Routine vs. Schedule

[catmom]

I know EASY is meant to be a routine and not a schedule.  I saw the following quote by Calums_Mum "remember EASY is NOT a schedule, but a way of following your babies cues and sticking to the E A S order so you don't feed to sleep".  I believe this the philosophical difference.  However, I am confused about the practical difference of what I am doing.  We wake our dd every 3 hours during the day to eat, change her and then put her back to sleep.  She was a 31 week preemie who is now a week past term.  During the day she sleeps though most of the routine and at night we wait for her to cry to feed her which is about 3-4 hours after the dream feed (party girl wants to stay up all night but that is a topic for another post).  DH thinks the difference is semantics.

My question is: if I am watching the clock to feed her every 3 hours then am I really implementing EASY?  I am relaxed about feeding her 10-15 minutes before/after the 3 hours...does that make it a routine? (I hope)

If we are lucky enough to get 4 hours then the next day all the times change.  This happens frequently, so I am wondering if I am keeping the 3 hour routine instead of a daytime routine (again I use "routine" loosely).  Should I be starting her day at the same time every day or letting her go 3 hours past the last nighttime feed? 

Thanks for your assistance.

[Johno & Aurelias Mum]

You have the difference between routine and schedule spot on and this means that you watch for what she wants more than you would if you were clock watching. 

The other thing you are finding is what we all find is that nothing ever stays the same, just when you think you've got it, something changes.  Thats where EASY can be adapted more easily than clock watching.  When they are first born, you just have to try and get things in the right order and roughly 3 hours between feeds.  Once you've done this, you then get to where you are which is stretching out at night and this will lead to dropping night feeds and getting the difference between day and night established.  What you could try is starting your day at roughly the same time and do some cluster feeding in the evening and a dreamfeed to get some longer stretches in during the night.


It might help if you wrote down waking times and sleeping times for a few days and look for a pattern or see where you could easily add the cluster feeding and dreamfeed into your evening routine.

HTH

[estherofi20]

Hi there, and welcome to the boards!

Well, it is important to set a wake up hour that is convenient for you, not to start the day after the 3 hrs have past from her last nigth time feed, the reason for this, is that if you do that the routine moves all over the place, and hence you get a later bedtime, so if allways have the same wake up time, the routine stays pretty much on an early bedtime, even if your LO gets hungry before the 3hr mark.

My question is: if I am watching the clock to feed her every 3 hours then am I really implementing EASY? I am relaxed about feeding her 10-15 minutes before/after the 3 hours...does that make it a routine? (I hope)

Yes it does make it a routine, 'cause you are following the order of EASY and most importantly, the cues your LO gives you. If it were a strict schedule, and your LO wakes up hungry a bit earlier, then you would have your LO crying hungry for at least 15min or so, that is why EASY is a routine and not a strict schedule.

HTH

[rebecaq]

Welcome!

Congrats on your baby girl  

I agree with Esther 

- Beca

[catmom]

Thanks for the feedback.  I will definitely decide on a start time for our day to better establish a routine and bedtime.   

 

[Duckie]

The important thing to remember too is (if I'm reading your post right), your little one is only 1 wk past her due date, right?  So her corrected date is 1 week, yes?  My guy was only 2.5 weeks early, but I found for the first 4 weeks or so he was asleep most of the time, save for maybe a diaper change between feeds and, yes, I was also waking him at that point to eat during the day (he was jaundiced).  There IS a difference between a routine and a schedule, just as the others have said.  You have to watch your little one to know what she wants - and she'll get better at telling you once she gets a little bigger.  My little one was screaming tired tonight at 630 tonight so he went to bed after only 3 ozs rather than his usual 8...weird...whereas he's usually up until 730.  So what's the point in keeping him up just to fit into a "schedule", right?  He was miserable, I was ready to hide under the bed, so he went to sleep!

Good luck with your little gal!

[catmom]

You are correct Duckie, 1 week corrected.  I would understand the sleep all the time if she wasn't up for a couple hours at night (yes I will be posting soon on night waking board if she doesn't grow out of this). 

I appreciate all the help from the wonderful mommies who have learn to whisper.  I sometime wonder if I expect too much but we all do the best we can.