Anyone have an EAS-A-EAS schedule? not hungry at 3 hrs but can't stay awake long

[lulu520]

Hey All!  Just wondering if it's common to have an EAS-A-EAS schedule?  My LO is on a 3 hour EASY for the most part but sometimes I wonder if I should transition to a 3.5 or 4hr EASY.  She is 12 weeks on Tuesday and doesn't usually seem too hungry at the 3 hour mark.  I've been waiting til 3.5 hrs sometimes and even then sometimes it's just really hard to get her to eat at that time. 
 
The problem is that her awake time is still short (1 hour usually, maybe 1.5 hrs tops) before she gets fussy so it's not a true sign of transitioning yet.  I also haven't been letting her sleep over 2 hrs per Tracy's suggestions so we end up doing an EAS-A-EAS type of routine which sort of messes the day by the end but still somewhat manageable.

Is this a temporary thing until her A time gets longer?  Just wondering if anyone else experienced something similar to this.

Thanks!

[dreamgirl]

we are having a similar problem... LO's A time isn't too long  (its pretty much, he eats - is up for an hour sometimes and hour and a half and then needs to sleep) our problem is that he doesnt sleep 2 hours so we have A time again before his next feeding... (see my previous post) -- so our days have been EASAES etc.. which messes us all up! but at least we're getting a little bit of a routine i guess... we're new to this so hopefully it continues!

im hoping with age his A time will increase as well (LO is 14 weeks)

good luck! maybe we'll get some answers...

[EmMUK74]

we had this and with using the BW techniques to extend naps and also her getting older she slowly got more into the EASY routine.  I would say she was about 5 months when she got into the "proper" routine and it was probably when we introduced solids.  But that said, the non standard routine worked great for us up to that point because we both knew what was happening.

[lulu520]

Bumping this for any moderators out there...

Yeah, I guess it sort of is working but sometimes it gets tricky b/c then you have E and S times very close together if not at the same time.  Or sometimes the E is really not for another 30 min or so but b/c she is tired I might as well feed her.  Is time the only solution here as A times increase?

we had this and with using the BW techniques to extend naps and also her getting older she slowly got more into the EASY routine.  I would say she was about 5 months when she got into the "proper" routine and it was probably when we introduced solids.  But that said, the non standard routine worked great for us up to that point because we both knew what was happening.

[EmMUK74]

sorry my post confused    I hope one of the moderators replies and helps

I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone.  With us, the issue was that Rachel couldn't stay awake very long and so she needed to sleep and then she didn't like to sleep very long which seems similar to you.

There are techniques you can try to extend A time by having quieter A time with reading and singing and things and then slowly extending it by 5 mins each day.  with time this can increase A time but. 

And there is the W2S technique - wake to sleep - where you rouse the LO slightly to help them get through the sleep cycle and sleep for longer (I tried this for several weeks and it never seemed to work but when she was 5 months old she lengthened her own naps)

hth a little more

[rebecaq]

There are techniques you can try to extend A time by having quieter A time with reading and singing and things and then slowly extending it by 5 mins each day.  with time this can increase A time but. 

This is exactly what I was going to say.  The transition for 3 to 3.5 or 4 hour EASY can't be done overnight.  It's not fair to expect a baby to stay awake longer because she can go longer between feeds.  Extending both naps and activity time is the way to transition them.  Exactly as Em said, do 5 mins for a few days then 10 so on and so on.

- Beca

[lulu520]

Thanks Em and Beca! 
I'll try to extend the A time but hopefully it won't backfire and make putting her down for a nap harder b/c I know sometimes when she's overtired it's really hard!  Guess its all about finding that delicate balance?

[rebecaq]

Yes, and don't let her get to the point of being overtired, if she's giving you sleep cues then put her down. Then work on extending that nap by 5-10 mins so she'll be that much closer to E time.  Remember to do it slowly and she'll be on E-A-S routine before you know it 

- Beca

[Anna & Baby Caleb's Mommy]

IT IS A DELICATE BALANCE, ISN'T IT?    just when you think you have it figured out one day...i think i make my dh crazy by throwing out a different strategie each day   one day we might be trying to extend A time, another day trying to get one more oz. in ds...oh well....baby steps.  but this post is our dilemma exactly..i've been to embarrassed to admit that our EASY is more like AES-AES...he doesn't seem to be hungry when he wakes up from short nap, so then it's A time and he also can't stay awake beyond 1 hr. 15 minutes w/o becoming overtired, and i certainly don't want to put him down on empty tummy (can't go longer than 2 1/2 hours between feeds mostly during day)   so it turns into AES   so we are working on extending A times, nap times, and oz.   which begins to sound like i'm trying to 'grow up my baby' which makes me sad because that's not fair to him...food for thought   but like EmMUK74 said, (not a direct quote) eventually they do get older, lengthen their own naps, etc. and yes, it is a comfort knowing what comes next for both of us, even if its AES.   thanks ladies.