5 month old can't get off 3h EASY

[EllenS]

We were just transitioning to a 4 hour EASY at 4.5 mos - doing 4h in the AM and 3.5 in the PM, sleeping 9.5 hours in the beginning of the night, one night feed.  We bf.

Then she hit a growth spurt that seemed to go on for 2 full weeks (I also got AF back, so may have had a dip in supply).

Now she can do 3h in the AM, but is still sometimes doing 2 or 2.5 in the PM.  She is short napping, having increased night wakings (tho not every night), and often overtired.  She is unable to stay awake 2h without a meltdown and bad nap.  If I try to stretch her past the first sleepy signs, she has 30 minute naps for at least 2 cycles and sometimes will not go down at all.

Have I created a snacker?  Is it time to start solids?

A typical good day lately might look like this (tho every day is different):

Night feed: 3:15 Am
Wake 6:45
E 7:10
down for nap:8:00, S: 8:20
Wake 9:20
E 10:15
Down for nap 10:50, s:11:10
w2s at 11:35 and 12:10
Wake 12:40
E 1:15
down for nap 2:00 - 2:20, S 2:30
Wake 3:30
E: 4:00
down 4:30, asleep 4:40
E: 5:10,
do bedtime routine
E: 6:15 bf plus 2-4 oz formula
S 7 - 7:10 pm till 3-4 am.


On a bad day I miss the moment for w2s or it does not work, and she has a series of 25 minute naps and will wake twice a night.  On some bad days recently she has had only 2 hours sleep from 6 am to 8pm - despite many nap attempts!  We leave on vacation tomorrow, but I'd like to have a strategy to shoot for when we get home.

TIA!

[vadensmommy]

I hate to say it, but dd is almost 5mo's old, and we just started solids this past sunday, and she has slept like a true champ every time.  Don't know if this will stick, but she was having crappy naps, and early early early morning wakings due to hunger, and those have all disappeared.  I wanted to wait longer to start the rice cereal because of everything I've read about allergies being a bigger problem the earlier you start, but had lots of pressure on many different fronts to start.  DD is a big girl - 14lb 4oz at 18wks, 8lbs at birth, and has always been ff.  And I hate to say it, but it seems everybody around me was right - starting solids has fixed a lot of our sleep problems so far.  Again it's only been a few days so we'll see!!!  Maybe others will have more advice on how to work around the routine

[¤ Efka ¤]

Well I would personally start to stretch out feeds.If you think she can do it for 4 hours, do it 3.5 and stick do it. She is able to do 3 hours between feed, right? So for the last 30 minutes I would either hold her and walk around or soemthing, keep her occupied and then feed.

[Shdef]

I have to say at 5 months we couldn't stick to it anymore either... That boy wanted more than milk but we waited until 6 months. He had been on 4 hour since birth, at 5 months it was a 3 hour EASY. The routine changes again at 6 months with the introduction of solids... so you won't have that problem for long

[Wink's Marmy]

Just to comment on the solids issue - DD has slept through the night since 4 months. At 6 months when I introduced solids, she started night waking. I think it to be a myth that solids help keep babies sleeping at night. Their little bodies are learning how to process them, so it can actually cause some babies to wake, so don't rush into solids. Also, as I constantly have to remind myself, solids are just for practice till they get closer to a year. Milk is where their calories & nutrition come from. Its hard to swallow that concept because we are food eaters ourselves!! Personally, I would hold off on the solids for now & try and work on the schedule problems, like trying to stretch the feedings back to 4 hrs. apart. DO you have BWSAYP book? 2 weeks is too long for a growth spurt, IMO. We had several growth spurts that ended in snacking. its just so hard to tell!~ I would try to stretch out the feedings by 10-15 min. each day. MY dd loved to be outside, so we would go outside for those 10-15 min. to distract her. Over a period of a week or two, you should be able to get back to 4 hr. EASY. It will help with the sleep too, both naps & night time.

