1st Day of EASY...pls read and respond....someone?

[Intransit]

Hi All,
I am a first time mother...and have a little boy who is almost 3 months old. Since he was born he has been making his own "choices" about when he would like to sleep, where and IF!! Very frustrating.....I have my new bible (Tracys' book) and I am now trying to introduce easy..which so far is amazing! My husband is skeptical...but I shall prove this works! Now, my question is...........and take into accoun this is my first day on EASY....if the day nap is not 1.5 hours..sometimes actually less than an hour....ie 1st was 1.5 hours..2nd was 30 and third was 30....4th is in progress.....if the nap is not 1-1.5 hours..should I,when he wakes up, if he does not put himself back to sleep.....attempt to get him back to sleep? I tried this on the last nap(3) and he cried and screamed and got quite upset! I ended up giving him an ounce of a bottle to calm him...Thanks

[Lockyer]

Hi,
Its great you are trying EASY with your lo. Stick with it as it pays off in the end. Sometimes it is trying but just see the light at the end of the tunnel.

You will need to try to PU/PD with him when he wakes early. Remember if he wakes and is happy then he may not need more sleep, but if he is cranky then do PU/PD. It may take 2 goes, it may take 50 goes but stick with it.

EASY is not a strict schedule, but rather takeing cues from your lo. The book may say a certain amount of time for babies to slepp but all babies are different, so just just watch his cues carefully, youll suss them out soon enough.

HTH, Vanessa xx Good Luck

[Intransit]

Thank you so much for the reply!!!
Its tough when you're not 100% sure about things..but I think chatting to people online def helps! I will try the pu/pd method for naps as well...but what about the screaming?? So much to the point he was getting a bit red in the face?

[alligirl]

Welcome!  Glad you found EASY!

Lockyer gave you great advice and I don't want this to seem like I'm stepping on her toes, just want to give you another tiny piece of advice....

Tracy said that PU/PD might be too overstimulating for babies under 3 months old.  So while PU/PD is recommended for older babies, pat/shh is recommended for babies under three months (and actually, she also said pat/shh can be overstimulating for babies older than 6 months).  Since your baby is right at 3 months, only you can know what would work best for him at this point in time.  Just keep in mind that if things get really bad or he just doesn't settle while doing PU/PD, you might try pat/shh (or vice versa).  Just don't switch back and forth, you'll have to find what works and stick with that.  Consistency is key.

That advice was kind of all over the place, but I hope you got the idea.

[Intransit]

Thanks for that advice as well.....but what if I am not able to get him to sleep..or even to calm down..say if..pat sh..or pu/pd dont work..i dont know how long to go before I should scrap doing that since he is really sad like earlier today....

[carolyn]

You are doing great.  I think the "rule of thumb" is to continue PU/PD or pat/sh for about 40 minutes, and then take a 20 minute break and try again.  You can use that break to feed if necessary, change a diaper or some other low key, relaxing activity.  It gives you both a chance to calm down.

[marlowho]

My rule of thumb is like mentioned above if they seem like they've had their full nap then go ahead and get them up.  Also, as Tracy recommends in the book, sometimes it is a "mantra" cry- like they are working through a phase of sleep.  So don't jump right in- if you  go in and he looks like he's half asleep but crying -you might try waiting to see if he works through to the next stage on his own.    Also- do you use a pacifier?  That has been working great for extending naps for us.  (But if you're afraid of introducing that, I understand.) 
And keep checking this site- it's saved my sanity more times than I can imagine!

[Intransit]

Thanks AGAIN--you ladies are great!
Umm..I started using a pacifier when he was 6 weeks old....he is not addicted to it..but will take it to assist in getting to sleep......so its ok for him to get red when he cries? He is also clawing at my face..but i think i read this is a sign of being sleepy anyways....

[Arwyn's mom]

Hello sjeb,

My lo turns bright red when she cries too and usually it is her hysterical "I'm tired and I want to go back to sleep but I don't know how" cry. She skips all the whining and little cries and goes whole-hog into screaming cry. When she is calm enough to go to sleep, she goes into her mantra cry and will take her blanket and suck on it to sleep or if she can't reach it, use her fist to suck on.

The red face kinda breaks my heart and I don't like it but I feel better knowing that I am teaching her skills that will prevent her from crying like that in the future.

I have just started to try to extend her naps. I use pu/pd and then start to pat/shush when I think??? she is ready to settle down. I did this for 35 minutes today and 26 minutes yesterday for nap #2. The screaming can grate on your nerves (my lo never quite loses the red colour until she is just about able to put herself to sleep) so I just took a break once to change her diaper and then back to it.

You're doing just great. Keep at it. I am so happy I put my daughter on EASY. We started when she was 11.5 weeks and my husband was skeptical too. But here we are 2 months later. Still have glitches... after all, she is human and on top of that, she's a baby!

Good luck. This website has given me so much encouragement, I wanted to pass some along to someone else. Hope everything goes well.

[stasztk]

Hi and welcome to the forum! When I joined not long ago someone told me i'd get addicted and now I am. So I warn you it does get addicting! :wink:
Now about your lo, when I started easy it was very tough for me. My baby seemed so sad all the time. I took the book to mean I should break all bad habits NOW! I was miserable. So my advice is to take it easy and slow down :wink: If you aren't already try swaddling your lo. I think in the sleep area of the forum there is an information post on the Aussie swaddle. I use that with my 7 week old. She has a hard time getting out of it and it helps to cut down on sensory overload at bed time and at nap time. Hope this helps!