3hr EASY and short naps

[OliviaM]

Hi there,
I'm wondering what happens with the 3-hour EASY where the baby only naps for say 1/2 hour? Should I then wait till the 3hr cycle is up before I feed him (provided that he doesn't get hungry in the meantime, of course)? This would mean that he would have another hour or so of "play time" before the feed, which becomes more like EASYA. On the other hand, if I feed him earlier, his bed time will not be quite as planned, especially if he has a few "less than 3 hrs" cycles during the day. I know I probably sound rigid but I just want to try and keep his bed time roughly the same each day, which becomes a bit difficult when we can't stick to our 3 hr cycle.

Any advice or comments would be highly appreciated.
Thanks
Olivia

[* Paula *]

Hi Olivia,

Welcome to the boards. 

I am going to start by asking you a few questions, so that we can try and help you more.

How old is your lo?

How does your lo nap / fall asleep?

Do you use any props - pacci / rocking / swaying / white noise etc?

Have you tried Pat / Shhh to extend your lo's nap?

Can you post a detailed routine of what a typical day looks like i.e. times, eating, activity, and sleep.

Thanks
Paula x

[OliviaM]

Hi Paula

Thanks for your reply. My baby boy is 3 months old. His birth was a bit stressful as he had to be vacuum extracted. Also, he has a reflux and is currently on medication for that. I think he is on a "Spirited" side but does get a bit "Touchy" from time to time.

We are very new to EASY as I have only just read Tracy's book (I only wish I read it a lot earlier!). We try and start our day at 7am, although sometimes I have to feed him a bit earlier (at say 6 or 6:30am) if he is awake and a bit cranky (sometimes I wonder whether I should actually wait till 7am before giving him his first feed). So, our typical day is as follows:

7am (ideally) - feed
7:20am - change nappy, rocker or playmat (he seems to feed very efficiently hence the feeding time is only 20 minutes or so)
anywhere between 8:00 and 8:30am - going to sleep, with nap time lasting no more than 1 hour (quite often only 30-40 minutes)
9:00 - 9:30am - awake (that's when I wonder if I should feed him once he is awake or wait till 10am??)
9:30 - approx 10am - activity again while waiting for the next feed
10am - feed
10:20am - change nappy, rocker or playmat
11:30am - walk in the park and sleep time (sometime wakes up at approx 12:30pm)
1pm - feed
1:20pm - change nappy, massage, tummy time
2:15pm - afternoon nap (naps really well at this time, sometimes I have to wake him up for his 4pm feed)
4pm - feed
4:20pm - change nappy, rocker, playmat or pram, tummy time
5:30 - sleep (I know this is meant to be a short nap only, so I try to give it no more than 1 hour)
7pm - feed
7:20pm - bath, winding down etc
anywhere between 8 and 8:30pm - sleep (I do not usually feed him at this time)
10:30pm - dreamfeed (quite often he actually wakes up for his feed and I also have to change his nappy, so it's not much of a dreamfeed for us)

His waking up pattern at night is a bit erratic. Sometimes he wakes up every 2.5-3 hours, but other times he can sleep from 11pm till say 3:30am and then wake up again at 5pm. He has not slept for any longer than 4-4.5 hours straight at night.

Also, his actual going to sleep time varies from 10 minutes (that's if I manage to catch his sleep window!) to 45 minutes, which sometimes interferers with the 3-hour cycle.

The above pattern is probably our "ideal" day, but quite often we slip into the 2.5hr cycle because of his short naps during the day.

I do try to Shh-pat and also give him the dummy to extend his naps but it doesn't always work, especially if I don't attend within a minute or so and miss the opportunity. He always falls asleep with the dummy but I do try and take it out once he is asleep if he doesn't spit it out himself. I must admit I do rock him sometimes as he hates being swaddled and always cries when I prepare him for bed. But I usually manage to put him down before he goes into the deep sleep. 

I saw your reply to my question regarding the cluster feed, Paula - thank you for that. I will try and feed lo before putting him to bed at night (I was a bit confused before as I thought I'm not supposed to put him to bed on a full stomach. I also thought cluster feed is not recommended for babies over 2-3 months old).

I have one more question to ask - what happens on days when we have to go out? We have had a few successful (ie happy and calm) days on EASY so far, but every time we go out, the routine goes out of the window and it takes a couple of days for us to get back on track. Even a short trip to the shops or a quick doctors visit throws us out of balance. I try as much as possible to schedule things so that they coincide with the 3hr cycle (eg make riding in the car his sleeping time, feed before going into the doctors room etc) but it just doesn't work for us - lo gets overtired and grizzles all the time. Are you able to provide any tips on how to get through that type of days?

Thanks, Paula. Hope I haven't bored you with such a long post - I thought I would give you as much info as possible.

Olivia

[* Paula *]

Olivia,

Thanks for your detailed post.

From what it looks like, you do try to keep your lo in a good routine.  You say that your DS is spirited, hence it is really important to get him onto a good routine, this will make both you and DS a lot happier.

I definitely suggest setting a few days out to try and get your lo onto a good routine.  Start as you mean to carry on, once you are on a good routine, everything will settle into place

Lets say for instance you start your day at 7:00 am - you are going to have your E A, wind down, and get your ds ready for his nap.  Start your wind down routine a few minutes before you see the first sign of tiredness, so that your lo is not over tired by the time you get him to bed.

Ensure that he is in a very darkened room, Do you swaddle?  give, pacci, put him to bed awake.  You say that your lo usually wakes up at the 45 minute mark - this is usually the case, where they jolt before transitioning into a deeper sleep.  You could go in there before the 45 minute mark, pop his pacci back into his mouth, and keep your hand on his tummy, to help him get through the jolt and go into a deeper sleep.  He may wake slightly, but you can pat / shhh to get him back to sleep.  This usually helps with extending his naps.  You may have to do this a few days to help him transition.

Some lo's do have a routine that looks like E A S A E etc. it is not uncommon, but you do want to work on extending your DS's naps, to ensure he does not get over tired / stimmulated.

The cluster feed will definitely help your lo go longer, and also may help him not wake up for his dreamfeed.  Let me know how you get on with that.

With regards to your question on what you do when you are out and about - you are always going to have days like that.  The best thing to suggest there is, if you go out and about, and your lo is completely off routine one day, it is recommended that you try to say indoors the next day to get him back onto routine.

HTH, let us know how you get on.

Paula x

[OliviaM]

Thanks, Paula. Will definitely try all your tips.