeding him when he wakes (bet 5-6 am) I thought no because like I said above, he is 18lbs & I know he can go to 7am w/o eating-but if he doesn't go back to sleep is this cutting into his activity time & making him ultra sleepy after breakfast & unable to nap easily or stay asleep for more than the 45 min?
If you do not think he needs a feed then, then you shouldn't feed.  Rather, you should find a method that will work to resettle him.  Have you tried pu/pd?  If patting works, you should be consistent in using that.  Have you ever left him alone to see if he can resettle himself, assuming he's not crying?

-if he wakes after 45 min should I keep trying to put him down again.  if he does sleep some more, is it still that light sleep & is not well rested at all? (or rather does 2 45 min nap equal the same rest as an hour & a half nap? or is he starting his day very unrested?)..oh, I have tried the W2S but have no ideas on when to go in or what to do
Yes, you should keep trying to get him back to sleep until the next feed time, or until you need a break.  You are trying to teach him to sleep past the first sleep cycle, and that it is not time to wake up.  Even if his sleep is broken in between, if he goes back to sleep at all, that counts as rest.  For example, if you put him down at 8, and he wakes at 8:45, then it takes until 9:15 to get him back to sleep, that is progress b/c he goes back to sleep and he'll get more rest than if you got him up for good at 8:45. 
I encourage you to review our sleep forums for help with the 45 minute nap problem.  It is extremely common, especially at his age, and it is also "fixable."

The only other thing I'd suggest is having an earlier bedtime.  Since he's missing out on his total hours of sleep time due to short naps, he may benefit him to make them up in the bedtime hours.  Especially if he's waking between 5-6 am and having broken sleep from then, he's probably exhausted by 8 pm.  I'd even aim to start the bedtime winddown, including his last feed, around 6:30, and in bed by 7 pm.