Hello Everyone! New to E.A.S.Y and first time mother with questions!!

[lulu520]

Hi Everyone!  I am a first time mother and my little Jasmine (Jas) is two months old.  I just found this forum (THANK GOODNESS) and started reading Tracy's books and am already starting to feel more confident after two months of "what am I doing and where the heck did the time go" parenting :-) 

I have a few initial questions to get started.  I haven't finished the books yet but get the basic gist of EASY so bare with me and my questions.  BTW I'm solely bottle feeding at this point and am a stay at home mom.  I also am working on writing my EASY schedule down so sorry I am not posting that yet.

1.  I noticed most of the EASY schedule days start at 7 or 7:30 followed with an activity.  I've been giving my baby a bottle at 6AM and she has been sleeping to either 9AM or 10AM, at which point we start our EASY routine.  Is that a healthy habit to have?  Does anyone else do this?  I was hoping eventually, as she ages to cut out the 6AM feeding and maybe start the day at 8 or so.  I'll admit that I'm lazy but I just can't get up at 7AM and start the day with her.  This seems to work for me better so I can take my time getting ready in the morning as she sleeps.  Plus, she seems to be okay with the eat and then sleep routine and doesn't want to play at that time. 

2.  I tried the 3 hour routine with my baby but for two days had to wake her after every nap at which point she would only drink 3.5 or so ounces (which is smaller than what she had been drinking).  Then one day I decided to see how long she would sleep and it seems that a 4 hour EASY worked better for her and when she woke she drank 4.5-5.5 ounces (probably to make up for the longer time asleep).  I read somewhere that babies shouldn't really transition to a 4 hour EASY this early... has anyone else's baby started a 4 hour EASY at two months?  She stays awake for an hour 1 1/2 hours at most before she gets fussy and then can sleep for two hours.  If she can go 4 hours I'd rather that b/c it gives me more time for Y.  Again, I've only just started this so maybe I'll notice some other patterns as the week goes by and I observe more.  Just wanted to throw it out there.

Thanks again for everyone that has posted so far.  I've been reading a lot and doing searches and the sample EASY plans really help out.  I never thought I'd get any sort of routine before finding this forum and didn't realize that babies needed to sleep so much.  Looking back my husband and I thought we had a fussy baby when it was us missing her cues that she was sleepy.  DUH!!  At least I found you all otherwise I didn't know how I was going to make it through being a mother!! 

Thanks again.. looking forward to getting to know you all better! 
Lulu

[Ennypen]

Hi there Lulu!

Welcome to BW!

I hope its ok with you but I am going to move your post over to the EASY forum so you can get some help with your questions!

Hope to see you around the other boards too!

Helenx xx

[lulu520]

Thanks Helen! 

[estherofi20]

Hello there lulu, welcome to the boards!!

as for your questions, ok here goes:

1- the set up wake up time, well i guess it you may choose and hr that is confortable for you, and start the day, personally i think starting at 9am is a bit late and may through the routine a bit off the charts, 'cause then the bedtime would be too late, but that's just MHO, perhaps it would be better for you at 8am?

2- and as for the 4hr routine on a 2 month old, well i guess you have to see the signs your baby gives you, 'cause for example, my DS did need a 3 hr routine till he was 12 WO, but in comparison my niece, put herself on a 4hr routine since birth, so i guess it depends on each baby, and of course depending on the weigth and all. And i do think that 1.5 or 2hrs of Atime is a bit too much for such a tiny one.

HTH

[lulu520]

Hi there!  Thank you so much for replying!!  Stacy from the other board also replied and had the same thing to say about the wake up time.  I also asked her this but would you recommend giving her maybe like 2 oz to tie her over until the official wake time, let's say 8AM (Ok, I'll stop being lazy and get up    Not sure what others who do an ES in the morning do?  What kinds of problems do you forsee or should I look for to indicate that a late start time is causing problems?  Our routine isn't so perfected yet but maybe there is something obvious that a late 1st E time would cause that is occuring and I'm just not aware.

You are absoutely right, 1.5 is WAY TOO long for my little one.  seems more like 15 min after the last drop of food is more like it.  I've just started to notice this and I'm still trying to tweak the winddown.  It seems like my lo goes from yawn to ed off in like 10 min.  I guess I have to start the wind down earlier and work on my calming methods and the 4 S's.  As for the 4 hour routine, the only reason I asked is b/c it seems like if I let her sometimes she'll nap forever.  Not sure if it's worth it to wake her to have her not eat that much.  I did read somewhere in Tracy's book that they shouldn't sleep more than 2 hours per nap though or it will interrupt nighttime sleep?  Is this correct?  In that case, I guess the 3 hour routine probably would fit better.

THanks again!!  I really do appreciate it and all the help you all give!!

Lulu

Hello there lulu, welcome to the boards!!

as for your questions, ok here goes:

1- the set up wake up time, well i guess it you may choose and hr that is confortable for you, and start the day, personally i think starting at 9am is a bit late and may through the routine a bit off the charts, 'cause then the bedtime would be too late, but that's just MHO, perhaps it would be better for you at 8am?

2- and as for the 4hr routine on a 2 month old, well i guess you have to see the signs your baby gives you, 'cause for example, my DS did need a 3 hr routine till he was 12 WO, but in comparison my niece, put herself on a 4hr routine since birth, so i guess it depends on each baby, and of course depending on the weigth and all. And i do think that 1.5 or 2hrs of Atime is a bit too much for such a tiny one.

