please respond asap re: transitioning

[noomummy]

Morning ladies 

I have posted this in another thread on the 3.5 question but need to reply as I don't know if I'm waking her up at 1030 or 1100 (in 20 mins) for her next feed so here's a quick question - as I've started the transition today

If I extend one EAS at a time does this mean that the first nap is cut short then by waking her up at her 3hr routine on the next EAS cycle?  do you know what I mean? or does it immediately have a knock effect on the next feed but the remainder of the the cycle i.e. 'A' and 'S' remains on the 3hr until 6 days later? I do love the BW routine but it's tricky when you lo isn't awake for as long as you want, especially when you're trying to transition!!! By the way, I definitely know she's ready cos this morning I had to feed her at 0630 and the day before at 0530 so it's all gone a bit wonky!

[*Mona*]

hi

I'm sorry but I am of no help here
I/we didn't go through the transition 'by the book'- I just kept her up longer at every A time and let her sleep as long as she wanted to. when she was too tired to stay up over 1,5hrs, I'd put her down for a nap. and moved her bedtime from 7:30 to 7pm for some time as she was so tired with longer A times she couldn't stay up any longer.

you know, I'd say do as you feel and see is right, you don't always have to follow the book...

good luck and let us know how you're doing

[noomummy]

hey Monika 

great to hear from you again. well, I put her down at about 9 so I decided to let her sleep til 11am.  I then put her back down at her 'normal' time of 1150, so we'll see if she gets back on track.  She didn't feed very well again so I'm still worried.  I am thinking I may have to have a AEAS routine because my main concern is her feeding, as she pretty much sleeps through the night. What do you think? is this the road to major disruption or would this help?  I don't think I'd be AS concerned if I wasn't breastfeeding.  It's almost like her routine should be a 4 hour for feeding and a 3 hour for sleeping because of her 'a' time!!!!  any ideas most appreciated xx rachel 

[*Mona*]

hm... if she sleeps through the night and feeds well on 4hrs routine I think you need to adjust her naps to her feedings then.
and as she's still so young, 2hrs of A time is not very much achievable for her, is it...

can you show me her routine again? and what you plan to do?

Monika

[noomummy]

Hello Monika 

Here's my routine at the mo:

E0730
A0745
S0845
E1030
A1045
S1130
E1330
A1345
S1430
E1630
A1645
S1745
E1830
A1845
BATH1900
S1930
D/F 2200

This morning I had to feed her at 0630 and yesterday at 0530ish. I still carried as normal from 0730 but obviously she didn't take a lot.  I started the transition on the first cycle this morning by keeping her up til 0855 and then feeding her at 1100 - still, she didn't seem to want a lot and then I got back on my routine by putting her down at 1145.  Had to pat/shush at 1245 and then fed her at around 1320, again, fed for about 8 mins have just put her down at 1450 so it's all pushing forward a bit which is good. I plan to transition her to 3.5 obviously for the whole day but it as it stands at the mo she's not really that hungry?  any ideas welcome x rachel   

[staceyl]

hi there!
i am sorry, i will be absolutely no help to you because i am going through exactly the same thing!!!!
For the past few days i have been looking at moving the routine. For the first day bub fed every 3.5 hours, no dramas. HOWEVER!!! Today and yesterday have been so hard, and we havent even changed anything yet!

I know she is ready to stretch feeds, but she cant seem to stay awake long at all, my day looks very similar to yours.

Tomorrow, i hope will be better, i honestly dont know what to do???

[Livvymom]

Hello -
I am in the same boat.  My DD has reached 3 months and still can't stay awake longer than 1 hr - 1 1/4 hrs but she is able to go 3.5 hours between feeds.  I tried to extend A but that gave horrible results.  I'm totally confused as to what to do!

