New mom, first baby - starting EASY

[mxv124]

Hi! 

My name is Monica and I'm a new mom.  My son Rajan is 6 weeks old today and I'm starting him on EASY.  I ended up reading Tracy's book in one sitting.  I'm confident I can do this but am a little overwhelmed (not to mention tired!!)

So far we've had a good E(ating) lasting about 35 minutes and doing both sides.  We had a good activity time about 40 minutes before I noticed him yawning - my cue saying "hey mom, I'm getting tired."

I took him to his room where I rocked/patted his back/and "shh"ed for about 20 minutes.  He was exhibiting all the first 2 stages (Window and Zone) and I put him down in the crib at Stage 3 (Letting Go).
Unfortunately, seconds after putting him down, he woke right back up.

I repeated the process but with no repeat luck - he started bouncing up and down on my chest at which point I gave up and put him in the swing where he fell asleep in minutes. 

My question is, Am I doing anything wrong??
We've been struggling with the naps because he falls asleep in my arms or while nursing but wakes up as soon as I put in the crib.
Also, he is getting up 2-3 times  (at regular intervals) at night and I've been nursing him each time thinking he is hungry (along with a diaper change).

Any insights would be GREATLY appreciated.   
Thanks!
Monica
Rajan's mom (7/22/05)

[alligirl]

Hi Monica!  Congrats on your new baby and welcome to BW!

It sounds like everything is coming along quite nicely.  The only thing that you might try instead of rocking and patting is to lay him in his crib and do the shush/pat there instead of holding him.  It may take a little while longer, but that way he learns to go through the stages in his crib and then you don't have to put him down and risk him jolting awake. 

Getting up 2-3 times a night at 6 weeks sounds about right.  Great job, Mom!   Sounds like it's going great.  Just remember that in the beginning of EASY, it's more like a process and not every cycle and not every day is going to perfect.  Just stick with it and things will fall into place soon.

HTH!

[mxv124]

Thanks Alli!

As soon as I figure out how to do it, I'm going to post Rajan's pic under my user name.  Everyone has such cute baby pics!!

Monica

[alligirl]

Check this out, it may help you....

http://www.babywhisperer.com/forum/instructions-for-uploading-an-attachment-windows-only-vt10604.html

[Taylor's Mommy]

hi Monica,

regardign putting your lo awake in the crib, it is definitely the best thing to do so they learn to fall asleep on their own, but don't feel frustrated if he doesn't take to it right away.  Taylor would not have any part of learnign to fall asleep on her own with pat/shush until she was about 2 months old and then it took about 6 weeks of pat/shushing until she finally learned to fall asleep completely on her own.  and now we plop her in the crib and off she goes!  it is amazing how great this BW stuff is, but just remember that it is a process and may take time and lots of patience.  so don't be hard on yourself or ds if he doesn't take to it right away.

Good luck! :wink:
Andrea