I want to start EASY . . . How long to strictly commit before results?

[ummyinsh]

I came across this site in an attempt to find out how to help my 13-week old sleep better days and nights.  I like what I've read so far and have taken some notes on the EASY routines. 

I would like to know, before starting, because I want to do it correctly, how long does it take to see the effects of using an EASY routine? Would I need to try and stick to the routine for a certain numbers of days for it to be most effective?  How long? Would I need to be strict for a certain number of days?

I ask because I tried implementing some of the concepts for a day and it helped greatly but the next day, after missing a nap from being out, she was out of wack again that night. So I was wondering, how long would I need to strictly commit to doing the 3-hour EASY before seeing results since it means some slight changes in our current routines?  Any help and suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!!!!

[Maffoos mummy]

Hi and welcome!! I can't give you a length of time I'm afraid!! It all depends on how old your baby is,how much you're needing to tweak her current routine,how she's currently falling asleep...but MOST importantly how consistent you are!!  The idea of EASY is that your baby gets used to doing things in a certain order,but not necessarily massively governed by the clock...it teaches you to follow your baby's cues and act accordingly,ie fussiness could be boredom/over stimulation, wah wah hunger cry,yawning and rubbing eyes for tired etc. I think for most people who come across EASY after already having their baby,the biggest hurdle tends to be that they've been nursing/bottle feeding their baby to sleep...this was certainly the case for me when I started it when my son was 3 1/2 months old. If that is also the case with you then this is the starting point really,teaching your daughter how to sleep independantly of the breast/bottle and therefore establish the order of Eat;Activity;Sleep;and time for You. Could you post an approximate routine and give us some more info on how your sleeps/feeds etc?

[ummyinsh]

Well, I wrote a lengthy response but got logged out after dealing with an overtired LO.

Well, what I KNOW for sure I need to work on now are extending her naps from 40-60 minutes to 1.5 hours, feeding her upon waking rather than before sleeping (didnt realize I did that until I charted our day) and being consistent in general every day of the week and with and without dad (he usually changes things up when he helps out).  She is usually awake when I put her to sleep but it is usually after a feeding though.  Seeing an EASY schedule has given me some guidance though.

Some information that might be important ??:
1.  She sleeps in a bassinet in our room for almost all her naps. She sometimes co-sleeps for the 1st nap of the day with me after DH leaves for work (so not on weekends) or if I'm just so tired, I can't sit up to nurse (rarely). Sometimes I'd extend one afternoon nap in the swing if I needed something done and she just wouldnt stay sleep.

2.  She sleeps swaddled with white noise now for all sleeping. I just started rocking her to sleep since she is awake but drowsy when I put her down. Before, she was only swaddled for bedtime.

3. She previously slept for 20-40 mins but I've extended some of those. Mostly, I have to stay beside her or check in at those marks to rock her back to sleep.

4.  She naturally wakes around 6/6:30 happy or talking so her bedtime should be around 6:30 naturally (right?). I actually would prefer a 5am wake time but a 5pm bedtime is too early (could she wake up at 5 am and go to bed after 6pm?).

5.  She usually naps within the 1.5 hour mark or sooner. Just have to watch for the signs! Otherwise, she will just stay up all the time and not fuss much (well,she didnt before).

Let's see . . . what else might be helpful? No more time to write now . . . an overtired baby's waiting!

[Maffoos mummy]

"with and without dad (he usually changes things up when he helps out)" Don't they all?!?!

It sounds like you're ready!! The naps are really key to good nighttime sleep so you're absolutely right to try to extend those,babies sleep in cycles of 45 minutes,so the 1 1/2hr naps are obviously 2 of those in one!! For a baby this age it's recommended you use shh/pat to get them back to sleep-whilst she's in the crib have her on her side gently patting her back while shh-ing...the idea being that young babies can't concentrate on more than 2 things at once,you're providing two of those things so it stops them being able to concentrate on crying and thereby soothes them. You can also use this technique to get her to sleep to start with rather than the feeding/rocking...once she's sleeping without those you can then work on gradually withdrawing the shh/pat. It does take time and consistency but is so worth it-after this technique my ds would then literally be put down awake in his cot,I'd leave the room and he'd go to sleep!! A 12 hour day is what you're aiming for so if she's doing that already I'd be a bit wary of tweaking that in case it gives you more night wakings. Just my honest opinion!!

[ummyinsh]

Thanks for the response. We only got the 12 hour day once I ensured she was getting those naps in, even if they weren't 1.5 hours long.  Before that, she was going to bed for good at 11 or 12 pm but sleeping straight through. On the last good day of following the EASY somewhat, she was in bed by 6:30 but woke up between those hours. I'd take the early bedtime though in the hopes that eventually she'd sleep through the night. So I'm trying to get somewhere in between with good napping.  When I got the extended naps I was almost literally in my rocking chair beside the bassinet to rock her when she stirred. So, I should abandon the rocking and just do the shh/patt?? I am really no good at shushing. Could I use the white noise instead??