[*Mona*]

hi

well, with babies ready for eating less often but not ready to stay up longer- all you can do is EASAEASA... pattern. so you feed every 3,5 r so hours but sleep stays at 3hrs easy. KWIM?
it's important to read your baby's cues and that's what you're doing but it's also important not to get stuck on schedules and times and clocks etc. and to be flexible.
if at 3 or so months your babies are not ready for longer A time- it's perfectly normal. but as their stomachs are geting bigger and they can eat more at one go, they don't need to feed that often.

noomummy, you could adjust her A and feeding times like this [plus 15 or even less minutes of A time and feeding every 3,5hrs]:
E0730
A0745
S0900
A1030
E1100
A1115
S1140
...
what do you think?

[noomummy]

Hey Monika 

I think I may give that a go thank you!  Are there any bad side effects by having a AEASY routine? I think this will really help ....fingers crossed! she is a bit of a grump at the mo so anything to help is much appreciated. rachel  hang on in their ladies - it can only get better! 

[*Mona*]

hi

no side effects that I know of
she'll transition to longer A times, you'll see, all by herself.

keep us posted!

[noomummy]

well......today was a bit odd but I attempted something different.  Not sure what will happen this evening but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  this is what happened

E0730
A0745
S0855
E1100
A1120
S1215
E1415
A1430
S1515
E1715
A1730
S1815
E1900
A/BATH 1920
E1930
S1935
What do you think to this or do you think I should just go back to what I was doing (I know it's only been a day but she was grumpy with this, am I better sticking with the old routine and gradually doing it cycle by cycle? I'm worried because if it was a proper 3.5 - I can't fit in the cat nap because bedtime becomes much too late around 9pm!! and so it would mean dropping a feed  so I'm squashing them together more around dinnertime so it's only a 3.5 during the day KWIM? gosh, it's so exhausting, sometimes I feel like giving up and just letting her do what she wants 

[*Mona*]

hi
sorry for not getting back to you sooner but I had a terrible flu and couldn't even think...
so, how have you been? have you managed to change her routine? how is she doing?

Monika

[noomummy]

Good morning Monika 

So sorry to hear you've not been well  I hope you're feeling better  I'm doing ok, being a new mum is totally overwhelming, exhausting but very rewarding when you get those wonderful gummy smiles  .  It seems she's not ready to transition just yet as we now seem to be back to square one but I'm now having to feed her again at around 5am which stopped a couple of weeks ago and also the 8pm ish feed is back so who knows? I've started taking Fenugreek and Milk Thistle to increase my milk supply because I started to get paranoid about not having enough.  Also, she seems to have become a bit lazy on the boob so after the initial letdown, when she has to work for the hindmilk she becomes disinterested which makes me think again she's not that hungry for it - I have tried to do AEAS as you suggested but she becomes frustrated if I don't give her her feed ........any ideas? Rachel 

[*Mona*]

hi Rachel

yep, it is hard, being a mom, isn't it. but it DOES get better and better!

could she be going through a growth spurt? or if not, maybe she actually is not ready for any transitions just yet. either way, you just have to try to read her cues and feed her when she needs it. she's still small, you have plenty of time for transition.

as for not being interested in feeding- well, as she becomes more and more aware of what is going on around her, she may not be that interested in the boob anymore
which doesn't mean she's not feeding long enough FOR HER. babies become very efficient eaters when getting older, so maybe she does get what she needs and there's no need to worry.

don't overdo that Fenugreek and Milk Thistle- it does hurt when your boobs are still full and your LO has already had her share...

Monika

[Bryony]

I had the same issue when Katie was younger - she could go 3.5 or 4 hrs between feeds but had an A time of 1.5 hrs...  I kind of stretched the day so that she had longer between feeds then a cluster feed in the evening - and we ended up with some A before E (we tend to have this anyway as Katie is a bit of a 45 minute napper so it didn't really bother me....)

Then suddenly at 4 mo, overnight she went from 1.5hrs to 2 hrs A time and we went into a more traditional 4hr routine

HTH

Bryony