Some questions not answered in BW, please help!

[janetHuang]

I'm tring to read and understand BW before my baby arrives in Febuary next year. And want to start EASY fron day 1. (i'm a super organized person and trying to have a scheduled baby to make my life easier )

But when I was reading BW( very carefully, making notes) , some questions remain unanswered or very blur.

1. BW says newborn babies awaken time is only 50-60 minutes, but on EASY, if 7: feed , 7:45 nappy change, 8:30 nap , its total of 1 1/2 hrs of awaken time altogether. What to do with conflicts?

2. BW says bay's total nap time during daytime should not exceed 5 1/2 hrs, in order to have your baby not switch day with night. But with EASY, I calculated all the nap time including cat naptime, its way over 6 hrs. What to do?

3. BW suggests cluster feeding and dream feed to eliminate 2 AM feeding, but what do you do if the baby actually wakes up at 2AM anyway? Do you feed him anyway? ( is it accidental parenting offering breast for convinience) or not feed him? If not feed him, what to do? Pacifiers or pat him back to sleep?

I'm so confused!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Hi! From one super organized person to another...I just have to say that BW is more about the routine of EAS than actual precise timings! Now, I have not actually read the book in quite some time (hmmm maybe when pg with DD2...) but I would say not to worry about the exact A time or total nap time. 1 hour is a good starting point for A time for a newborn but they are all so different it may take a bit to work out what works for your lo...I find sleepy cues were the best judge-yawns/tired eyes etc.

If you are going to bf, please know that there is a lot better understanding in that regard since the books were written...it is completely normal (and expected) for a bf baby to have a df and a couple (or more) night feeds as bm is so easily digested. Many bf babies continue night feeds for quite some time. I bf on demand and still keep my baby on a routine as the routine has nothing to do with the actual time but just the sequence of events if that makes sense!

[jessmum46]

Totally agree, EASY is not about a clock-based schedule.  It's about a predictable cycle of eat, activity, sleep which occurs in that order throughout the day.  There's a good table of average awake times here: Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! but essentially what you would do is offer a feed when baby wakes, have some A time (for a newborn this is likely to just be a nappy change, maybe a few mins on the mat) and then tune into your baby's sleep signals.  When LO is getting tired, you put them down for a nap.  And then you would let them sleep until the next feed is due. As LO gets older the awake times get longer and gradually feeds will get further apart (transition from 3 to 4h EASY), and then things change again as solids are added into the mix.

Heidi is totally right about the breastfeeding info.  We hope and believe that if Tracy was still with us she would have incorporated the latest research into her books.  As it is we have to give the best advice we can based on up to date info whilst maintaining the spirit of the original BW books.  There are loads of Mums here who breastfed (the BF board Mums and mods are fab) and will be able to help you through some of the specifics once LO arrives.  This is a really useful link: Breastfeeding and EASY in the first few weeks

There are some typos/bits that are unclear in the book so do keep asking so we can help you clarify

[janetHuang]

Thank you both, Heidi and Katherine! I guess I need to spend more time here on the forum to kind of undestand the BW in real life from real experiences from you moms!

[jessmum46]

I'd highly recommend it!!