[Grace's Mom]

Here is a typical 4 hour EASY

7am wake and eat
9-11 nap
11 wake and eat
1-3 nap
3pm wake and eat
5-5:30nap
7:30 bed

of course all lo's are different but this is an average routine

You do not technically need to start solids until 6 months of age and from then till about 1 year like some of the other mom's states it's mainly for practice.  We started off with just one feed, then moved to two and then to 3 but it took time.  You may want to post on the feeding boards for some feeding advice as well.

Short naps (30 minutes) naps = overtired usually
45 minutes naps usually = needs extended A time usually

With extending her take it slowly as with any change it will take her some time to adjust.  Give every new adjustment 3-5 days before continuing on.  You don't want her to stay overtired so I would put her follow her cues, have your wind down time and nap routine and then put her down before ot kicks in.  After a fews of being well rested then you can start moving her back to a 4 Hour EASY.

Melissa

[dmills]

Vaden's mom...how did you start solids?  When and how much did you start giving your dd?

[EllenS]

Wink's Marmy:  Is Winnie Kate FF or BF?  I would imagine that might make a difference - we are bf.

[Wink's Marmy]

DD is BF. I know the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends that BF babies be held off on starting solids till 6 months.

[vadensmommy]

Kudo's to you wonderful moms that were able to breastfeed!  We gave it our best, but after a full 8 days my milk didn't come in, so on to a bottle we went.  So I would definitely wait to start solids since you BF. 

My pediatrician had been wanting us to start solids since 3.5 months    I resisted and waited till she was 20 weeks.  We were having problems getting her to take her bottle.  She started at around 3.5 months not wanting to eat, arching her back, fussing, etc. after taking about 2oz of formula.  There are a couple of other posts about those issues in various places on BW.  So she's only been on solids for a week, but slept much much better all last week.  And to be honest I was so tired of people telling me that solids would fix our problems that I honestly hoped she would start waking worse.  Craziness isn't it.  I wanted to tell them - see I told you solids wouldn't fix it!!  But I can't really say that, because it does seem to have helped.  We'll see if things continue.  Friday morning she woke up early, and I'm not really sure why other than an incredibly long nap right before bedtime instead of the typical catnap the day before. 

I don't mean to hijack your post EllenS and since you BF I am sure that my experience won't be quite as valuable since BF and FF can be very different.  It is so neat how a mom's body changes to the growing calorie needs of the lo.  Too bad formula can't morph like that too! Good luck to you and your lo!   

dmills - to answer your question - we started with rice cereal.  I typically mix a spoonfull - probably somewhere between 1/2 to a full tablespoon with however much formula makes it thick enough to spoon but thin enough for her to not reject it.  The sitter gives it to her in the morning, and as she seems more hungry I guess we'll up the amount. 

[Wink's Marmy]

Vadensmom - your LO could be teething - how old is she? The week before DD got her 2 first teeth were terrible in the eating department. It hurts them to suck with sore gums. Have you tried a cup yet? When DD was 5 months, she started taking sips from cups. My Dr. wanted us to start at 3.5 months too. 2 weeks before she turned 6 months I started with super runny rice cereal. Since she was sitting unassisted, so I went ahead with it. For those 2 weeks we just had a few spoonfulls a day of runny rice cereal & then started with the "real" stuff. Some people swear that solids help their lo's sleep better. I am sure its true for some, but every baby is different!!!

[vadensmommy]

She probably is teething now, but I don't think she was when this all started (we tried tylenol, teething gel, and teething tablets, and nothing helped).  The burp cloth is constantly in her mouth, but we get some really terrible looks from her when we try to give her a teething ring.  Too cute   We haven't tried a cup yet.  I'm not even sure I have any sippy cups in the house!  HA!  She is back to not wanting to take her bottle today, but I think it may have more to do with being Wayyyyy overtired.  Went out of town to visit the grandparents this weekend, and she napped horribly in the car.  I practically have to hold her down to calm her enough to take the bottle, and then she falls slap asleep from being so tired and fighting sleep all day.  I hope we can get it straightened out quickly.  I know being overtired is not a fun thing for her.  We'll see how it goes!

[Wink's Marmy]

Good luck to you. Teething is such a mystery diagnosis since it can go on for so long & they can behave strangely!