Author Topic: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?  (Read 2367 times)

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Offline Rachael_T

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Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« on: April 29, 2006, 14:09:56 pm »
Sorry in advance for the length of this post!!!  :o

My son is now nearly 7 weeks old and i'd like to start moving from letting him more or less set the pace of waking, eating and sleeping to a more structured routine but i think we need some help!

He is bottle fed and is more or less eating every 3 - 4 hours and has been since he was born, the thing we have problems with is sleep time - if he misses his nap time, it throws the whole sequence out. Getting him to sleep is not too difficult, he usually goes off on his own but we've really struggled to get him to stay asleep, especially in the mornings.

His routine normally looks something like this:

He eats anytime between 6-8 am then sleeps for a couple of hours after feed if early feed, not if 8 am feed. After that he's awake more or less until his next feed which is usually between 12 and 2.30. I can occasionally get him to drop off between 8 and whenever his feed is but he rarely stays asleep for more than 15 - 20 minutes. We usually go out in the car in the afternoon to do food shopping etc so he sleeps after his 2nd feed, sometimes a long sleep here. he can go from  2 - 7 or 4 - 9. Then we either feed him, activity for an hour and bath him before feeding again and bed or just feed and bed. He's then fed again between 12 and 2 and again between 4-6. So he has 5 -5 feeds a day and takes 5 -6 fl oz a feed

In the last 24 hours:

E: 6.20 am yesterday
A: 6.35 -6.40 (nappy change)
S: 6.40 - 9.00
A: 9.00 - 10.15
E: 10.15 - 10.35
A: 10.35 - 12.30
12.30 - 1.30 in car, sleeping for short periods
E:  1.30 - 1.50
A: 1.50 - 3.15
S: 3.15 - 8.00
E: 8.00 - 8.30
S: 8.45 - midnight
E: 12.00 - 12.30
S: 12.30 - 4.00
A: 4.00 - 7.00 I could NOT get him back to sleep!
S: 7.00 - 7.30
E: 7.30 - 8.00 am
A: 8.00 - 10.30
S: 10.30 - 11.30
E: 11.30 - 12.00
S: 12.00 and still sleeping now!

Not much of a routine really! So i have a few questions that i hope you can help with!

What can i change to get him into 3 hour easy?

Any suggestions as to how to get him to stay asleep in the mornings? He will only fall asleep on me in the morning and usually wakes 10-15 minutes after i put him down. He sleeps in his pram in the mornings and afternoons and moses basket in our room at night. Do i just accept that he doesn't sleep much in the morning and if so, maybe EASY won't work for us at all?

Should i wake him from his long sleeps in the afternoon/evening? It's such a struggle to get him to sleep in the morning that i have been reluctant to wake him when he does sleep

How do i get him to sleep longer at night, can i phase out one of the feeds? I am a little nervous about dreamfeeding though i suspect it may work for us.

What should i change in his bedtime routine?

How does EASY work when you need to go out and about? Eg visiting people etc, that's another thing that seems to throw us out and he gets so overstimulated just by new folk around that we usually have long screaming fits in the evening.

I am sure i have more questions but you'll all be sick of reading this by now!!

Thanks in advance!
Rachael and Calum (6 weeks and 5 days!)

Offline LŠuren

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2006, 16:02:41 pm »

Hi Rachel

E:  1.30 - 1.50
A: 1.50 - 3.15
S: 3.15 - 8.00
E: 8.00 - 8.30
S: 8.45 - midnight



Is there an E missing here? Can you fill in the blanks here - unless I have read it wrong  ???
It may be worthwhile trying a dreamfeed. He definitely needs an earlier bedtime.


Let me know the above and we help you better  ;)

P.s - what a LOVELY name  ;) ;)
Lauren x


Offline Rachael_T

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2006, 16:12:32 pm »
Nope! No E missing there, that's what he did yesterday afternoon except it was 4.15 now i think of it rather than 3.15 that he fell asleep.

Great taste in names  ;)  ;D

Offline LŠuren

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2006, 16:20:33 pm »
Have you got any of the BW books or are your totally new to the baby whisperer?   I am in the middle of a feed at the moment.

I will add a guide, just look at the DAYS 1-3 just now (if you have the 2nd book it is in there) this is a 3hr routine.... .......
Lauren x


Offline Rachael_T

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2006, 16:35:24 pm »
Thanks! I have Secrets of the Baby Whisperer and have just finished reading it, just not sure how to implement it really.


Offline LŠuren

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2006, 16:38:02 pm »
Rachael

To start implementing EASY, I would;
1. Set a time to wake him up each morning and a bed time.   We usually say 7am wake up and 7pm bedtime and a dreamfeed at about 10.30pm.
2. Stretch him to 3hrs between feeds.
3. Get him down for naps in each EASY 3hr cycle,
4. Finally, get him to nap for longer than 1 sleep cycle (45mins) as often as you can, using various sleep methods i.e. shushpat, wake 2 sleep...  (your goal is 3 naps each lasting between 1hr 30mins to 2hrs)


By getting him down 1 nap per 3hr cycle you should not be missing any naps in his day. This is great that he can sleep independently, this is something you should continue to encourage.

If you choose 7am as your wake up time and start to the day, any wakings prior to this should be treated as a night waking, where you feed (if necessary) and put him back to sleep using shushpat, etc (PU/PD after 4months).  In the beginning if you really cannot get him back to sleep between 6 - 7am, treat his wake up as his start time and gradually move it back to 7am.  If he consistently wakes at the 20min mark, go into his room before this (or sit the whole time while he naps) and lay a hand on him to help him progress to the next sleep cycle.

