Help with 8-week-old baby's routine!

[melissaconnally]

I've just begun EASY and I'm really confused.  It's super hard to keep him A after E! How much is enough A right now?  We're all miserable because he cries so much because he just wants to be S!  I'm trying so hard to keep him A for 45 minutes but sometimes it's impossible.  How do I balance following his cues and following EASY?  By the way, he has just begun to sleep 8 hours at night so no complaints there.  I'm just desperate for him not to depend on E for S and to be able to go to sleep independently.

[finlays mam]

Hi there and welcome to these fabulous boards!!  Don't be disheartened, i promise it really does fall into place.  The EASY mods and all us other mams will, i'm sure, give you fantastic advice.  I still have bad days but you learn to go with the flow and you will learn to read your lo and believe me, you'll become addicted to these boards like the rest of us!! and then end up helping mams like you. 

Ok,.... does your lo fall asleep feeding or straight after a feed?

Debbie x

[* Paula *]

Hi and welcome to the boards 

Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job.  Your lo is doing great sleeping 8 hours at night.

I would not worry too much about the A time.  Your lo is still very young, at this age a nappy change and perhaps a quick song or talk is all you need for activity.  The key to EASY is just following consistency, so your lo eats, you change his nappy and put him to bed awake to fall asleep.

If you find that your lo does fall asleep during a feed, try to wake him gently by either trying to burp him or rub his palms and then do your nappy change and put him to sleep.

Hope this helps.

Paula

[melissaconnally]

Thanks for the advice.  I think I was getting hung up on making the A at least 45 minutes which is just two long for a 8-week-old.  Right?  So I'll change my expectations.  And he almost always falls asleep while feeding so our other challenge is putting him to bed awake.  I think I was trying so hard to keep him A that he got two wound up to go to sleep smoothly.  So we'll keep working out the kinks.  Thank you so much for your advice!

[* Paula *]

All lo's are different, some can handle more A time than others.  The most important thing about EASY is watching your lo's cues.

When your lo falls asleep at a feed, just try to wake him gently and and change his nappy and then put him to bed.  If he is drowsy this is fine as long as he is not fully asleep.

Good luck, and keep us posted on how you get on.

[melissaconnally]

Thanks.  One more question...during the day I've been putting him down when he shows the cues but sometimes I have to return several times to sh/pat because he wakes back up in five minutes.  How many times do I do this before I just get him up for A time?

[* Paula *]

It might be worth staying with your lo for about 1/2 an hour when he falls asleep cause he will more than likely wake a few times and then again before he falls into a deeper sleep.  When you see him stirring you can place your hand firmly on him and shhhh him to help him get back to sleep.

Have you seen the W2S post under the Naps Board FAQS?

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64168.0