Hi and welcome, it's great to see a Dad on here
. You're a small but very select (and very welcome!) group!!
Congratulations on your LO
. You may find this link helpful as breastfeeding research and advice has changed quite a bit since the books were published:
Breastfeeding and EASY in the first few weeks We like to think that Tracy would have updated her books to reflect this had she lived longer.
I probably wouldn't wake LO to feed any more frequently than 3 hourly in the day and maybe up to 4 hourly at night. Of course feed more often if LO demands, but if he is sleeping let him rest. You'll probably find trying to get him to feed every 2h he won't actually take good feeds because he'll be too tired.
Swaddling is a personal choice. I have never swaddled mine and they have done ok without it. But those who have persisted past the fighting (which most LOs seem to do) find them immensely valuable. I know some people here have used things like the Woombie, swaddle pod or similar and found them easier than a traditional swaddle so if you do want to carry on they may be worth investigating.
Your baby doesn't hate the crib, he's just being a normal baby
. He's been held and rocked and soothed in a cuddled-up small space for the previous nine months of his existence, so the very idea of lying on a flat mattress surrounded by space is incredibly alien to him. He's only two weeks and I cannot emphasise enough how much you should enjoy just getting to know him at this stage, and give him all the help he needs. I think you may find this useful:
Getting started - how I survived the first 3 months My DS started to settle a little better in the crib between 8-10 weeks and by around 12-13 weeks was sleeping much better there than in the car, pram, sling etc, whereas before it was completely the reverse. I held him for almost every nap up to 8 weeks (and a good many after that too) but now at 15 weeks he is very much an independent sleeper. So don't panic just yet
The reason we suggest a diaper change after a feed is to start the pattern of eat, activity, sleep and to separate eating from sleeping. That said, at this age it can be hard to do so my personal feeling would be to do what works for now, and in a few short weeks you will probably find that it's easier to have a little bit of awake time post-feed without LO getting OT. If LO falls asleep during the feed, again at this age I would just let him sleep. If he's tired, he needs to rest. The exception to this would be if you are getting virtually no A time in the day and long wakeful periods at night as you may have some day-night reversal going on, but I don't get the impression that's the case at the moment?
2/2.5/3h EASY.....I would just keep a loose EAS structure in mind for the time being, and follow LOs cues for now instead of worrying about exact timings. Like I said I would probably wake to feed by 3h in the day but sometimes the EAS cycles may be shorter and sometimes longer, that's ok. There are so many huge changes in the first few weeks that what works one day will be totally different the next.
I think in summary I would say keep your expectations of routine at this stage low, enjoy having this new LO, get to know him, learn his cues, and keep an EAS structure in mind - and you'll do great
. Hope that helps.
