Starting to struggle with number of bottles

[Peps1234]

Hi all

I'm really hoping for some advice, my 3.5mo is down to 5 feeds a day. For a week now he has slept from 7.30pm - 6.30am. I've tried dream feeding several times over the last few weeks however it doesn't seem to work for us, it's a battle to get him to drink it and then it seems to stimulate his appetite and he wakes again for food at 2/3am. So as he has been sleeping through without one I've left it alone now and just do his last feed at 6.30ish.

My problem now is fitting 5 feeds in to his day time, it's a tight squeeze and means we can't move up to a four hour EASY. Here is an example easy schedule, his sleeping is all over the place because he will only sleep for exactly 30 minutes unless I'm cuddling him. And he can only stay awake for 1 hour 15 mins before he starts losing the plot. The napping thing is another issue I need to tackle, but for now I'm just trying to figure out the eating!

6.40 - Woke up
6.50 - E
7.30 - A
8.05-8.35 - S
8.35 - A
9.30 - E (he can never last 3 hours between the first and second feeds of the day)
10.00 - A
10.30-11 - S
12.10-12.40 - S
12.40 - E
1.15 - A
2.45-3.15 - S
4.00 - E
4.30 - A
5-5.30 - S
6.15 - Start bedtime routine, bath etc
6.35 - E
7.20 - S (woke up at 6.30 this morning)

That was yesterday's schedule, we were out and about yesterday so a few of the sleeps were in the car or pram, but a day at home doesn't look that much different, except maybe a longer nap because after he has done his 30 mins in his cot I will let him sleep on me.

His feeds are always at the same times (there or there abouts) but this is more led my me than him because I think he could go a bit longer between each one if I let him, but then I can't fit 5 in. He generally takes 6-7oz per feed, and he weighs around 15lb.

Looking at my EASY can anyone offer any advice? I'd be so grateful, I feel like we're in a bit of a mess.

Many thanks, Charlotte

[jessmum46]

Hi Charlotte,

I think this is more of a routine issue than a feeding one so I'll ask someone to move this over to the EASY board for you

Firstly, wow you have good nights . Always makes things a bit easier, though I do know how exhausting the short naps are. 

There is no rush to transition to a 4h EASY really.  If he is happily taking bottles at those times then just roll with it for now, it looks like he's taking decent amounts yes?  But equally there's no need to keep 5 bottles 'just because' yk?  There's no issue with dropping to four bottles, typically you would find at around the 4 month mark a LO who was previously taking five bottles of 6-7oz would change to four bottles of 8-9oz instead, so same amount of milk just distributed differently.  You could even be a bit creative while you transition and do three full bottles and then a 'split feed' so two half bottles before and after bath time. 

Routine-wise I think probably you are getting into UT/OT loops as 1h15 is a short awake time for a 3.5mo.  What not try extending by 10 mins or so and see if that helps you get some better naps

[Peps1234]

Thanks ever so much for your response, that's really helpful.

Regarding the napping thing, I've tried to extend his awake time but he just loses it, one minute he's fine and the next he's having a meltdown and then I have no chance of getting him to sleep unless I spend a good half an hour rocking and shushing him. I spent three days exclusively at home last week so I could monitor him really closely and I concluded that he can't be awake much longer than 1 hour fifteen minutes, he must take after me and need a lot of sleep!

There have been days where I've been at my wits end with his napping, I'm re-reading the baby whisperer book to try and sort it out because I know I'm teaching him bad habits by getting him to sleep in my arms a lot of the time 

[jessmum46]

Some babies do struggle with extending A times, the key is to make the extra time very low-key and hold any increases for a few days before extending again.  Just 5-10 mins should do it if he's sensitive, a walk in your arms round the garden, looking at a teddy, even just a slightly extended wind down in the bedroom just to eek out another few minutes.  I know he may be showing clear sleep cues but the routine tells us he probably needs a little push to sleep better - he is tired at 1h15 yes, but not quite tired enough for a really good nap.  Have you got a routine post going somewhere?  I don't want to add too much here and cause confusion if so