Author Topic: 10week old/new to EASY  (Read 1414 times)

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Offline nursemotto

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10week old/new to EASY
« on: April 02, 2006, 16:01:30 pm »
Hi all...I'm completely new to the EASY method.  My son is 10 weeks old, breastfed exclusively, and has NEVER been on a schedule.  I just started trying this and it is already working.  He is actually sleeping (amen!)!  I do have concerns though and I am confused about some things.  I want to teach him right.

First, the shush-pat method.  That should be done mostly in the crib?  For the past couple days I have been doing that day and night, but I let him completely fall asleep on me, then I put him down.  He will not go down and stay asleep if I try before he is completely knocked out on my chest.  If I don't stay in the room for another 15-20 minutes through his next few "jolts", he will wake up.  I am wondering what the best/proper/most effiecient method is.

Second, what kind of schedule should my baby be on?  Is it the 3-hour routine?  I think he can go that long, but just before I started EASY, he was still eating every 2 hours...so is he ready to go on the 3-hour routine? 

Third, what is the "dream feed" all about? 

Fourth, what do I do if I can't get him to sleep for hours and hours?  Yesterday for example, I couldn't get my baby to sleep after 2 or 3 pm (not unusual for us...).  He slept great through his naps in the morning but then the afternoon he didn't want to sleep and he didn't go down for bed until 11pm.  Then he woke at 3 am for a feed (the night before he slept straight through).

Fifth, just this morning I couldn't get him to nap again.  He is clearly tired and I started the wind-down in time.  I tried to get him to sleep for 2 hours.  Then it was time to fed.  Say he actually went to sleep 1/2 hour before his next feed.  Would I get him up to feed to stay on schedule (even though I worked an hour and a half to get him to sleep?) or just let him sleep his normal nap time?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I am very new at this and it is so exhausting!  Help!

Thanks!

v/r, Kelly



Offline Jaime

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Re: 10week old/new to EASY
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2006, 19:44:10 pm »
hello and welcome!!  let's see if i can sort out some of your questions...

First, the shush-pat method.  That should be done mostly in the crib?  For the past couple days I have been doing that day and night, but I let him completely fall asleep on me, then I put him down.  He will not go down and stay asleep if I try before he is completely knocked out on my chest.  If I don't stay in the room for another 15-20 minutes through his next few "jolts", he will wake up.  I am wondering what the best/proper/most effiecient method is.

shh-pat is definitely the most efficient.  did you used to hold him to fall asleep before?  that might be why he wants to do it now.  for quite a while at first, you do indeed end up staying at least 20 minutes doing it in his crib to help him through all the jolts.  there are usually at least 3 when winding down & falling asleep. 

Quote (selected)
Second, what kind of schedule should my baby be on?  Is it the 3-hour routine?  I think he can go that long, but just before I started EASY, he was still eating every 2 hours...so is he ready to go on the 3-hour routine? 


typically, breastfed babies are on a 2.5-3hr schedule.  if you would like some more information or see sample routines, we have an entire board devoted to the EASY method.  here's a link:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=41.0

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Third, what is the "dream feed" all about?
 
newborns need to eat every 2-3 hours around the clock.  the idea behind a df is to help get the calories into them without waking them so they learn how to sleep longer.  usually it's given between 10-11pm.  it can take up to 2 weeks before you really get the hang of it & start to see the effects from it.  it does not work for every baby (i.e. neither of mine!  ;) ) but there are lots of moms here who have been quite successful with it. 

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Fourth, what do I do if I can't get him to sleep for hours and hours?  Yesterday for example, I couldn't get my baby to sleep after 2 or 3 pm (not unusual for us...).  He slept great through his naps in the morning but then the afternoon he didn't want to sleep and he didn't go down for bed until 11pm.  Then he woke at 3 am for a feed (the night before he slept straight through)

it sounds like you waited until it was too late to put him down, and by 2 or 3 pm he was so overtired he couldn't sleep at all. 

Quote (selected)
Fifth, just this morning I couldn't get him to nap again.  He is clearly tired and I started the wind-down in time.  I tried to get him to sleep for 2 hours.  Then it was time to fed.  Say he actually went to sleep 1/2 hour before his next feed.  Would I get him up to feed to stay on schedule (even though I worked an hour and a half to get him to sleep?) or just let him sleep his normal nap time?

believe it or not, you would actually get him back up at the normal eating time.  this is because you want to start getitng all his calories in during the daytime.

now,  here are a coulple other good pieces of information for you.  the first 2 links are to threads on our nap board, about teaching daytime sleep.  the 3rd is to a sleep interview with tracy.  she goes into lots more detail about pat/shh and what-if scenarios, and will hopefully clarify your questions a bit more.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=39164.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=39769.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=451.0

you can do this.  it will be hard.  there will be crying (you and him).  but if you can commit to seeing it through, it is so worth it.  you won't believe what a fabulous sleeper you have.

good luck & post back if you have more questions!   :D
« Last Edit: April 03, 2006, 19:52:46 pm by jaime-jaina&luke »
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Offline nursemotto

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Re: 10week old/new to EASY
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2006, 23:11:29 pm »
Thank you for taking the time to respond!  My gosh, I have been going crazy.  Websites are great and helpful...makes me feel better...so I don't feel like I'm failing if my boy doesn't follow the 3-hour routine.  I have so many questions/concerns...I hope I don't bombard you with too much.....thanks again for everything!

I DID hold him/rock/bounce him to sleep for the first 9 wks of his life.  We had a lot of problems in the beginning...he had eating trouble, then bad gas trouble (which JUST seemed to clear up finally).  He was also diagnosed with reflux and colic.  At one point we were in the hospital overnight due to excessive vomiting.  So basically, this is my excuse for holding him all the time!  :-\  He always appeared to be in pain.  Now he is just fussy and cranky and I know it's because he hasn't been getting the right amount of sleep. 

Lately, the problem has been that if we stay in the room with him for the first 20 minutes, he will wake up and look at us and then it's all over because he wants to be picked up.  This is so frustrating!  He doesn't respond much to the "pat" but the "shhhsh" part is definitely a cue that calms him down...but like I said, not when he's already settled in the crib...he just looks toward the source of the shhh sound, sees us and is up.

As far as the dream feed... well, we have never had an opportunity to try because after his 2nd nap of the day, he is up all night until around midnight (we DO try to get him to sleep all through this period, he is just that overtired).  Then he sleeps until 6 or 7am (which is great...and this is new since starting shhsh-pat last Friday).  I will try the dream feed if/when I get the chance, but we are still working on getting him to sleep in the afternoon/early evening. 

Ok, so I think as far as getting him to sleep in the afternoon, I'll just have to try to get him down a bit earlier than I have been.  Maybe I'm missing the window.  His activity level is actually LESS in the afternoon so I thought I was catching him in time.  I'll try to be extra careful tomorrow and see what happens.

Also, about swaddling...we bought the miracle blanket and it seems to work wonders.  I swaddle him EVERY time he needs to sleep (trying to establish a wind-down).  When I unswaddle him, he can't get enough stretching (especially his arms).  Can this be harmful to his development at all?  I worry because before we didn't swaddle him like that and he was used to having his arms free ... I just feel so bad because he struggles against the swaddle to hard sometimes when he is crying/fighting sleep. 

OK>>>>>>>>>  enough for now!  Sorry to write so much.  Thanks again for any comments!  This is such a great forum to express concerns...so thankful I found it!

~Kelly