new here wondering about EASY

[lilapple]

I'm new to this forum and to the EASY method.  One thing that keeps me from trying EASY is question I have:  How do you change from ESA to EAS?  My Gabriela is nearly 6 mos.. and ever since she was born she has been nursing to sleep.  (When she was a newborn she would suck 10 times, fall asleep at my breast, wake, suck 10 more times, fall asleep at my breast etc etc--until she was done feeding---which took forever!)  So this association started from the get go.  What do I do if I start putting her down without feeding first when she'll be hungry and will have to wait for another hour when her nap is done?  How do you make that transition?
Thanks!

[lawnseed]

If I understand it correctly, the idea isn't that you put her to sleep when she's hungry, you keep her awake when she's fed:) Then pop her to bed when she starts showing sleepy signs. There's a sleep interview with Tracey Hogg which is very useful to read.
Hope that makes sense!
Lorna

[lilapple]

Thank you for your reply.  Yes, but if we are trying to extend the activity/awake time to several hours, then she will be hungry by the time she is to go to sleep.  I understand that it would work perfectly once she has this schedule after a while, but I am concerned about the transition from ESA to EAS.

[GG]

Hmm... a couple of questions which may help us help you. How many times does she wake up during the night to feed?  When is the last time before her typical morning waking that she eats?

Basically, you need to work on keeping her awake after she eats.  You can begin this at the start of the day.  When she wakes up, don't start off with an activity.  Feed her.  She should be rested enough so that she doesn't fall asleep.  There are several things that Tracy suggested to keep her awake if she does start falling asleep, like sitting her up once her eyes start to shut (this works pretty well, just don't let her fall deeply asleep before you do this).  Don't feel sorry for her and let her sleep at this point.  It's time to get up and she needs to eat and then play.

You have to keep in mind that, at 6 months, your dd can keep more food in her belly.  She won't be starving if you let her go a little extra without food.  Don't let that be an excuse to yourself (this is what I often thought when taking care of my lo and I ended up right back where I started... nursing him to sleep.  I finally realized that he was eating enough and that I wasn't starving him, so I stopped using that as an excuse and finally got him to sleep on his own).

It will take quite a while for her to get used to not nursing to sleep.  She will cry when you put her down and she will want to nurse.  Remember that she is not starving.  She is just crying because she doesn't know any other way to fall asleep (and she's confused as to why her routine is now different).  If you read Tracy's sleep interview, she has some great information as to how to do PU/PD to get babies to sleep.

I promise you that your dd will get used to sleeping without nursing.  If my ds could do it (spirited and touchy!!) then your dd could do it as well.  :-)

Let us know if you have any other questions or need moral support with the crying (that's the worse part of it all - watching your lo cry... but you're not doing her any harm.  You are actually doing her good by teaching her to sleep on her own.)