Need clarification of naps please

[Jenna's Mum]

Hi, I'm new to the BW msg boards.  I've been following E.A.S.Y. from day one, and love it.  My 2 month old (9 weeks today) daughter seems to have fallen easily into a 3 hour EASY routine and sleeps well at night, just one waking between 3:30am and 5am usually, and after her feed goes right back to sleep until about 7am.  My question is about naps... we start our routine in the morning usually at around 7:30am with a feed, then "A" time is usually getting her dressed for the day, washing face, etc. and then she likes a little swing time.  When she shows sleep signs I swaddle her and take her to her room, rock her with her paci until I see stage 3 starting to show up which usually only takes 4 - 5 mins (this is our usual wind-down routine for all naps and bedtime), then put her in her crib and take away the paci.  She sleeps then for about 20-30 mins lovely.  Then she wakes up, and I go back in to help her get back to sleep.  So here comes my question (at last!)... sometimes she goes back to sleep no problem, but other times she won't and I have to keep going back again and again, and sometimes she's just not tired anymore so I get her up and we have a little "A" time until her next feed, seeing as she's not hungry either until about 3 hours has elapsed since the last feed.  So after we feed though, because she's been up before the feed, she hardly has any "A" time after other than a diaper change, and then she's yawning so I take her back to bed for another nap.  Then the whole cycle starts again so I feel like she's getting her "A" time in before the feed, with hardly any after it... is this okay?  Is the whole concept simply to disassociate feeds with sleep, so even if it's merely a diaper change between each that's okay?  When she's had some sleep but isn't sleepy anymore and isn't hungry either, I don't know whether I'm supposed to get her up and have some "A" time before the next feed or leave her in her crib but that just gets her upset when she's swaddled and not tired, so I unswaddle her and then I wonder whether that's being inconsistent!  Help please!

[Meg's Mom]

Hi and welcome!

Congrats your wee LO :-) and on getting her on EASY nice and early.

Is the whole concept simply to disassociate feeds with sleep, so even if it's merely a diaper change between each that's okay

  Exactly!  I couldn't have said it better.  Your LO is still learning this whole sleep thing, so some times your cycle will look like EASY-AS, or EASY.  Just may sure you keep the E and S apart and you don't end up feeding to sleep.  With a newborn/young infant, the EASY routine looks more like Awake and Sleep. The Eating and the Activity are together (since eating is an activity!) He may be an efficient eater-- if he's gaining weight and seems content then sounds like all is well.

She sleeps then for about 20-30 mins lovely

  Also watch those A times, make sure they aren't too long as these will also cause the 20-30 min naps in the really young ones.  That said, cat napping is normal for a newborn/young infant. From my experience, what I have noticed is that newborns/young infants will either sleep long for naps, or short for naps, but generally after 6 months of age, they shift to a morning and afternoon nap (1.5-2 hours each). What many newborns/young infants will do is take do a 45 min. nap, wake up and then within 10 mins or so, be ready for another nap of 45. Don't fret or worry if this is what your little one is doing, completely normal-- you can either do keep patting until he returns to sleep, or do a quiet activity, and then wind down back to sleep. Swaddling is very important.

Sounds like you are doing everything right, EASY cycle is good. Self soothing begins after 3 months, and is learning process.

Hope this helps!

[Jenna's Mum]

Yes thank you that does help... right now in fact she has taken about a 45 min nap and appears to be awake in her crib but just wants her paci and is happy with that.  So I guess if she's not going back to sleep I could get her up, unswaddle her, sit her on the sofa with me for a while to look around and then put her back in her crib if/when she shows signs of tiredness again?  Or if she gets hungry before that then obviously I'll feed her. 

Thanks for the help