What part of EASY am I not getting - so confused - help

[debbygilhernandez]

Soon after my dd was born I had her on an easy schedule.  I don't take much credit because I think she naturally fell into a three hour schedule and she was basically like a little clock...gosh I miss those days.  Now she is 8 weeks old and I am struggling with EASY.  We previously had a growth spurt that threw us off track and now she has been waking early from naps.  But my biggest struggle with EASY is that I don't understand how people start at the same time everyday if thier baby isn't sleeping through the night, which mine is not.  For example let's say that I manage to go through an EASY schedule all day, do some cluster feedings at night and have her dreemfeeding at 11:00 p.m. I then let her sleep as long as she can after the dream feeding (is this my problem?) Some times she sleeps three hours, four hours or even five hours.  This variation at night sets us up for having a different start time everyday. I have a friend who wakes her daughter up at 6:00a.m., no matter what, to feed.  This would solve my start time problem but what do I do if she sleeps from 11:00p.m. to 4:00a.m.?  Feed her at 6:00a.m. even though it has been two hours?  I keep going back to the EASY chapter and feel like I must be missing something?  I am a planner and love the thought of EASY with flexibility but feel that I am still very far from this.  Please, help....I am open to any suggestions!!!

[stasztk]

I think the problem here is you see easy as a schedule. Babies don't do schedules. They can't tell time. I wouldn't wake her for a feed at night. I would let her sleep until she is hungry. It doesn't sound like you are letting her sleep past a reasonable time in the mornings. I don't think I see why this is a problem.

[zofia]

i'm having trouble to i started easy scdeule 4 days ago we used to sleep 7 hrs then 3 hrs 3 hrs with 1 sleep through the day.  now we have 2 or 3 sleeps but only for 30min to 45 min i've been told she has to sleep  a bit longer as she's not completing her sleeping cycle and getting over tired.  At night were back to 3 hrs sleeps.  am i doing it right or am i doing something wrong as i'm trying to enjoy baby but atm i'm ripping my hair out cause i got a grumpy baby.

[cwolff]

My daughter doesn't consistently wake up at the same time in the mornings either, but she is getting to be between 6am and 8 am.  I also know someone who woke their baby at 7am no matter what.  I'm too tired at the moment to do that.  I really think that babies regulate their wake up times themselves.  Your baby is still a bit young to do that, so I would just keep up the Easy routine, and not focus so much on the times it starts.  Unless it's 4am, and then I consider that still nighttime and put them right back down.

[zofia]

4am till 6 am is her restless part of the day i tryin to get her out of the habit and put her right back in her cot after her bottle.  she grumbles about it but i want that to change so its dueing the day and night 4am in the morning. lol

[Deb_in_oz]

hi - it sounds like you are doing great and i personally can relate to the need for predictability.  that will hopefully come in time.  For now, at 8 weeks if you would like some semblance of order you can wake her at whatever start time works for you - usually between 6:30 - 7:30 depending on your household and how it runs.  by picking a start time you will find things (hopefully) settle into a loose routine over time.

if she feeds at 4am and you wake her at 7 she wil likely be hungry.  if she wakes for a feed at 5:30am you can either offer less food (1 quick BF or a half bottle) and tide her over til you wake her at 7am or you can offer her a pacifier if you use one and see if she will resettle for an hour. as she stretches out her night sleep she will slowly push her feeds closer to morning and once she is there it will settle itself (so you are not doing a 5:30 feed and 7am feed forever)

the point is to still not be strict - if you choose a 7 am start and she wakes at 6:30 just start that day at that point - i personally would not try to resettle if the wake time is after 6am because some days they just wake up "early".  you just adjust your day accordingly - leave her in the cot if she is happy talking abd playing as sometimes they will resettle for another little sleep or just enjoy that time by themselves - both of mine are like that.

if you are thinking of what time to pick - think about yor DH and what time he gets up - if he is making noise in the house at 6:30 you might find she naturally gets woken up around then - if he is waking earlier it might explain an early waking later on that you can resettle her from...  you get the idea?? no point in trying to keep her asleep until 8am if your household starts by 7... HTH

[zofia]

no there is no noise at that hour of the morning she seems to wake at 4am i feed her then she grubles in cot till about 6.30am till she falls asleep then wakes at 7am for her 3 hrly feed.  clinic nurse told me thats her restless part of the day and to just let her grumble in cot as if i kept getting up to her she would contiue to grumble said something about her having to learn to put herself back of to sleep. was i get this sorted out then hopfully it will change to either early evening or late afternoon.

[Deb_in_oz]

sorry Zofia - i was referring to the original poster  debbygilhernandez as I had not seen your posts yet.

[debbygilhernandez]

Thank you ladies for all of the recommendations  It sounds like EASY doesn't really have a start time until the baby develops it for herself, but some people do wake their babies.  For now I will let her wake when she want's to but once I go back to work in two weeks I may have to wake her.  Again thank you so much!!!

Zofia,
Some of the things you describe sounded very familiar.  Previously my dd was sleeping consistent two hour naps during every day cycle but is now having trouble waking after about 30 to 45 minutes.  I posted a message about this and it seems that many moms with 7, 8, and 9 weekers are going through this.  My dd basically sleeps less through out the day so in the morning she is happy as can be and by the evening she is grouchy as heck.  I try to maintain her long naps by running into her room and patting/shushing.  I find the more she sleeps the happier she is.  As you can imagine this is very tiring so sometimes I resort to the a prop  :oops: the vaccum.  From what I understand they grow out of this when they are better able to self-soothe.  Let's hope that is sooner than later  :wink:   

In regards to your grouchy time I'm sorry to hear that it is so early in the morning.  I didn't experience this exactly but there was a period of time when my dd would sleep perfectly the first half of the night but the second half she would feed and then be wide awake a soon as she would hit the bassinet.  I would then proceed to pat/shush until I would just fall asleep holding her or just gave up (up to two hours).  I was so persistent because I was so scared that she would co-sleep forever with us.  I then posted a question and a mom informed me that her son did this and that grew out of it.  After that, if she resisted the second half of the night I would just let her sleep with me, after all every other sleep cycle of the day was in her bassinet.  And sure enough she grew out of it.  So my point is (sorry so long) that just because she is doing this now doesn't mean she will get use to it forever...I think it's okay to bend the rules sometimes. 

Keep in mind that this is my first child and I myself am learning all about the BW method.  So take what I say with a grain of salt     Hang in there and feel free to email me. 

Hugs
Debby