Consistent wake times important?

[Pualani8]

Hi!

Do you try and start your day at the same time everyday?  So many of the sample logs always start at 7. 

Is it more about the routine or are the times important as well?

[jessmum46]

The routine, as in the pattern of Eat, age-appropriate A time, then Sleep is the most important . EASY was never meant to be a schedule which follows the clock rather than LOs cues, so some variation in wake time is to be expected.  That said, often having some consistency to your day can be helpful, so many people work on an ideal wake time of 7am, but allow some variation.  For example, getting LO up to start the day as long as they wake after 6.30am (treat anything before this as a NW), or waking them by 7.30am if they haven't already woken.  That way you can develop some consistency which is useful for setting LOs body clock

[Pualani8]

Okay - that makes sense =)  We've been within an hour wake time since he was 2 weeks old.  I just didn't know if I needed to be stricter with wake ups!

What do you do if they wake up at 6 am hungry and you don't want them up until 7?  Is it worth struggling to put them back down for only an hour?

[jessmum46]

It's tricky at that time.  If it is genuinely just hunger that has woken them, I would feed as a hungry baby isn't going to resettle, and a baby who only woke because of hunger should settle easily once fed.  That might mean your day starts off looking a bit like AEAS (waiting for LO to be hungry again part way through first A time) or EAS (but with E being only a small top-up) - both are ok.   Some people like to try a paci to satisfy need to suck but again, if hunger is the issue that won't work for very long.  It might be a case of trial and error