Anyone following EASY?
We have been (loosely) for several weeks now. It was going pretty well. But for about the last 2 weeks or so DD has started wanting to eat every 2-2 1/2 hours. She typically has 2ish hours of wake time between naps, so this is totally messing us up.
I either have to feed her upon wake up and again before nap... or she takes about a 30-40 minute nap and wakes hungry. She takes about 4 oz at a time. If I give any more than that, she just spits up.
How do I fix this? Or do I just deal with it and hope it changes soon?
Re: EASY
DS also cannot take more than four ounces at a time, so we are still feeding him 7 times per day (though not at night). Sometimes he does eat twice during an EASY cycle, and often during growth spurts, and it's never messed him up.
I do rouse him a little before putting him to bed if he falls asleep while eating, but I'm not sure how necessary that is as long as LO isn't relying on it. It's just what has been working for us.
But basically what was working for us (and no longer seems to be) was eat upon waking in the morning, then almost 2ish hours of playtime, then nap for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Then repeat the whole eat, play, sleep again. So I guess a cycle for us was about 3-4 hours.
With the 2-3-4 schedule, is that 2,3 and 4 hours of wake time?
We originally followed Babywise before switching to more of a routine rather than schedule (LO wasn't a consistent enough napper for Babywise even though we otherwise loved the method and still follow most of the concept).
I've never actually read Baby Whisperer (I need to get my hands on a copy!) but that is closest to what we do. To my understanding, the length of the cycle does not matter - every baby is different and the cycle length will change as LO does.
We actually do a few different cycles throughout the day - ranging from 2-ish hours to 3.5 hours. LO cannot stay awake longer than 1.5 hours, but his first wake time of the day is actually right at about 1 hour. He then takes a 45-minute nap, I wait about 15 minutes to feed him (usually in his bed so he can enjoy some "alone awake" time), hence a 2-hour cycle. LO currently is on a 4-nap schedule, but the first and last are short 45-minute naps. His middle two are longer - usually 2 hours or a little less. Waketime 1.5 hours + 2 hour nap puts us at a 3.5 hour cycle. Cycles start over when LO eats (usually).
I hope that makes more sense! I'm blaming mommy brain if it doesn't.
As far as avoiding the second feeding, maybe give her an oz more than normal when she wakes or simply try and get her to sleep before the second feeding.
I have found that LO gets super fussy at the sleep "time" and sometimes if SO can't get her to sleep, he will try feeding her again even though she probably isn't really hungry. Same for my mom who keeps her while I'm at work.
Does your LO put himself to sleep or does he/she require you to settle them down for a nap?
I was able to sleep guide/train my first three with pick up/put down and shush/pat in just a couple days, but don't have the time to do it with this one. Once I lay him down, he will go to sleep on his own occasionally, but most of the time, I let him suck on my pinkie finger for a few minutes and then he will suck on his own thumb.
I sort of let her dictate the schedule, but realized quickly it mimicked the 2-3-4 one I referenced. She is incredibly dramatic when she is tired (rubbing her eyes, rubbing the side of her head, etc) so I just watch her for the signs and make sure she is in a good position to nap, while also trying to pay close attention to the time. At the same time, she was outgrowing the Rock & Play, so we were also transitioning to the crib for day naps - she has been sleeping in her crib at night since day one, but for some reason refused to do it during the day.
Anyway, it was a rough couple weeks in our house, to say the least. But she seems to be adapting very well to this schedule. She also still sleeps in the car and stroller, so she isn't really *just* doing the 2 per day. You can probably add a few cat naps here and there, but the morning nap (9/9:15ish) and afternoon nap (1:30/2ish) are her primary naps. We put her to bed at 7pm.
If you don't already do it, I suggest tracking LOs sleep/eating patterns somehow. We use an app for the Android called FeedBaby. It is pretty simple but allows me to see what she does day after day and it is how I realized she had basically already put herself on this schedule and I just worked to encourage/support it as best as I could by trying to be home and comfortable/quiet at the time I knew she was ready for a nap. Trust me when I say our whole family is much happier now!
He's now in daycare, so I'm waking him up at 6:45 to get ready, but on days he's not we don't plan anything and it's working.
For example, on a non-daycare day, he will wake up and coo to himself for a little bit. That's his own time, so I let him be. When I can tell he's ready to get up, we get up, change, feed, and then play, 'talk' to each other, sit in the swing, etc.
I just watch for signs he's sleepy - rubbing eyes, yawning, dozing off, etc. When I see that, I take him to his crib for a nap.
When he wakes up (he has to stay in his crib for a nap for at least an hour), we play, or whatever keeps him happy, then he eats when he's hungry. It's typically every 4 hours or so for him.
He gets a little wound up at night, and he's starting to teethe, but we play as much as we can, or I hold him and snuggle.
He goes to bed between 9:00 and 10:00, depending on if he gets a bath or not. He goes right down, no fussing.
If it's not a daycare day, he will sleep until 8:30 or 9:00am....sometimes later. A solid 10+ hours a night, every night. I think for him, not having a plan was the best plan.