Initiating The EASY method on 8 week old

[GeauxMom28]

I'm sure this has been discussed more than 100 times but I have a few questions and extremely little time to go through  a million posts trying to find the answer/help!

Our LOL is 8 weeks old today. We tried BW but the awake time was too long for us and we couldn't keep to the schedule. We ended up with an overly tired baby who wanted to be held through nap time or only slept 20 min in crib and want to eat again.

So, we found The Baby Whisperer. Our LO is not a crier. He is quiet and will lay in his bed for 30-40 min without making a peep but he will be awake and then miss his nap time and then will act hungry bc he is so tired. So we are trying to initiate EASY.

Our method:
feed 40-50 min
 (we think no activity time right now cause he needs to sleep and work up to it- shows sleepy cues around d 50 min)
Diaper change
Draw the curtains and turn out the lights
Sit in rocking chair shh/pat for 5-10 min or until calm
Put in crib

At this point do we continue to shh/pat on his side in the crib if he is asleep? If he is awake, how long do we continue to shh/pat? LO has a very hard time making it through the 10 and 20 min mark. He had also been known to take 45 min naps but we think that's bc he was overly tired to begin with. So do we keep our hand on him through the entire nap for now? Need some reassurance.

[katie80]

Hi and welcome to BW! When you mention BW, I'm assuming you're referencing Babywise? There is a lot that Tracy and the members of this site don't agree with in Babywise, namely CIO and rigid scheduling, so just want to make sure you are aware of that. Tracy believed that CIO breaks the bond of trust between parent and child and there is quite a bit of research pointing to negative side effects that go along with CIO. All this being said, I'm glad you've found us!

As for implementing EASY, I will post some links below that have lots of good information on getting started. While I understand your thought behind getting him the sleep he needs, at 8 weeks he does need a bit of stimulation as well and some A time. It sounds like you're trying to put him down at around 1hr after waking, which actually may not be enough and he's therefore not quite tired enough to get into a deep sleep. At his age, I'd expect him to stay awake closer to 1h10/15/20min. So, I think the first thing to try is to add a bit of A time. It can be low-key still... a walk around the house, lying on the floor or your bed looking at the ceiling... something to keep him up just 10-15min longer.  While you're just starting, Tracy also suggested doing shh/pat or holding a hand on your LO for the first 20min of sleep to make sure he enters a deep sleep. I've never done that, TBH but if he's having trouble staying asleep, it's worth a try.

Here are the last links... (The first two are contained in the last one, but I'm giving them also for quicker reference.) Hope that helps.
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
Shush-pat - How to
Starting EASY - all you need to know and more!