When to start EASY routine

[Camila]

Hi everyone,

I read Tracys book, but I'm in a doubt when to start with the EASY routine. My daughter is 4 weeks old, and though I try to keep a routine with here sometimes is very difficult, since I'm still trying to learn to read her clues, specially because is my first baby.  I would deeply apreciate some advice on the EASY routine for younger babies.

Thank you!

[LisbonMom]

Hey Camila,

Welcome to the forum! And congratulations on you new baby!!

I've got two recommendations for you: 1) stick with the E A S , regardless of the times in the book. 2) make sure you make a distinction between Day and Night. At 4 weeks, A time is still short, so pay close attention to her sleep signs.
How far apart are her feeds? Do you breastfeed or bottle feed?

HTH,

Sara

P.S. Check out this link: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=51772.0
It will make typing easier, for you and us 

[Camila]

Hi Sara,

Thanks for the link tip and for your reply it was very helpful!
My DD is EBF and eats every 3 to 3 1/2 hours day and night. I didn't feed her from the beginning in shorter periods than 2 1/2 and now she works arround the 3 hour feeds on her on. The problem is during the night she doesn't sleep for longer periods. Am I asking too much from a month old baby?
The only difference between day and night is that during the night there is no activity, sometimes not even a nappy change. But during the day she stays awake for an hour or so. The problem is sometimes she is so wake that she goes through without sleeping from one fed to the other. So after next fed she wants to sleep until the next one! Do you make the sleep routine ( dark room etc.. ) also for naps? By the way, can you advice in some sleep routine?

TIA

Camila

[LisbonMom]

Hey there,

The problem is during the night she doesn't sleep for longer periods. Am I asking too much from a month old baby?

Yep !!! It's pretty rare for babies that little to go for longer than that. Are you cluster feeding and doing a dream feed? Most mommies find that helpful, it helps to eliminate the 1/2 am feed, so she can last until 4/5 am.

The only difference between day and night is that during the night there is no activity, sometimes not even a nappy change.

Great, looks like you've got that sorted out, here's a tip that might be helpful: try a diaper the next size at night only, that way she won't leak.

The problem is sometimes she is so wake that she goes through without sleeping from one fed to the other.

Hhmmm, that doesn't sound right. 1-month old babies shouldn't be up that long. Even an hour might be too much, you really need to pay attention to her cues. If she doesn't fuss much it might be because you have an angel baby, but she still needs her naps.

Do you make the sleep routine ( dark room etc.. ) also for naps? By the way, can you advice in some sleep routine?

Here's what I do: I pick her up, give her loads of kisses as I make my way to her room and say " Now we're going to take a nap, sweetie". I put her down, put her music box on, and pull down the blinds on the window. If she fusses, I'll give her more kisses, repeat my phrase and stroke her head a bit and then I walk out. For nighttime, I do my routine pretty much after she eats: change nappy, put on body lotion (her skin is very dry), put on pj's, go give big sister a goodnight kiss and say "Goodnight Big Sister", go to daddy for the same, say "Goodnight Daddy", then go her room, with a dim light, read Goodnight Moon, then I put her down, put on music box, turn off the light, give a goodnight kiss, say "Goodnight sweetheart, sleep well" and I walk out. If she fusses, I do what I do for naps.

As you can see, these are pretty simple. Sometimes dh is at work but I still say "goodnight daddy". Consistency is the key.

Find something that feels natural to you, that way it will be easier to do everytime. I've found that trying to do as I saw in the book or on a post doesn't feel natural to me and I feel so awkward doing it that I stop after a few days.

HTH. Feel free to ask any more questions. I'm more than glad to help any way I can,

Sara

[Petra-Kate]

May I ask a question?  What do you do if your child cries and fusses after you put him or her down?  I have tried shh/pat but my DS has a screaming fit...arches his back and screams his lungs out - turning red in the face.  My DH is hiding in the garage and I am a mess.

[LisbonMom]

How old is your ds? Sshh/pat is suited for 0-3 months. Some babies do better with just the shh or just the pat.

Sara

[Petra-Kate]

Our DS is 10 days old. We think the problem is over-tiredness. Possibly gas, but we're burping him and giving Little Tummy gas relief drops as per the ped. The tricky part is, we watch his cues, and put him down when he starts yawning, or blinking/closing his eyes, but it seems totally random: sometimes he sleeps, sometimes he goes ballistic as soon as he's laid down. He has at least 2-3 "events" in a 24 hour period where he will not sleep between feedings. Then, when he gets the next feed he's so tired that he falls asleep DURING his feed, and it's a struggle to keep him awake till the end. We're trying to do a diaper change to break the "E" and "S" cycle, even if it's not soiled.

