Hi jjdavo and welcome to BW
I see you've already had some advice from mummyumpkin, and a very useful link to A times - you'll be referring back to that over the coming months to keep the naps on track with the right A time.
I'd like to try to answer some of your questions.
She will fall quickly and easily to sleep on us but cries and fusses if we put her down to bed
This is quite natural in the early days of EASY as you begin to introduce your LO to a new way of sleeping. Your LO is still very young and so far has learned that sleeping on mummy or daddy is very comfortable. Those snuggles and cuddles you've had so far will have built a bond between you, which is great, but also accustomed her to learn that is how (and where) to sleep. Now you and she are learning together that there is another way to sleep.
Do you have Secrets of the Baby Whisperer? Chapter 6 would be handy to re-read at this point now that you've spent a couple of days getting into the swing of the EASY routine.
In short the sleep training aspect is introduced by putting LO down in her cot (lovely and calm after cuddles and wind down) when she is at the beginning of stage 3, her eyes are drooping and nodding. This way she will gradually become more accustomed with going to sleep in her cot (and more likely to stay asleep in her cot or go back to sleep by re-settling), it means there is no surprise when she wakes up and wonders how she got there. Tracy suggested you tell her you are putting her down for a sleep (I still do this with DS who is almost 1yr old). If she fusses initially hold back a little to see if she will settle herself, if not then begin shush/pat in the cot. If she cries you pick her up and sooth her. When she is completely calm (this might take a long time, it did with us in the early days) and again entering stage 3 you say you are putting her down for a lovely sleep and again put her down and sooth in the cot if she fusses.
This is not a quick fix solution to sleep, it is the gift of independent sleep and well worth the time and energy that you'll be putting into it.
Many parents that use the BW methods begin shush/pat when LO is still in their arms, and even wait until LO is asleep before being put down, they also shush/pat all the way into deep sleep in the cot, if there are times you need to do this don't worry about it. Sleep training is a gradual process and along the way there will be tricky times and times when you decide to let her sleep in your arms. Here we usually call this AP (accidental parenting) or APOP (accidental parenting on purpose) and use it as a tool to help a baby sleep to avoid OT, or when they are teething or ill to keep them well rested. We aim to get back on track at the next opportunity, after illness for example. In the early days it is pretty much the norm for there to be some AP. Try not to stress about it, your baby is still very young and many people don't begin sleep training until much older.
If your LO is settling very easily in your arms as you say you can now try to get her in the cot eyes open but drooping. I personally found that I needed to get my LO in a little earlier than this, so he could do his 'seven mile stare' from inside the cot. He seemed to need to find a place to focus his stare and moving him from my arms to the cot during it or during the nodding phase really unsettled him. I would stay with him with my hands on him and shushing so he felt he was being cuddled but could already see the view that he would see when he woke up. This helped us a lot. If he woke during a nap he was then met with familiar surroundings rather than wondering where he was and how he got there. Gradually he was able to self sooth and go back to sleep...but lots of help in those early days.
Have introduced a dummy but if it comes out do i put it back in if she cries?
Tracy suggested not. Many Los find a dummy very comforting and it helps them to relax. Tracy suggested to allow a dummy for them to work off their sucking reflex, rapid sucks, then slower, then it drops out. At this point you wouldn't give it back because the sucking reflex has been exhausted and anything beyond this is building a prop. Lo begins to rely on it for sleep and parents can end up re-plugging many times per night and not getting enough rest themselves.
However, many parents do give the dummy back, if you feel the need then do so, you can wean it later on. Recent SIDS research suggests it's good to allow LO to have a dummy until aged 6 months.
She seems to only nap for about 45 mins before waking up crying
You might find that just a slightly longer A time might help, but chances are that she has just not yet learned to transition into the next sleep cycle during day naps on her own yet. If you keep an eye on the clock you can go in at the 35 min mark and position yourself to httj (hold her through the jolts), and if she wakes begin immediate soothing in the cot to see if you can shush/pat her back to sleep. Remember sleeping alone is a new skill for her and takes time to learn.
Do I try to feed her straight after these short naps or wait til her actual feed time?
Wait until her actual feed time (unless she cries a hunger cry). This means there will be a little A between S and E, like this EASAEAS. That's ok.
I expect you have little time for reading at the moment, but if you find a few minutes here and there you might find these links helpful. There is much information on the site, please also feel welcome to ask for further support, clarification about any advice or new questions on the various boards.
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=180311.0http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=26672.0http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=1439.0http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=212645.0http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85500.0http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=186622.0http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65944.0Let us know how you get on xx
