Author Topic: trying to drop 3a feeding - need advice  (Read 790 times)

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Offline Mackie

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trying to drop 3a feeding - need advice
« on: January 29, 2007, 13:24:52 pm »
My 5 month old son has been on the EASY for a month now.  We started on the 3 hr and have transitioned to the 4 hr.  I am trying to drop the 3a feeding.  Last night was our first night.  I did PU/PD basically from 3:30-5 at which point I fed him and put him back to bed.  Then he got up at 7a (6 or 7 is usual).  So now do I feed him again to start the day even though it's only been 2 hrs from his last feeding or do I wait for 4 hours to feed again?  If I wait for 4 hrs his schedule will be messed up because he went back to sleep at 5a instead of having an activity.  So not sure how to structure the day.

How old is your child? 5 months
What’s his/her daily routine?
7a wake & breastfeed
8:30 or 9 Nap (1hr)
11 Breastfeed
1 Nap (1-1.5hrs)
3 breastfeed
5-6 cat nap (sometimes)
6:30 & 7 breastfeed
7 or 7:30 sleep
Dreamfeed - usually he wakes and I feed him used to be 10:30, lately he's been waking at 9:30.
sometimes wakes at 1a pu/pd back to sleep
wake and feed between 2& 3
wake for the day 6 or 7a

What’s nap routine? usually only sleeps 1 - 1.5 hours rarely he'll sleep 2.  Sometimes he'll have 3 one hour naps

What's bedtime routine? Time? Feed, get pj's on, sometimes a bath, feed again then in bed
Do you bottle or breastfed?? Breastfeed
How much? or how long?  Usually quick, 10 min. Very distracted when his sister is around, hard to find a quiet place because his sister is too little to leave alone.
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) one side ususally
How many wakes per night? usually 3 and I feed on one of them
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? He can easily be up for 30 min, lots of times he just falls asleep then wakes again, even if I'm shushing and is hard to get quiet again
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? Mantra cry turns into cry quickly and then he's hard to settle
What have you tried to settle?? PU/PD, Shh
What do you do for A time and how long is it? Tummy time, swing, floor time, mostly just watches his sister, sometimes errands
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? Not noticing any teeth, rolling over
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)  I try around 6-6:30 pm to give cereal, sometimes he eats it, most of the time he pushes it out.
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? No prop
Do they have a lovie?[/b] no lovie

Offline Mackie

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Re: trying to drop 3a feeding - need advice
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2007, 13:38:40 pm »
Thank you Stacy, upon reading your response it does look like there are a few things going on.  My main goal was to eliminate the night feeding (2 or 3a feeding).  After the Dreamfeed I only feed him at 2 or 3 depends on when he wakes up.  But he had been waking sometimes around 1 and sometimes at 5 and I would PU/PD to get back to sleep.  The last 2 nights I haven't fed him at 3, and utilized the PU/PD to get him back to sleep, but I've done PU/PD from 3-4a, then he'll sleep for an hour and I have to do PU/PD from 5-6 and today he wouldn't go back to sleep so we started our day at 6. 

Do you think I should keep the 3a feeding?

I see your point about the cereal, but he's only taking in about a tablespoon of cereal at night (because we just started)and I don't think it's effecting his breastfeeding.  But sounds like I should move the cereal to earlier??  I was trying to give him cereal because I thought it would help him sleep longer, but it looks like that is not the case.  Would you recommend waiting until he's 6 mon before trying to establish the cereal, or keep trying now, but move to earlier?

I think you are right about being overtired.  He often resists the catnap (and since I'm trying to make dinner I often let him stay up).  But it looks like I should try harder to get him to take that nap.