Sshh/pat in any pattern than we've tried seems to set him off. So far, when he gets like this, the only thing that's worked is letting him lay in the crib and squall. He'll sometimes do the "rage wail" a couple times and fall asleep. If it's more than 5 minutes we just pick him up and wait it out till the next feeding.

We don't mean to hijac Camila's thread....it's just that the "awake between feedings" issue seems to be similar.

ps. This is Nino...Petra's husband.

[LisbonMom]

10 days!!! I can see why shh/pat doesn't work, he's so little!!

Over-tiredness is definitely in there. Let me repeat what I said to Camila : They need to sleep. Period.

One advice I can give you and Camila too, keep a log of everything in you lo's day. Write down the times they wake up, what they ate, how much (or how long if breastfeeding), when you put them to sleep, how they fell asleep ...  get the picture?? It will help you see any patterns (like they have a harder time settling after the bath, for example), and then it will be easier to follow EASY. Also, keep expecting a lot of crying, it reaches a peak at 6 weeks, then starts to decline. And watch out for growth spurts, first one ususally hits at 3 weeks.

Altough I don't swaddle, Tracy stresses it's importance in her 3rd book. And most mommies on here swear by it too. Give it a shot!

Sara

[Camila]

Hi,

Since 2 days I'm living a nightmare!
My DD doesn't sleep for 2 days, and I don't know what to do. I'm trying the shush/ pat and sometimes I stay over an hour in her room, but she never sleeps more than 15 minutes. I wait, and don't go in to give her time to fall back asleep, but it doesn't happen, and she cry like somebody is torturing her.
At first she was able to eat well, but now her lack of sleep starts to interfere with her BF. I did the cluster feeding and DF but this only divided the amount she eats, so I didn't see the benefit.
Anyway, I will keep trying ...

[LisbonMom]

Oh Camila I'm sorry you're having such a hard time !!!

But you gave a big clue in your post! When you get her to sleep you need to stay with her all 20 minutes after she falls asleep. Babies go through a very specific set of phases as they're falling asleep, including two periods when they sometimes jolt and came back to consciousness, at 10 min. and 20 min. When you say she wakes after 15 minutes that means that that she's waking herself again with the (probably) 10 min. jolt. What you need to do is stay with her until you are sure she's deep asleep.

Here's the way: when she (finally) settles, stay by her side doing nothing. A watch will be helpful. Keep a record of the time she seemingly fell asleep. Wait until you see her just about to jolt, and with gentle pressure on her arms and legs to prevent them from startling her, and a very gentle shh, help her move on to the next phase. Again, mark the time, and 10 min after she'll go through another jolt, so repeat the process. I would stay with her a few more minutes more to make sure she won't wake again.

Now, as she's overtired, she probably will wake after the 1st sleep cycle, and you want her to take a full nap, so when you're nearing the 40 min mark (counting from when she first fell asleep, 20 min. after the second jolt) go to her again and repeat the process to help her into the next cycle. Depending on how long she needs to sleep, help her transition into the next cycle (each cycle is 45 min).

Remember also that babies get more tired by the end of the day, so this whole process will be harder then. But if you stay with it, after a few naps she'll start to feel better. Don't let her sleep too much as it will interfere with her routine and night sleep, but give her plenty of time to rest.

Please let me know how things go. Hope to hear from you soon!

Sara

[Camila]

Hi Sara,

Thank you for your support! It really helps when everything is so difficult.
I had 1 good day, one very bad again. Then I tried to stay with her throught the sleeping cicles. I got her to sleep 1 cicle, but wasn't able to move her from the first to the second, on the 45 min. mark. Anyway I'm keeping her routine and today is going good, so lets hope for the best!

Camila

[LisbonMom]

Hi Camila !!

Looks like you're getting back on track!Two thoughts: baby's crying reaches a peak at 6 weeks and then starts to decline. By now you should be reaching that age, so there's hope for a less-crying future  . Don't forget about growth spurts, there's one at 6 weeks too, then again at 12 weeks (3 months).

Second thing is you need to be consistent with your routine and give your dd some time to adjust to it. She may want to revert back to your pre-routine days, but if you stick with it, she'll be fine. EASY does take work and commitment, but I personally believe that it's what's best for them. Both my girls did fine with it.

Let me know how things are.

Sara

[Camila]

Hi Sara,

Thanks for the information about the 6 weeks crying peak. Actually she entered the 5 week, so I think we still have some crying to go through. Although we have some bad periods in general we are doing fine. At least now when she is having a bad day I'm able to focus on the goals and keep doing my part: routine, pat shush, etc.

Lets see how it will be on the future!

Camila