New to EASY, have questions :)

[ava's maman]

Hi, my DD, Ava is 8 weeks old, and I have never implemented any kind of routine during the day.  At night, however, it is a struggle to get her to go to bed.  I begin her routine at 7:30 with a bath, which she loves but then screms immediately afterwards and the crying and fussiness continue for a coule of hours as I try to put her to sleep.  She generally sleeps pretty well at night - once she finally falls asleep, I will wake her at 11 for a dream feed, then she is up at 2 and 5 but quickly falls back asleep, and for the past two nights, has only been waking at 4 only! 

So I have been wanting to try this EASY routine but I have several questions...

1.  Does DD have to take naps in one designated spot only?  Right now, she has been asleep for 1 hr in her swing - do I have to switch her to her crib or is this an ok spot for the morning nap?

2.  If DD is still wanting to eat every 2 hours, should I make it a 2hr EASY?

3.  What do I do when she falls asleep on my chest and then I try to move her into her crib, but wakes up 10 minutes later, and the cycle continues over and over for hours?

[skibbit]

first off, im a new mommy and DI dont have much experience... however, Ive read tracys book start to finish at least twice. Tracy recommends that you first start her out in her crib just so that she doesnt get used to having props such as a swing... but if its only for 1 nap i think it should be okay.

as for the schedual, i dont recall any 2 hr. schedual. try to gradually bring her to feed every 21/2 hours instead. Im just starting my little one on a 3 hour routine, but it is very hard. I kept with it all day yesterday, and finally in the evening she started to drink more milk, and her sleep last night GREATLY improved. im not giong to give up on it.

now for the chest issue, if you hace read one of tracys books, she explains that we need our little ones to be independant. this is a struggle im trying to handle with my husband. every time he puts michael to sleap, he thinks that hes overtired because he has a seven mile stare and wont leave his side and often rocks him to sleap. then the cycle starts over and continues for hours. now the thing is, babys go through 3 cycles of tiredness if you will, the first being that they get tired and show it by yawning and blinking. this is when tracy suggenst cuddle time if you can with your baby. getle, quiet time in the dark near the crib where you dont do much but maybe rock and humm to him or her, and when you see the little one start to stare off into space, this is when you can lay baby in the crib and don't stop humming, patting or whispering to him or her as you do, because you will have a smoother transition . now he or she will continue the stare for about 6 or 8 minuits and you don't need to wit for baby to fall asleap before you leave the room, uless it helps for the first few times you do it. gradually you will have him falling aleap on his or her own but just try leaving the room and listening for sounds outside the door. my little one makes noises as he falls asleap, so unless he stars to wine or cry, i dont go in there. but if he starts to whine, go in and pat his back ( inly untill he stops  or it will become a prop) and then repeat the process. if he crys, pick him up and then try again when he settles down.

[Deb_in_oz]

I begin her routine at 7:30 with a bath, which she loves but then screms immediately afterwards and the crying and fussiness continue for a coule of hours as I try to put her to sleep

how long is she awake before you begin this routine? at 8 weeks her a time woudl generally be 45min - 1hr max. if she overtired at this point she might be soothed/enjoy the start of the bath but then by the end she is even more tired and stimulated  and that causes the difficulty in settling for the night.

1. Does DD have to take naps in one designated spot only? Right now, she has been asleep for 1 hr in her swing - do I have to switch her to her crib or is this an ok spot for the morning nap?

if you want to implement a predictable routine for her then it is advised for her to have most (if not all) naps in 1 place (preferably her cot/crib). if you want to use her swing or stroller for her catnap that is the most recommended nap to vary.  if you are working on implementing a true EASY where you are teaching imdependent sleep then the use of props is discouraged...

2. If DD is still wanting to eat every 2 hours, should I make it a 2hr EASY?

is she take a full feed at 2hrs or is she snacking?  if a full feed (BF) is required/taken every 2 hrs then you can work from that point and build towards a 3hr EASY.  if she is snacking or just catnapping (short naps) I woudl work on extending the naps or stretching the feeds gradually so that she takes a full feed each time.

3. What do I do when she falls asleep on my chest and then I try to move her into her crib, but wakes up 10 minutes later, and the cycle continues over and over for hours?

the problem with props (rocking, holding, swings, etc) is exactly this. as she comes into a light sleep, goes through sleep phases, etc she needs the prop to get through it so when you move her to crib and she rouses she thinks "where the heck am i? where is that nice chest i was on 10 min ago? and she needs it to get back to sleep.  you shoudl make sure you put her to bed wherever she will nap for the entire nap - so if the swing, then only the swing for that nap or if in crib, put her down drowsy but awake in the crib and help her settle there.

HTH

[ava's maman]

how long is she awake before you begin this routine? at 8 weeks her a time woudl generally be 45min - 1hr max. if she overtired at this point she might be soothed/enjoy the start of the bath but then by the end she is even more tired and stimulated  and that causes the difficulty in settling for the night.

Thanks for answering my questions.  What kind of timeframe should I be working with for bedtime.  Should I make sure she has not been awake for longer than 45 minutes before starting her bath, or less, like 30 minutes?  What you are saying makes sense because she is pretty calm in her bath but then towards the end and when we take her out to change her she is screaming bloody murder! 

Typically at bedtime her breathing is very fast, as if she could just start crying at any moment just by opening her mouth, kwim?  She seems tired to me but will just fuss every minute or so - I can sometimes get in a bedtime story while trying to calm her for a few minutes. 

Last night for example, it took two hours to finally get her to pass out in bed.  I would pick her up and do pat/shhh when screaming in her crib and she would either continue crying or calm for a few seconds and then restart the crying.  If she was calm for a few minutes I would put her back down and continue the pat/shhh but she would just start crying agian.  She would do the sucking motion on my shoulder so I would try to feed her but she basically just laid there without really taking in any milk.

[Deb_in_oz]

at this age if she is tired at bathtime i woudl definitely keep an eye on that last A time.  you did not actually say how long she has been up prior to bedtime but i will assumeoit is longer than an hour.  try an hour and work back from there.. it is all trial and error as each child is different and they change as they grow (rapid changes in the first 3 months)

so if she has last nap  and gets up, if she is due a feed you could offer one side and thewn do bath and then do other side in dim light and then to bed

the split feed around bathtime also helps many lo's as it takes the edge off hunger so when they get out of the bath they are not OVER-hungry and upset, or if they are very tired they have already had part of their feed before bathing so have less time at the bfreast right before bed.

keep the bedtime ritual short too - if she is tired i would leave out the story and such and just get her fed and to bed  HTH