***HOW TO START YOUR BABY ON EASY***

[pkralev]

Hi all, after loosely following the EASY routine i have now decided to be strict with it as of tomorrow. I am going to start the 3 hour EASY routine but i have some questions, here they are:

1. How long will it roughly take for my lo to get used to the routine?
2. Can i still do the routine even if we need to go out during the day or night, if so how?
3. How do i read her cues? the only one i realy know is when she is tired.
4. She now goes to bed at 9.30 wakes up at 4 or 5. I feel that if she goes to bed earlier she will wake up earlier.
5. How do i get her to take her whole bottle at each feed?

Sorry about all the questions, but i really want this to work. By the way she usually goes to sleep without a problem, but she has wind which sometimes wakes her up, any advice on how to deal with the wind as it hurts her tummy?

Thanks in advance.

[LŠuren]

Hi
Do you have any of the BW books to refer to as you start EASY?

1. How long will it roughly take for my lo to get used to the routine?
2. Can i still do the routine even if we need to go out during the day or night, if so how?
3. How do i read her cues? the only one i really know is when she is tired.
4. She now goes to bed at 9.30 wakes up at 4 or 5. I feel that if she goes to bed earlier she will wake up earlier.
5. How do i get her to take her whole bottle at each feed?

1. I think it depends on your LO temperament, I have an angel so it was a mater of days (for his 'E' time anyway) I didn't need to work on extending naps, etc when I started because he was a newborn and I usually had to wake him.

2. I still follow the routine when out, you can all look at the post down the bottom called "EASY routine, getting "out and about".

3. That is what EASY is really all about, if you work through your day in a sequential order i.e. EASY, you know that if you have just fed your LO an hour ago 'E' and she is crying after having some play time 'A', then the likelyhood is your LO is tired 'S'. If you know what is going to come next E,A,S.. then you can then learn to understand her different cries or cues.

4. That is a common myth, you should look to achieve a 12hr (ish) day... see sample routine below

5. It depends what you class as a full bottle???  How old is your LO and how much and how often are you offering it to her? There could be many reasons why a LO is not taking a bottle. However, if you are trying to give her more per bottle to get her to sleep longer, she may not be developmentally ready. See link here --> https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=61166.0

6. Have you tried baby massage for dealling with her wind, here is the link for the reflux, colic and crying board; https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=13.0             
Here is a link for massage --> https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=4859.0


Here is more info with links to starting EASY and common issues

To start implementing EASY, I would;

1. Set a time to wake your Lo 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 your LO to 3hrs between feeds.  (or 4hr, as I am not sure how old your LO is)
3. Get your LO down for naps in each EASY 3hr cycle, (or 4hr, as I am not sure how old your LO is)
4. Finally, get your LO 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)
5. Keep a log, you can download an E.A.S.Y. here --> https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=6208.0


By getting your Lo down 1 nap per 3hr cycle (or 4hr) you should not be missing any naps in his day.

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 her back to sleep using shushpat, etc (PU/PD after 4months).  In the beginning if you really cannot get her back to sleep between 6 - 7am, treat her wake up as her start time and gradually move it back to 7am.  If he consistently wakes at the 20min mark, go into her room before this (or sit the whole time while she naps) and lay a hand on her to help her progress to the next sleep cycle.

Wake her from her naps if she looks like sleeping through her next E (feeding) time. This may seem a bit strange to do at the start but your are 'reprograming' her sleep if you like and trying to get her down one every 3 hours for naps rather than a sleep.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64273.0 (why you wake for feeds)

Your Lo will instigate in drop in feeds herself, it is very commin for LO's this age to continue their feeding cycle through a 24hr period.  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

So, one in  every 3hr period you are looking for a nap from her, 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 her 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 her 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 her 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

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

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. 


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 is a previous post 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 her sleep window and he becomes overtired she 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

HTH's
Any questions just give me a shout.

Lauren
***the sleep times may have been directed to an older baby.  At 4 weeks old, she may need to have her nap 1 hr after waking in each cycle and nap for 1.75-2 hrs.


Here are some other links that may be of use

E
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=11.0 - Bottlefeeding board
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=12.0 - Breastfeeding board
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=13.0 - Colic, Reflux, & Crying board


A
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=1993.0   - Getting started - how I survived the first 3 months
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=10409.0 - when did you start using EASY?
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=58269.0 - EASY questions
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57553.0 - HELP getting on EASY
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=56396.0 - EASY routine "out and about"
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=59102.0 - Mantra cry info
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=2.0       - Activity time board

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=20.0      - Then there where 2.....
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=19.0      - Multiples


S
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=451.0    - FAQ - A Special Sleep Interview with Tracy Hogg
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=26672.0 - FAQ - Pat/shush for babies under 3 months old
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=9287.0   - FAQ - PU/PD for 3 month old - info from consult with Tracy
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=62025.0 - FAQ - Teaching Sleep (divided by age ranges) & Awake to Sleep techniques


Y
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=40.0 - Introductions
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=60.0 - Post Partum Depression
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=8.0 - The Lounge
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=78.0 - Hobbies and Personal Interests

[LŠuren]

pkralev

Under 4 months = 3hr EASY
4 Months and over = 4hr EASY

This is a general guideline to determine if you should be on 3 or 4 hr EASY, not all babies are the same - some change earlier/later than 4months, some change themselves to 4hrs others need to be changed over, here are the signs to look for;

1. Not taking as much at a feed (baby not as hungry at 3 hours)
2. Erratic Night Wakings
3. They are extending their awake times
4. Starts taking 45 minute naps

See this link -->  https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0  or look at page 230 in The Baby Whisperer Solves all your Problems, for a detailed plan on how to transistion.

HTH's