Any tips for implementing the EASY routine?

[Usagii]

I've recently weaned my 5mo off breastfeeding and he is on formula now however he rarely takes his bottle unless nap time is looming... I want to get him out of the feed to sleep association and thought perhaps the EASY routine would help...

However he always refuses a bottle after waking in the morning at 6/7 and then doesn't have one until a while after waking from his morning nap at 10/11am...

I'm worried he's not taking enough milk and wondering why he usually refuses if he's not sleepy? He's never slept through the night. The most he's slept is 5 hours straight. So he'll always wake every 1-2 hours in the night.

He usually takes around 4-6oz per feed 4/5 times a day. It would be less if he had it his way though

Any advice really appreciated. Had anyone else had success with EASY routine?

Not wanting a feed first thing in the morning will be more about the amount of milk given over night or the timing of the last night feed.

If baby is fed at 7pm and then not again until 10am - I would worry about that. But if baby is fed at 7am, 1am, 4am and then refuses a 7am feed - that I could understand.

What happens in terms of feeds over night? Because that will directly affect the amount of milk baby wants throughout the daytime.

He usually takes around 4-6oz per feed 4/5 times a day. It would be less if he had it his way though

Do you mean he would feed less than 4/5 times a day? Or that he'd drink less than 4-6oz per feed?

Thank you for your reply fate.

That makes sense. He'll usually have a 6/7oz bottle at around 11pm and then I'm still breastfeeding if he wakes in the night after that so I guess it's comfort feeding? If I stop those breastfeeds he'll probably have a feed in the morning?

I mean if he had it his way it would be less than 4/5 times a day. I usually have to more or less force the teat in his mouth and hold it there before he cooperates and decides he'll drink it. If I don't then he just turns his head away and won't eat. Maybe a protest for wanting the boob back?

If I stop those breastfeeds he'll probably have a feed in the morning?

Yes. Or, just accept that for now baby doesn't have a morning feed because he doesn't need one.

How do you feel about night weaning? It's only worth considering if you have an alternate way to get baby to sleep. If you don't, everyone will get less sleep so you might as well just feed and accept that baby won't be hungry first thing in the morning.

Maybe a protest for wanting the boob back?

Does sound more like a refusal of the bottle, not the milk feed itself. If you want to stop breastfeeding then perserverence will get you there with bottles. You just need consistency, perserverence and determination (same principle as the dummy for comfort sucking).

There's various tricks - give bottle when happy and not tired. Give bottle when not too hungry. Give bottle with baby in ND position. Give bottle at every given opportunity.

Some babies like bigger feeds less often, some are better with quicker feeds more frequently. My children were all better (and woke less for milk in the night) by having more frequent feeds. I'd give 7 or 8 bottle feeds per day at this age - every 2 to 2.5 hours. So having 7 or 8 × 5oz feeds (35-40oz total) rather than 4 × 7-8oz feeds (28-32oz total) feeds, for example.

BF* position

The thing is it's quite the opposite... he'll only take his bottle when he's drowsy and mellow. If he's happy and awake, he's far more I interested in going to play first.

I may have to accept that he just won't have it after waking like EASY suggests... or I could keep him awake a few minutes after his bottle close to nap time and gradually move it forward?

I'm so hung up on it because I don't want to create this feed to sleep association. I guess PU/PD may help that if he's still awake after a feed?

Sorry I'm just at a loss and feel like I'm doing something wrong. Feeling guilty for faffing about with his routine and confusing him

However he always refuses a bottle after waking in the morning at 6/7 and then doesn't have one until a while after waking from his morning nap at 10/11am.

Im confused, because that sounds like you are following EASY without any difficulty. He is feeding "after waking from his morning nap", which is exactly what you want. Then (I would assume) feeding after waking from 2nd nap, 3rd nap.... and so on until bedtime.

The only difference I can see is that baby is slipping the first thing in the morning feed. That is understandable if feeding lots overnight, baby just isn't hungry.

Ah what I mean is rather than feeding straight after a nap it's more like an hour or so after his nap so it's sometimes midway between naps. This is only very rarely though. So with him primarily having a bottle before naps he never finishes it because he just falls asleep on the bottle

Oh I see. I had been mostly looking at this as a question about feeding, but that's not the issue.

So to break the feed to sleep issue, you need an alternate way to get baby to sleep. My favoured method is dummy and bouncy chair - to allow for both comfort sucking and rhythmic movement at the same time.

Be relentless about it. So 60 ish minutes after baby wakes, put into a bouncer with a dummy and be utterly unceasing about it. Just keep on bouncing and reinserting dummy relentlessly until asleep.

If you've not established a dummy then it may take you some time for baby to 'get it', much like the bottle. But in my experience if not offering sucking to sleep with a dummy, baby will want to suck to sleep in the breast. The relentless bouncing then means baby goes to sleep not in your arms - great for independant sleep.

You are unlikely to get EASY working until you have a different way to get baby to sleep. If the only way you have to get baby sleeping is feeding to sleep, EASY won't work and you'd be better working out a different routine.