Overanalyzing my situation - confusion for baby?

[lkc]

Since DF and night feedings only consist of a feeding then putting the baby back to sleep right after, would it confuse the baby for becoming dependent on the breast to sleep?  I may be overanalyzing the situation but I want to make sure I am doing the program correctly. 

I am also curious about feeding (again, since you have just feed right before playtime) right before a nap.  For example, E, A, E, S.  I have read a few posts where moms have done this.  Does this go out of the EASY order of events?  Does this confuse baby?  Or is this a way to get more calories in? 

Thank you in advance.

Lori

[HeatherC]

Hi, Lori.  An important thing to remember about EASY is that it is a structure to help your lo learn to fall asleep independently, ie, without the breast or bottle.  The DF differs because baby is already asleep, and some stay asleep while taking the feed.  If your lo is falling asleep independently, I'd say you are on the right track.
Sometimes variations of EASY develop.  This could be due to several things.  Here are some I can think of:
-baby is having a growth spurt and is more hungry
-baby is going through a stage of short naps and another feeding time rolls around during the cycle
-baby is starting solids and has liquid followed by solids 1-1.5 hrs later
-some babies are fussy eaters or too excited to play rather than eat, therefore parent tries to have them finish a feed a little later (probably more common in bottle-fed babies)

Hope that helps you.  If not, please let us know.

[Deb_in_oz]

ditto to everything Heather said - also as someone who has had to do EAES many times due to a fussy bottke feeder who always needs 2 "hits" the key is to avoid feeding to sleep. even if the feed is right before the nap just ensure your lo is awake when you put them in the cot.  if your lo is an independent sleeper most of the time an occasional situation of falling asleep afetr a feed (or sleeping in a stroller or car seat etc) is not something to orry about.

[lkc]

Hi Debra and Heather,

Thank you for the feedback.  My LO is on her way to independent sleep but I was thinking maybe I was slowing her progress with certain tactics, i.e. sleeping in car seat at times and feedings.  We are on Day 7 and moving forward.  Its really amazing, on a good day, she will go to sleep within minutes.  Other days, not so lucky.  There are so many questions that arise and I appreciate the help. 

Thanks again.
Lori

[Noelle]

Hey, it's the EASY mod's thread, tee hee. 

You may also see EASY switch around when transitioning from 3-4 hrs. 

If she is going down sometimes independently, you are definitely on the right track!! I wouldn't worry about the DF or in the car seat like Heather and Deb mentioned too.  I'm not sure how old your LO one is, but with my 4 month old angel baby (now 3+yrs  :shock: ), it took close to 3 weeks of pu/pd which we started at around 4months, after I received Tracy's book.  I started from the beginning with Zoe, and all fell into place at around 7.5 weeks.   

[lkc]

Thank you.  You gotta love a response from the EASY mod thread!! 

I am having problems with getting my LO past 45 minutes at bedtime now.  I don't know if she is confusing this with naps or not but she never used to do this before.  Anyway, I had to feed her since she woke and after unsuccessfully trying to put her back, two hours had passed.  So I fed and after a diaper change she went right down and stayed asleep.  She was even wide-eyed and I left her alone to self-soothe.  (I have been trying to not shh her if she is really calm.) 

I read on another post to wait at least 10 minutes after a feed to put to sleep.  Is this a good idea?  Or should I just wake her up a little.  I usually do a diaper change but sometimes, especially at bedtime, she just had a new diaper since we just finished her bath. 

Lori

[KellyC]

Hi

I haven't heard of waiting 10 minutes, just make sure your LO isn't falling asleep whilst feeding and goes into bed awake.  Unless it's the middle of the night or a dreamfeed then put them straight back down.  This is what we do anyway!

Kelly x

[HeatherC]

Lori, do you give your lo a chance to resettle when she wakes at bedtime?  What does the rest of your day look like?

[lkc]

Do you mean another quiet time -- would that be a resettling time? 

We try to have our day go like this:

7:30 / 8:00    Wakeup / Feed
8:20              Activity -- in bed with mom talking
8:45 / 9:00    Nap (1 - 1.5 hr)

10:30 / 11:00 Feed
11:20             Activity -- usually tummy time, playmat, with dad during   
                         lunchbreak
11:45 / 12:00 Nap (45 min.)

1:30 / 2:00    Feed
2:30              Activity, sometimes run errands with mom.  However, not 
                         lately since trying to implement independent sleep and
                         EASY routine.
3:30              Nap (45 min. if at all, not very successful at times)

4:30 / 5:00   Feed
5:20             Activity / Bathtime

7:30 / 8:00   Feed
7:50 / 8:20   Story with dad
8:00 / 8:30   Bedtime

11:00           DF

2:00             Feed
5:00             Feed

I think I am going to need a lot of tweaking since we are still having problems with short naps, short bedtime now, and night feedings.

[lkc]

Kelly x,

I also found that in the sleep interview Tracy talks about waiting 10 minutes after a feed to put baby to sleep.  There are so many suggestions sometimes I don't know what to do.  Its hard to not take everything so seriously and get yourself confused. 

When you put your LO down after a feed, do you do it literally right away?  How long have you been doing this for?  Sounds like you are doing well so your LO is not confused by this.  Thanks.

Lori

[HeatherC]

Lori-how old is your lo?

[lkc]

Hi Heather,

10 WO this past Tuesday.

Lori

[HeatherC]

I might suggest putting her to bed a little sooner.  If she's not napping well, she could be overtired, and that would cause her night sleep to be disturbed.  My giving her a chance to resettle I meant making sure she is really awake by giving her a few minutes.  Don't rush in, but hold back and she if she can go back to sleep.  Of course, you know your lo best.  I just mention that b/c I think I helped create a 30 minute nap problem with my dd b/c I would immediately rush to her aid at the first peep.  It took a long time for her to get back on track (I wasn't good at sleep training), but once she did I would notice how she would stir at the 30 or 45 minute mark but had learned to sleep past it.  Have you browsed through the sleep forums?  There is some awesome info about sleep training and helping your lo overcome nap problems.  It is very common for these short naps to occur even in a baby that had previously napped very well.  I don't know if I'm answering your questions, though, so please let me know.