EASY training at 4.5 months

[Gabriella]

Hello Ladies,

I've posted this in another thread, but as I am not quite sure it will get read, and I'd need some urgent advice, so here it is again. I hope it's ok to do this.

We started ds on 4 hour EASY two days ago. We are trying to stick to the five-day plan lined out in the book for babies who have never been on a routine. DS is doing amazingly well, we only had one night out of hell and he slept the second one through from 7.15 pm until 6.45 am, with DF at 10.30. This was the first time he's ever done this, so far he's been waking up at least two times a night.

I know that EASY is not a schedule, but for the training days Tracy especially recommends watching the clock and making sure times are correct. So I have a few questions:

1. When DS wakes after 1h20-1h30 nap, do I try to put him back to sleep with PU/PD? Get him up and do A-time? I tried PU/PD the last two times, but he never went back to sleep, so I just got him out of bed when it was time for his next feed.

2. DS is very out of sorts after his catnap. He wakes up at 5.40 pm and he's not supposed to eat until 7. I try to keep him entertained, but he is just not interested. Is it ok to feed him at 6 and then top him up after his bath, before bedtime?

3. Let's suppose DS wakes up at 6.15 am instead of 7. Do I do Pu/PD to keep him in bed until 7?

4. We always put on the same music when we are putting DS in bed. Usually we leave the music on the whole night (low volume). Is this a prop? Or is it ok to use it?

5. DS has had a dummy since he was a few weeks old. He usually falls asleep with it, then promptly spits it out. DH was wondering if we should wean him from the dummy now, but I reckoned getting on the routine is enough stress in itself and I am thinking of weaning him a bit later. What do you think?

6. What do you do when DS wakes up for his DF? He usually starts crying around 10.30 and he gets his bottle, but then it's not a DF anymore, is it? (Yesterday he didn't wake up, so we managed to do a proper DF)

I'd be grateful for any comments.

Thanks,
Gabriella

[rebecaq]

Hi Gabriella! Welcome to BW  !

I think it's great your starting a routine with ds

Right let me answer you questions one by one

1. When DS wakes after 1h20-1h30 nap, do I try to put him back to sleep with PU/PD? Get him up and do A-time? I tried PU/PD the last two times, but he never went back to sleep, so I just got him out of bed when it was time for his next feed.

Try doing PU/PD until it's time to get up from his nap. Though some babies just never do do "official" nap length, for now I think it would be best to have him in his crib doing PU/PD so he gets the idea that this is relax time.

2. DS is very out of sorts after his catnap. He wakes up at 5.40 pm and he's not supposed to eat until 7. I try to keep him entertained, but he is just not interested. Is it ok to feed him at 6 and then top him up after his bath, before bedtime?

Are you BF or bottle feeding? I used to cluster feed my ds everyday because it's what worked for him. So I think it's ok to feed him at 6 and then top him off 

3. Let's suppose DS wakes up at 6.15 am instead of 7. Do I do Pu/PD to keep him in bed until 7?

I recommend leaving him in his crib as long as he's happpy, then I would do PU/PD until it's oficially time to start the day

4. We always put on the same music when we are putting DS in bed. Usually we leave the music on the whole night (low volume). Is this a prop? Or is it ok to use it?

No, soft music is not a prop. We do the same bath/bedtime routine here since the day he was born and he's 16 months!!  Maybe don't leave it on all night, just use it as a calmig tool for when he's first going to sleep

5. DS has had a dummy since he was a few weeks old. He usually falls asleep with it, then promptly spits it out. DH was wondering if we should wean him from the dummy now, but I reckoned getting on the routine is enough stress in itself and I am thinking of weaning him a bit later. What do you think?[/
quote]
I agree with you, weaning from the dummy now is probabbly going to make the change into a routine more stressful. Wait until he's happily settled into his routine and then wean him from the dummy, which by the sounds of it is not a prop either since he doesn't wake when it falls out. So at the moment it's not a problem to be dealt with/b]

6. What do you do when DS wakes up for his DF? He usually starts crying around 10.30 and he gets his bottle, but then it's not a DF anymore, is it? (Yesterday he didn't wake up, so we managed to do a proper DF)

Since you just started to implement a routine, give it a few days to see if he remains asleep like last night for the DF.  Since things are changing he may stop waking for it 

If you have any more questions or doubts don't hesitate to ask!!

- Beca 

[Gabriella]

Hi Beca,

Thanks for your thoughts. Today was an ok day. DS slept through the night, just woke once at 5.30 am, but we put the dummy into his mouth and he fell back asleep in two minutes.

I have one big question: 

This afternoon I put him down for his catnap and despite the fact he was tired, he just couldn't fall asleep. I used PU/PD, but when I picked him up he would get even more upset, so after a while I just left him in his cot, and talked to him. He screamed his head off. At 6 pm I picked him up and told him it was the end of his nap time.

Now DH thinks this is bad parenting as I basically ended up giving him what he was screaming for. I think it's ok, as I am sticking to the schedule and if DS misses his chance to sleep, well, too bad for him, the day is moving on.

What do you think?

Gabriella

[rebecaq]

Hi Gaby,

I think what you did is ok, you never left ds to cry alone and were there calming him until it was time to continue with the routine.  It will take a while for him to get the hang of things.

Thought you'd like to know my ds never did the catnap, if after a couple of weeks you see the same resisance, he may not need it. But give it a shot first

- Beca