too many questions!

[sraryan]

hi there!
I've been trying to use the EASY routine with my ds (he's 15 weeks) but we never really got into schedule (ie.. eat at 7am, sleep at 9am, eat at 10am, etc.) mostly because he wakes up at different times in the morning and also because he has not been such a great napper for the past few weeks. (He was taking a mongo nap in the afternoons, but now I'm lucky if he nap 1 hour at a time)
Here are my questions:
1) If/When he wakes up before his next scheduled feeding, I make him wait.  Sometimes he has to wait an hour.  So I am skipping to the Activity before the Eating.  Then he finally eats and will stay up for just a little while and then wants to sleep.  This pattern continues throughout the day and instead of EASY, it starts looking more like E.S.A. and very few, sporadic Y's.  How do I keep to the routine?  What should I do with him if he's not napping when he's supposed to?

2) Does the book recommend waking a baby up for a feeding (like in the morning)? (The older generation keeps telling me sleep is just as good as food and that I shouldnt wake him up)

I have 94850394853490 other questions but I'll start with these. :lol:
TIA!!
Joanne

[Little Bear's Mum]

I can't offer helpful advice on how to solve this, but I can offer support. I have a very similar problem as my ds wakes at different times each morning (and far too early for my liking - somewhere between 5-6am). I have learnt to just go with it, and try to give at least 20 mins between the end of his feed to when I put him down.

In saying that, I continue to try to get ds to be in a 4 hour EASY but it doesn't work when his nap lengths vary between 1 - 2 1/2 hours, and also his awake time between his naps can be slightly varied too.

So if it's any consolation, you're not alone!!!! Sorry I can't be of any help. ':('
I hope someone else can.':D'

[Keren]

Joanne

My lo was the king of short naps. 4 30min naps a day (awake 2 hours at a time) until he got older. So I would keep the feeding schedule on time and just work the naps around it. Usually by the afternoon he was feeding just before a nap but as long as he didn't fall asleep while feeding I didn't mind. So sometimes his cycle may have been EASY AEASY AESY AESY.

AS he gets older and his awake time increases the EASY routine will fall into place. I used to go spare until I just let go and went with th flow. The best thing I ever did for myself.

As for waking in the morning I let Josh sleep because he did short naps any extra sleep was a bonus and it meant he wouldn't be as overtired for the day!  :lol:  Some babies need to be woken to start the day and keep the day on track so I think it depends on your bub. If he is doing short naps I would probably let him sleep in a bit but if he does long naps again I would wake him so he can get all his naps in during the day.

HTH
Cheers
Keren

[Holly n Harvie]

Great advice Keren. One of the best Tracy says in her books is that a ROUTINE is the best thing for a baby. I think as long as you are consistant and ongoing and the baby is happy and thriving it doesn't matter if you go by EASY or ESAY! ! ! Also remember that Tracy says that babies CAN'T tell time... so, just feed, let play and sleep every 3 or 4 hours and try not to look at the clock so much. (I had a hard time getting off this one).

[sraryan]

Thanks so much for the replies, advice and support.
I decided to try one of the sample EASY schedules yesterday and today and wouldn't ya know it... he did AWESOME!  He took a bunch of 2 hour naps!
I think the culprit was the morning routine.. I would feed him when he woke up and then we'd doze together in bed (I KNOW I KNOW.. a big no no, but I was just too stinkin tired to get up!)  BUT.. these past 2 days, I did get up and start our day and it's been great!  As for waking up earlier,  it's not so bad once I'm out of bed and since he took such nice long naps, I was able to sneak in a cat nap of my own!
Thanks again for the support!
Joanne

[Holly n Harvie]

Great to hear Joanne!!!! Harvie was the same way!! As soon as he was on a routine, like day one, he was an angel. Its like he was saying to me "FINALY mum!! You are letting me know that you know what you are doing!!" Babies (like men) need a confident woman.  :roll:  If they feel that you know what you are doing then they will feel safe.
I also found that if I do my running around with Harv in the mornings and stay home in the afternoons he is also a lot happier. It is easier to get an overtired baby on track from a missed morning nap than a grumpy bub that wont settle down at night.... (for me anyhow)