Question about 3.5 hour easy

[suzie767]

Hi all, thanks for being so patient with me as i know im being a bit persistant about my lo's routine but it is taking over my life.

i have come to the conclusion that he needs to progress from his 3 hour easy- he isnt hungry or tired when he is supposed to be and takes 45 minute naps.

rather than transition him straight to 4 hour easy im going to try him with 3.5 hour easy first of all and see how he goes ( he is only 12 weeks old)

is 3.5 hour easy supposed to look like this?

7.00 am wake up
7.30- 8.45 Activity and wind down
8.45-10.30 sleep

10.30 feed
11.00- 12.15 Activity and wind down
12.15=2.00 sleep

2.00 feed
2.30-3.45 activity and wind down
3.45-5.30 sleep

5.30 feed
6.00 activity including bath at 6.30 then top off bottle at 7.00 then bed at 7.30

*does there need to be a catnap between the 5.30 and bed at 7.30 or is the above ok?*

Does there need to be more A time and less S time in each cycle or the other way around?

thanks in advance for your help

 

[mollynme]

Hi Suzie,

I have been reading your posts with interest as I have a 12 week old who has 45 minute naps too.  I am also thinking about transitioning to 3.5 hour EASY.  I would think that the A time has to be about 15 minutes longer....but that is just my opinion.  My LO has 1hr 15 activity time now on a 3hr easy so I think you could see how your lo is after an hour and just follow his cues then.  How does your lo sleep at night? Just curious.

Jules X

[Lizziebeth]

Suzie, I think that looks like a good 3.5 EASY. 

I think you should be ok with a 2 hr A time in the evening but if LO seems tired on that then put him to bed a bit earlier, like 7.15pm or 7pm.  Try it and see what happens.

Personally I found DD always needed EXTRA A time before bedtime or she just wouldn't go down well for the night.  But they're all different so you just have to see what works for your baby.

Saw your other post about being a little reluctant to transition.  But as long as you move in small increments like 15 mins at a time, I think you'll be absolutely fine, nothing terrible will happen.   From everything you've said, it does seem time to transition.

[suzie767]

Hi Jules- i must say its good to talk to someone in the same boat ( tho not so good for you)

i think your right about going with the flow on A times ad try to increase it a little every day. if i think he can go even further i might still look towards 4 hour easy as he can easily go 4 hours between feeds- sometimes he just wont eat any earlier.

my lo sleeps absolutely fantastic at night which is what is so confusing. i put him down after his bottle at around 7.15 and he is straight out- no shh/pat or anything- he sleeps solid thru the df at 11 then wakes for a feed around 4/5 then straight back off on his own til 7/7.30

then the day starts and its a totally different story. how does your lo sleep at night?

thanks lizziebeth- yor deifinatly right about the exra A time before bed. last few days my lo hasnt slept from 4pm feed til bedtime just wants to play constanlty so i think the 3.5 easy will suit him much better- less chance of him becoming overtired.thanks again for the support- x

i'll keep you all posted- jules let me know how you get on with your lo

[Lizziebeth]

suzie, that's great he sleeps so well at night, you've done really well with the BW way!

you're not far off a great routine here.   it's just a case of tweaking your day. 

also wanted to say that at 3-4 months, the part of the baby's brain that deals with naps is just maturing so that might also partly explain your daytime probs.  it's a developmental thing that gets better around 5-6 months

good luck and do keep us posted

[mommy2two]

I read in the FAQ section that 3.5 hr easy looks like this: EASAE

E-7am- wake and eat
A
S-8:30 (1.5 hr nap)
A

E-10:30am
A
S-12:30pm (1.5 hr nap)
A

E-2pm
A
S-3:30 (1.5 hr nap)
A

E-5:30pm
A- Bath etc)
E-7 or 7:30pm

[suzie767]

thats good to know lizzibeth- if thats the case its just a developmental thing and im not doing something horribly wrong- phew

Easymom- so its ok to have a little A before each feed- i'll try it that way round rather than expecting him to sleep longer-

thanks again  x

 

[mollynme]

Suzie - My LO goes down at 7-73opm sleeps through dream feed at 10-10.30 and usually will not wake for feed until 4am then sleep til 7 - so pretty much the same as yours!!!! It IS nice to know we're in the same boat!!! 

jules X

[suzie767]

Yeah- its almost as if they were seperated at birth thats so weird! if i have any break throughs i'll let you know as it'll probably help yu too.

started 3.5 easy today and so far so good. he went back off after his usual 45 minute wake up this morn and last nap woke up as usual but managed to get him to go back down and have another 45 minutes- this is the most day sleep he has had for a while

i'll keep you posted



x

[Lizziebeth]

hey that's great.  if you manage to get him back down for another sleep cycle without too much struggle, that suggests the amount of A time is almost right. 

he might well be waking at 45 mins for development reasons.  they do this at 3-4 months.   and you are teaching how to go back to sleep when that happens.  so all good! 

By the way, have you tried wake to sleep yet to extend the naps?

[suzie767]

ive tried w2s a few times but havent really had a result- he usually wakes up still so not sure if im waking him up at the right time or waking him up enough. is there an optimum time in the sleep cycle to wake them as i would like to try it again if i can get it right

x

[Lizziebeth]

yep you should go in about the 30-35 minute mark.  did he stir when you did it or are you not sure if he moved?  it takes a bit of experimentation to find out what works for your LO. 

I had to really nudge DD to get her to stir.  Others have found they can only very lightly stroke the face etc.

[suzie767]

i tried it at around 30 mins and he stirred and his eyes popped open - perhaps i am waking him up too much?

i'll give it a try again tomorrow without waking him up so much

x

[Lizziebeth]

It depends, did he go back to sleep after his eyes popped open?  if so, then that'd be ok.

If it completely woke him up, then it's too much on your part and you'd need to try less next time.

I'm assuming the last time you tried W2S was when you were doing 3hr EASY.  From what I understand, W2S won't work if A times aren't right.  Because LO is simply not tired enough to make it into another sleep cycle.

But if you think these A times are working better, then certainly worth giving W2S another go. 

W2S is just a way of helping him transition to the next cycle when he is tired enough to do so but can't achieve it on his own (for either habit or developmental reasons). Does that make sense?

[suzie767]

Yeah this makes alot of sense- when i tried it before it didnt work because the A time wasnt right- now that i have this sorted it in theory should work. He made it into a 2nd sleep cycle with all 3 naps today (with a lot of my help) so i reckon its my best shot.

he went back to sleep for 5 or 10 minutes when i tried it before so my tecnique seems to be right too.

thanks for steering me in the right direction again!

i'll keep you posted

xxx