I guess I really need to continue to keep a close eye on our routines in the upcoming weeks to see how our nights are if she is sleeping well in the day. I really would like to be really strict over the next few days to see how things work out.  Not sure how many days straight though I should go. Then I guess I will see what needs to fit in where.

[Maffoos mummy]

I think the white noise is totally fine if that works for her-shh/pat doesn't work for every baby,and you often need to tweak these techniques to suit your LO,as you know them better than anyone else!! I know some other ladies on here who didn't get on terribly well with the patting (my LO didn't like to be on his side so I just very gently did it on is chest) lay their hand on baby's chest for reassurance and that works for them. I think the main point is to get her sleeping independantly,so if she's doing that with white noise then great!!

 I know when I first started EASY I kept a log of every feed,nap and night times so I could see at a glance what worked and what didn't. Even when it was established I kept it up for a while,partly out of habit and partly just in case we did have a bad night I'd still be able to check back and see what we'd done in the day. Have you checked out the other EASY boards on here where people post their general routines? It can be really helpful sometimes to see what works for other people.

What I haven't mentioned yet is the dream feed actually,which is where you give a bottle/the breast at 10 or 11 (basically to fit in with your bedtime) to give her enough calories to get through the night. This one needs to be very low key with low/no lights and no talking to help resettling afterwards-often babies don't even wake fully for this,they just feed and go straight back to sleep. Again not all babies take to it (my ds kind of did in the fact that he fed,but he did wake when we stirred him but was easy to resettle after) but it's definitely worth a go to strengthen your chances of consistently sleeping through. You'd keep with this until she's about 7/8months old when sold foods are firnly established. HTH.

[ummyinsh]

What kind of challenges did you have specifically with changing up to feeding after waking rather than before? I see from writing our day down that has been our pattern so far and I'm wondering what might happen with the change up.

[Maffoos mummy]

For us it was the hurdle of getting him to sleep without the breast. He had pretty bad reflux so in the early days I'd misread all his crying (he cried A LOT!!) as hunger so had been feeding him to sleep and basically comforting that way too to ease his pain...but causing mine!! We did our slightly modified version of shh/pat,we also went cold turkey on giving him a dummy so it was a double whammy for us really!! We had three days/nights of HELL but I had so much faith in it and soooo knew I couldn't carry on the way we were,so was totally consistent and on the fourth day he found his thumb and went to sleep independantly-and has been doing ever since!! Feeding on waking didn't then cause us any problems at all-he definitely fed a lot better from then. How's things going now?

[ummyinsh]

So far I've been mostly successful with getting her down in the 1.5 hours and I'm learning a lot of things from observing us both.  DH and I decided to start more strictly next week after I get the book. I went out to the bookstore today and for some reason it was closed!  Also,we plan on getting a lot of errands done this upcoming weekend so the next weekend can be clear if we need to stay home to stay on routine in the beginning.

She's been unusually fussy the last two or three days and we're not quite sure why so that's changed things a bit.  Plus, my DH coming and doing his own thing with her, although well-intentioned, wasn't helping so we had to talk about that and agree that once we started, we'd stick to the plan.  In the meantime, we're still working on getting the full 1.5 hour nap and putting her to bed earlier.  Meanwhile, I'm reading as much as I can until I get the book!

[MJMom]

Good luck!  Please continue to post your questions once you receive the book!  And your progress!

[Maffoos mummy]

Ditto previous post!! 

[ummyinsh]

The funny thing is, after coming to this site I realized I already had one of Tracey's books!  The Baby Whisperer for Toddlers! I got the wrong one when I was pregnant not even knowing about EASY yet!  Boy, how I wish I could go back in time!  LOL 

I will definitely be back with questions and probably more than once. Sometimes you need to be told things twice! lol

Now since having the baby, I always knew you couldn't sleep train until 4 months and was on a sleep training board every week reading posts, lol. I ditched that one for this site, lol.  Anyways, how does that fit in with EASY or does it?

[MJMom]

I think you can effectively begin sleep training at 8 weeks, but the order of E-A-S can be done from birth.  There are always blips along the way for growth spurts, teeething, new skills, illnesses, and other developmental blips.  But on a routine, your child will bounce back much quicker and get back on track. 

Don't know what the other site is that you're talking about or their philosophy, but Tracy's philosophy is all about following the babies cues, but leading them in a direction.  So, the routine is just that, a routine and not a schedule.  Very few children follow exactly what the book says, but as far as generalities go, things like pt/sh instead of rocking to sleep for example, are effective and avoids the trials of breaking Accidental parenting when your child is older.

HTH