6 month old EASY needs tweaked

[tiki_mama]

i'd like some advice on how i should be adapting EASY to suit my 6 month old DD.

i've been posting on the BF forum as she's been having issues with getting enough calories during the day to help sustain her for longer at nights, but this morning after a 5am waking (which she's never done before) i did some soul searching and realised that the calorie intake thing may not be the real problem. the last time we really changed her routine was when she was 4 months old (changed to 4/4) and we've not really done much since. as everyone will know a 4 month old baby and a 6 month old baby are very different creature!! 

obviously my DD has been setting her own patterns in certain respects, as she gets tired when she's tired and not when the EASY plan says so, but having been on the plan since she was born (thank you tracy!!) i recognise that you need to help them along the way and i think it's time to tweak the routine 

it's hard to give a definitive example of my DD's routine as it changes everyday, but generally speaking it goes as follows:

7am - E
7.30-9ish - A (i should point out that this morning period is the time when my lo finds it most difficult to sustain a good long activity period. if she's up at 7 she can usually make it 2 hours, but if she's up any earlier she's often sleepy and goes back to bed after 1hr15 - 1hr 30)
9-10.30 or 11 - S. She has always been a good napper at this time (since I did wake to sleep and spent hours at her cotside 'training her'! LOL!!), however recently she has woken up after less than 1.5 hours (again it sometimes depends what time she wakes up in the morning)
11 - E. milk and a veg or fruit mash

after this is when things get vague! i'm an out and about type person and up until now DD and i have always gone out for most of the day after her 2 hour morning nap and her 2nd feed. i take her out in her buggy so that when she gets tired she can have a nap and she can sleep anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours in her buggy. i always try to ensure that she gets good spells of activity, whether it's bouncing around on my knee at baby cinema,  baby yoga,  swimming etc and then she'll have a nap and will be fed again at 3pm (so i always follow the 4 hour EASY for feeds no matter what)

usually we're back home around 4am (for DH's return from work) and then he'll play with her and generally speaking we'll take her out for her catnap in her buggy from around 5pm - 5.40 or sometimes 6pm  (never been able to get her to sleep in her cot at this time probably cause she's excited about her daddy being home!)

6pm - E. milk and veg or fruit mash
6.40ish bath
7pm - S
10pm - D/F

this has been working for us up until now. i've never had a problem taking her out for long periods in her buggy and her night time sleep has generally been very good. she'd wake once around 2am-3am and then that'd be her til 6.30 or 7am

but things have gone a bit haywire recently and now i think it may be her routine. i'd like to know what other babies her age are doing. i've looked at the sample routines but there's nothing that really jumps out at me so i could say...that's what we're doing wrong!

can someone tell me how you go about changing EASY to suit a fast developing 6 month old? is it just the feeding that remains on a 4 hour plan and everything else is flexible? when 'should' they be sleeping and when 'should' they be awake? should we drop the catnap, as we realise it maybe contributing to the problem as it's probably too long now? when does the afternoon nap become the main sleep? i'm more than happy to go out and about in the mornings and get back for a proper afternoon nap. just need some guidance please



 

[HeatherC]

My opinion (just mine  ) is that she needs 2 solid naps still.  The catnap could go, but only if she's getting 2 good naps totalling 3-4 hours.  If her morning nap is beginning to shorten, she may need a bit more A time; try extending by 15 mins at a time.  As for the afternoon nap, you may start finding it hard for her to sleep on the go as their curiosity about the world around them can make it hard to sleep.  I, too, have always gotten out at least once a day, but I usually would return home for naps most of the time.  I don't think this is an age to determine which nap is more important, b/c I think both the morning and the afternoon are equally important to make sure she's rested enough to get a good night's sleep.  My dd's A time has typically been on the lesser end, so at 6 months, she was up at 8, napped 10-12 and 2-4, and bed at 8.  That lasted for a few months, then her pm A time lengthened and the second nap shortened a bit.  The morning nap is usually the best for most babies simply b/c it's an extention of a good night's sleep.  So, when it comes to a point where her pm nap is shortening, restrict the length of the am nap.
Sorry to ramble, I hope I made sense.