is 13 weeks too early to transition to 3.5 EASY?

[jacq1101]

Hi,
My LO is 13 weeks tommorrow.  These last few days, I have noticed the following:
* he can stay up for about 15 minutes longer than he used to.  Or at least it is less easy to spot his tired signs even if he has been up for 1.5 hours
* often during the day, I will have to wake him up to feed him.  I have sometimes just let him sleep a bit longer and have ended up feeding him closer to 1.30 than 1pm.
* I do have to go in and resettle him at 45 minutes into his nap.
* at night, he is waking up earlier for a feed.  He is also not feeding as long when I dream feed him (he might go about 18 minutes when usually he feeds25-30 minutes).
* last few days, he is also taking longer to settle to sleep.  I 'm not sure if it is because he isn't as tired or if he is TOO tired (ie because he does not so obviously display his tired signs after 1.30 hours, I'm not sure if he is stil tired or not and maybe he is and I've been keeping him up too long??)

Is it too early to move to a 3.5 EASY?  I thought that a 4 hour EASy might be a stretch right now (though sometimes he does end up going 4 hours .... for instance, if he feeds at 5.30am and then not again till 9.30 ... I offer a top up at 7am but he often does not want it).  I just feel that things are subtlely changing but am not sure if I am pushing him towards a 3.5 hour EASy or if he is really ready for it as I know that Tracy suggested transitioning to 4 hour EASY at 4 months.

Thanks
Jacqui

[estherofi20]

hello there,

i changed DS to a 4hr routine at 12WO, 'cause he just wasn't hungry at the 3hr mark, and his naps started to be a dissaster. Some babies need to change the routine earlier than the 4months, but i guess it depends on how much is he eating?

[* Paula *]

Try it for a few days - If you find that your lo is doing better on the 3.5 Hour EASY, then stick to it.  If it is not working for you, you can always go back.

Good Luck!!

Keep us posted on how you get on.

Paula x

[jacq1101]

Hi,
Thanks for all your input.  I tried him on 3.5 hour EASY for 2 days and he got really tired by the end of the 1.45 minutes awake time.  By the end of the day, he was falling asleep in my arms and then not feeding very well at the 7pm feed.  Then this morning, he was awake again at 1am.  We resettled him and then I fed him when he woke again at 2am.  Today, I put him back to a 3 hour EASY but he didn't feed for as long, in fact was a bit fussy.  SIGH.  Not really sure what to do now.  maybe a combination?? (actually I was doing this already for the trial because I fed him at 2pm and then at 5pm because it was really hard to resettle him after he work up after a 40 minute nap).  Maybe these next few weeks till he is 4 months are just a bit messy because his ability to be awake hasn't caught up with his ability to go for longer during feeds.  Also, it kind of hurts when he feeds on my left side so not sure what is going on there.

[estherofi20]

How about you try to add only 15min, so it would be a 3.15 EASY? keep at this for 3 or 5 days, and the add another 15, and so on.

[Wei]

I don't know if this helps...but my DD is going on 11 weeks and I find I have a 3.5 easy after the first feed, a 3 hr EASY for the 2nd feed... and then 2.5 hrs EASY for 3rd feed.  Then after that I cluster and dreamfeed in order to get her to last a bit longer through the night (bfing too).

Maybe try a combo?  I know my DD isn't quite ready yet to go on 3.5 hr EASY but I think she's getting there soon.

Wei

[busy-mum]

I was just wondering this myself!!  I've been using a different well known routine and am finding it too difficult as my DS gets older!(almost 12 weeks) I recently bought tracy's book - BW Solves all your problems and find it fantastic.  There is a section in it on extending the 3hour EASY to a 4 hour EASY which might be worth checking out. DS usually goes 31/2 to 4 hours between feeds at present and to go on a 3 hour EASY would seem like a step back for us so I was thinking of starting the EASY routines on the 4 hour one.