Advice please

[bridgewaterfamily]

Hi, we are expecting our first baby in about 6 weeks and we've read Tracy's book. We're going to use the EASY routine.

The book suggests you start EASY feeding when baby is 4 days old, (single sided 3 hourly ish depending on baby), but the question we have is:

Do you start CLUSTER feeds and DREAM feeds at 4 days too? And if so, do you still do night feeds or implement PU PD or use a dummy (paci)?

Any advice is welcome, thanks ladies

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

Hello and welcome,

Congratulations on your pg, and I hope all goes smoothly for you.

Firstly, I want to say that it's great that you've decided to impletment EASY with your lo. It has been a lifesaver for me, and many other parents on these boards.

HOWEVER, I do urge caution. A newborn baby should be fed on demand, and will be FAR to young to use pu/pd for a while yet. Night feeds will be important for at least the first couple of months, b/c their tummies are so small, they can't take in much at a time, so will need to feed often. I have a feeling that, if you try starting this too early, you will run into problems, and may even give it up as a bad job.

With regards to pu/pd, I'm sure other Mums will correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood that it should not be used for the first three months - they just don't have the cognitive processes to understand it. With younger babies, it is better to use sssshh/pat. This can be done in your arms until baby starts to get drowsy, then continued when you put him in the crib - awake, but drowsy.

Having said that, it's still possible to implement the theory of EASY from day 1 - feed, some time awake (will be very short at the beginning), and then a sleep. If it seems like I have just contradicted myself, I'm sorry  . I think it's too soon to put a newborn onto a structured routine, but what you can do (and will be the lifesaver), is take a note of where you are at the time, i.e. he's crying - well what's just happened - he's been fed, had a nappy change, oh, OK, it must be time for a sleep.

Also, if you are planning to bf, a dummy may not be a good idea until bf is established - it can interfere with sucking technique, and can also mask hunger cues.

I hope I have made some sense to you - if not, please let me know, I won't be offended! Let us know how you get on, and, if you have any more questions, you know where we are!

[NKmommy]

Well said, Caroline!   :wink:

Bridgewaterfamily, congrats on your upcoming little one!  Having an infant is the most tiresome, but MOST amazing thing.  It is great that you plan on following BW techniques, and it will be helpful to follow the general routine of EASY. 

Especially if you plan on breastfeeding, you will want to aim for EASY, but still follow your infant's cues.  During those first couple months, baby goes through growth spurts and developmental changes, so he will need more than 3 hrly feedings at times.  I would also go by the baby's cues at night as far as feedings.  I think that Caroline is right that PU/PD shouldn't be attempted until after 3 mos.  You can try shush/pat, having white noise in the room, and eventually a pacifier. 

I guess what I am saying is have the EASY routine in mind, but also go by the baby's cues for the first few weeks. 

Congrats again, and take lots of pictures! 

 

[bridgewaterfamily]

Thank you soooooo much Caroline and Shelia.
You really have set my mind at ease.
So, just to make sure I've got this right - I need to feed him on demand (single sided?) for the first couple of months but follow a EAS routine. And its important to note what we do when.
Another question now....... We intend to Breastfeed him but I will express so dad can get involved too. We've bought a bottle with a valve at the bottom and a nipple shaped teat, will our lo cope with this or should we try to get hold of the Heberman feeder?
Thanks again! x

[julieb]

I feel a little differently than the others, so here's food for thought.  BTW, I HIGHLY recommend reading the second book as well.  It's so much more thorough.

My DS was a large baby (9'10) and going 3 hrs between feeds was not a problem.  I fed on demand the first few days as recommended, but he ate quite well (though it took a good 30-40 minutes!  :shock: ).  Once my milk came in, I had more than enough to single side feed.  In fact, I had enough to feed every baby in the city!  :roll:   But it just depends on how your milk supply turns out.  Some had a hard time and had to feed both sides from the beginning.

I don't think there's any reason you couldn't start cluster feeding or a dream feed from the begining.  Though your baby will wake at LEAST once or twice in the night, you could always pick him up and feed him again before you head to bed, so that you can hopefully get a few hours of sleep before he has to eat again. 

You should know when your baby is ready to start sleeping through the night when he wakes but takes less than a full feed, then you can start moving in that direction.  But it's gonna be a while!  So be patient for now.  For mine, that didn't start until he was 7 months old.

PU/PD, like the others said, is a technique for older babies only, I think best in 4+ months.  But I think you could start the sleep training early on, with pat/shush and follow Tracy's routine suggestions in the books and sleep interview.  It took us a while in the beginning, but it really paid off big time for us once my DS hit 3 months.  One thing that really seems to differ from the books is the A time in newborns.  1.5 hours is a LONG time and most cannot go that until they're about 3-4 mths!  Some it's as short as 45 minutes!  I believe ours was around 1-1:10 hr.  WATCH those cues!  It's so important.

On the paci, we gave one, but quickly regretted it.  It always popped out and he became very dependent on it!  By 6-7 weeks, I was up 6-8 times a night to put it back in!   :shock:   We weaned him off at 10-11 weeks and he found his thumb.  We've never looked back!  For the next, I think I MIGHT use a paci, but differently.  I might use it only to soothe for a short while when crying (couple minutes max!), then take it out.  If using to fall asleep, I'll just leave it for stage 1, then take it out in stage 2 sleep when the sucks become less.

Lastly, one thing I now differ with Tracy on (and some other moms feel the same now too), I will let my baby sleep as long as he wants.  "Never wake a sleeping baby" -- oh, how true!  Unless, of course, too much day sleep is starting to affect nights, OR the baby isn't gaining well and needs to eat more on a routine, OR one long nap is making the others too short, etc.  But my baby grew like a weed, so it would've been fine for him to sleep through a feed every so often.  I really think if they're sleeping long, they need it, so just let them be!  Soon enough, you won't be able to get them to sleep at all!  :lol:  :wink:

Oh, and on the bottle, we waited 3 weeks before introducing a plain old bottle and DS had NO problems at all!  As long as mama's milk was coming out, he didn't care!   :lol:   But it doesn't work as well for all.  I'd post that question on the BFing board to see what other moms thought.

HTH!  Congratulations!  I'm glad you found that book and these boards!  They were a life saver to me!!