HTH

[estherofi20]

The mayor problem of having such a late wake up, is that the routine moves  later, and you'll have a really later bedtime, and it will come a time when your LO will want to start waking up earlier, and ifshe has a later bedtime, 2well then she won't get all the sleep she needs. What i used to do when my DS would wake up hungry at 5-6ish am i would give him only just like you said, 1 or 2 oz to hold hom off till the 8am feed.

In Tracy's book, she does recommend that they shouldn't sleep more that 2hrs per nap, and when i changed my DS to a 4hr routine, he still wasn't ready for  a 2hr Atime, so i did let him sleep 2.5hrs, and after 3 weeks of this when he DID started waking up at nigth chatting, 'cause he wasn't sleepy, due to too much daytime sleep, i had to extend his Atime to 2hrs, and everything fell into place again. But keep in mind that i changed him to a 4hr routine, for many reasons: First, he wasn't hungry at the 3hr mark; and second, his naps started to become a mess too. So my point, is that if your DD just isn't hungry at the 3hr mark, you can try the 4hr routine, and let her sleep a bit more, if she starts to wake up at nigth chatting, then you'll have to tweek the routine a bit more.

here's what my DS day  used to look by then:

8:00 wake up and feed
9:10 wind down
9:20 sleep
12:00 feed
1:10 wind down
1:20 sleep
4:00 feed
4:10 wind down
4:20 sleep
7.00 bath and massage
7:30 bottle and book
8:00 bedtime
11pm dream feed

then he would wake up at 5-6ish am and i would only hold him of with just enough.

[lulu520]

Thanks for the advice.  Last night I tried to just feed her 2 oz at about 5AM but she was still hungry. I ended up giving her 2 more oz.  It wasn't full out crying but just that sucking her fingers thing and I didn't think she'd fall back asleep if I didn't feed her since by this point she was pretty awake.  She didn't seem to want to go back to sleep either after the feed... It usually isn't a huge fight that early b/c eventually she did but she probably "eh eh'd" through her "would be" A time and then fell asleep by herself.  Then at this morning by 8:30 she only took 2 oz... which of course worries me b/c she's due for her morning nap and that means she won't eat until at least 11.  Ideas?

So do you think she might be sleeping too much during the day since she didn't want to go back to bed?  Yesterday her naps were 50 min, 2.5 hrs, and 30 min (the short ones were due to fussing and me not being able to get her calm in a timely manner).  I dont' think my LO can do A that long.. she gets real mad when she gets tired. 

Any ideas about what is going on w/ us?  Thanks again! 

The mayor problem of having such a late wake up, is that the routine moves  later, and you'll have a really later bedtime, and it will come a time when your LO will want to start waking up earlier, and ifshe has a later bedtime, 2well then she won't get all the sleep she needs. What i used to do when my DS would wake up hungry at 5-6ish am i would give him only just like you said, 1 or 2 oz to hold hom off till the 8am feed.

In Tracy's book, she does recommend that they shouldn't sleep more that 2hrs per nap, and when i changed my DS to a 4hr routine, he still wasn't ready for  a 2hr Atime, so i did let him sleep 2.5hrs, and after 3 weeks of this when he DID started waking up at nigth chatting, 'cause he wasn't sleepy, due to too much daytime sleep, i had to extend his Atime to 2hrs, and everything fell into place again. But keep in mind that i changed him to a 4hr routine, for many reasons: First, he wasn't hungry at the 3hr mark; and second, his naps started to become a mess too. So my point, is that if your DD just isn't hungry at the 3hr mark, you can try the 4hr routine, and let her sleep a bit more, if she starts to wake up at nigth chatting, then you'll have to tweek the routine a bit more.

here's what my DS day  used to look by then:

8:00 wake up and feed
9:10 wind down
9:20 sleep
12:00 feed
1:10 wind down
1:20 sleep
4:00 feed
4:10 wind down
4:20 sleep
7.00 bath and massage
7:30 bottle and book
8:00 bedtime
11pm dream feed

then he would wake up at 5-6ish am and i would only hold him of with just enough.

[estherofi20]

Personally, i would follow a 3hr EASY, 'cause the awake time i think its too much for her. And as for only having 2oz at the morning feed, well my DS used to do that too, but eventually things sorted out, once he started lasting longer at nigth, and he started waking hungry at late 6am ish, so i was abble to hold him off with the paci till 7 and start the day by then (this is another pointer to start the day early)

[lulu520]

Thanks!  Yeah, I'm thinking it will sort itself out eventually as long as I'm consistent with the morning wake up feed even if she doesn't take much.  That way I don't have to mess up the entire days routine b/c of the morning feed which will eventually go away.  She's not into the pacifier but has found her thumb already so she's already well into sucking into that before I hear the "eh eh eh" i'm about to cry noise. :-)

Thanks!!  Much appreciated!! 

Personally, i would follow a 3hr EASY, 'cause the awake time i think its too much for her. And as for only having 2oz at the morning feed, well my DS used to do that too, but eventually things sorted out, once he started lasting longer at nigth, and he started waking hungry at late 6am ish, so i was abble to hold him off with the paci till 7 and start the day by then (this is another pointer to start the day early)