7 week old trouble getting on EASY - breast dependent.

[Jouena]

Hello,
My son is 7 weeks old and has occasional reflux. I have been trying to put him on EASY for couple weeks now,  unsuccessful.
Our issue is sleeping. Namely, falling asleep. Both at day naps and at night. Problem is that he needs my breast to doze off.  Otherwise it's close to impossible to make him sleep. Shush-pat does not work consistently, either. 
On a good day, without the breast before nap, it can take 45 -60 mins of shush-pat, that is when he is already swaddled in his crib. And even then he wakes up after 30 mins of napping. 
On a bad day like today, he went hysterical when swaddled, so I had to release him. Took him a while to calm down even after I gave him the breast. Ended up sleeping in a swing - another prop that works like a charm. 
So, I often end up feeding him twice in 3 hour intervals    As you see, our problem sends the whole EASY routine out the window.
PLEASE HELP! I'm going back to work in 3 weeks and getting desperate.

[jessmum46]

Hugs, I know how stressful it is when work is looming.  I honestly think it's important at this age though to have realistic expectations, neither of mine have been fully independent sleepers until the 10-12 week mark and with my second I deliberately just used AP most of the time until later on.  It's not the strict by the book advice but my experience and that of many mums here is that shh patting for ever at this age is likely to just cause stress for not much gain.  That's not to say abandon all hope, just be realistic.  Maybe try one nap a day in the crib (that's good going at this point) and get the rest in a sling, stroller etc To be honest I think it's unlikely your LO will be napping totally independently at all times on a perfect routine in just 3 weeks, if you can accept that and think about how you want to manage it, you can focus on enjoying your LO in the time you have left . What are your childcare arrangements?  If it's daycare I can guarantee they won't be shh patting for hours, they will rock LO or whatever it takes.  In a way though independent sleep is important, both that and routine can come with time and it's not worth you being too worried to enjoy your time off xx

[Jouena]

Katherine, thank you so much for your insight! You made me look and see the situation from a totally different perspective! Of course I should be enjoying my baby instead of fixating on how to structure, organize and break habits!
That does not mean that I will drop all attempts  to create a routine baby and I are comfortable with, but breaking habits and make us both miserable is certainly off the priorities list  
Guess, this is what support and sisterhood means  - thanks again! 

[jessmum46]

No problem it can be hard in the fog of those early days to kind of think clearly, not sure I did at all with my first (in fact I'm sure I didn't) and it was only really reflecting on that experience which made me less worried about enjoying all those cuddles (aren't they just the best? ) second time x