I will limit the long nap in the afternoon and wake him up at his next E (feeding) time, it sounds like he is getting lots of sleep at one point in the day and dependant in its length is interfering with your bedtime routine.  This may seem a bit strange to do at the start but your are 'reprograming' his sleep if your like and trying to get him down one every 3 hours for naps rather than a sleep.

Calum will instigate in drop in feeds himself, he isn't getting that may bottles in the core hours, being on 3hr EASY will add another one in again + the DF if you do it.  That will hopefully start to make the night feeds dwindle a bit, my Calum was still up twice a night at this age.

EASY will work for you, but like anything it takes time to 'bed-in', do you know your LO temperament, there is a quiz here https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52283.0


NEED TO GO AGAIN.... WILL CONTINUE WITH BEDTIME ROUTINE INFO WHEN i RETURN.....

...ASK ANY MORE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE IN THE MEAN TIME
« Last Edit: April 29, 2006, 17:03:54 pm by Calums_Mum »
Lauren x


Offline LŠuren

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #6 on: April 29, 2006, 17:48:06 pm »
1.  Any suggestions as to how to get him to stay asleep in the mornings? He will only fall asleep on me in the morning and usually wakes   
    10-15 minutes after i put him down. He sleeps in his pram in the mornings and afternoons and moses basket in our room at night.

2. How do i get him to sleep longer at night, can i phase out one of the feeds? I am a little nervous about dreamfeeding though i suspect
    it may work for us.

3. What should i change in his bedtime routine?

4. How does EASY work when you need to go out and about? Eg visiting people etc, that's another thing that seems to throw us out
    and he gets so overstimulated just by new folk around that we usually have long screaming fits in the evening.

1 & 3. If you have done the baby 'quiz' and you find Calum is a spirited or grumpy Lo you will need to dictate his nap times to him. So, one in  every 3hr period you are looking for a nap from him, you 3hr cycle may look like this;
     E 7am
     A 7.30am (inc. a 10 - 10min at the end of this 'A' time for wind down for his nap)*
     S 8.30 - 1.5hr  :-\ if shorter and you haven't been able to extend then you would do EASA

    E 10am
     A 10.30am (inc. a 10 - 10min at the end of this 'A' time for wind down for his nap)*
     S 11.30 - 1.5hr  :-\ if shorter and you haven't been able to extend then you would do EASA

    E 1300
     A 1330 (inc. a 10 - 10min at the end of this 'A' time for wind down for his nap)*
     S 1430 - 1.5hr  :-\ if shorter and you haven't been able to extend then you would do EASA

    E 1600
     A 1630
     S 1730 - catnap only  30 - 45mins

     E 1900 & bath or vice versa    or    E 1800   &    2000  with bath in the middle (clusterfeeding)
     S 1930                                       S 2030 

    DF between 10 -11 https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54662.0

2. He will start to sleep longer at night if he is developmentally ready to do so, however giving him the bulk of his milk intake in the core day hours (7am to bedtime + DF) will go a long way to helping this   ;)

4. I usually try and build in a nap on ther journey to where ever I am going and try and time it to make his 'A' time occur when I am out and about, it is easier now he is older.  Here are some previous posts https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57592.0


* I would put Calum in his cot 15 -20 min before the 2hour mark to wind him down for sleeping. You could also just try sitting with your LO, have you read about the 4 S’s in Tracy’s books. If you miss his sleep window and he becomes overtired he will cry out of frustration, to avoid this I always follow the same wind-down routine, 4 S's
Set the stage - prepare you LO room for sleep; remove stimulation, darken room, lullaby....
Swaddle - (I used to swaddle now I use a gro'bag with his arms swaddled)
Sitting - Quietly without any stimulation, and when necessary..
Shush-pat

Is there anyway you can start the 4 S's 15 -20min before a nap? As part of your 'A' time

Here are also some other posts that may be of interest to you  :-\
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=56943.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=10409.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=59102.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=58269.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=58170.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57553.0

« Last Edit: April 29, 2006, 17:53:50 pm by Calums_Mum »
Lauren x


Offline Rachael_T

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2006, 18:28:49 pm »
Brilliant, you're a star! I'll digest all that advice and no doubt i'll have many more questions along the way.

Thanks a lot
Rachael

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #8 on: April 29, 2006, 18:49:37 pm »
good luck - give us a shout if/when you need more help. ;)
Lauren x


Offline Rachael_T

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2006, 19:20:13 pm »
Well that has been a fairly successful first day despite a shaky start when both Calum and I slept though to half past 8 after a 5 am feed.

Our routine looked like this:

E: 8.30
A: 9.00
S: 10.00 Down in cot
A: 10.45
E: 12.00
A: 12.30
S: 1.30
E: 3.00 (reluctantly, he was VERY sleepy)
A: 3.30
S: 4.00
E: 6.00
A: 6.30
E: 7.45
S: 8.15

We'll see how tonight goes but not too bad a beginning I think. I feel better for having taken a little control  ;D

Offline LŠuren

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Re: Beginning E.A.S.Y. with 6 week old?
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2006, 19:30:33 pm »
We'll see how tonight goes but not too bad a beginning I think. I feel better for having taken a little control  ;D

Excellent start  ;D  Yes, it feels so much better when you know what to expect next and you can prepare ofr it in advance.  Remember and not sleep in tomorrow  :P (lucky you, I never get one - you would think he would know it was the weekend  ::))

Lauren x