Do I need EASY?

[Lorelei Lee]

Hello to everyone!
My daughter is five months old and she sleepls very well at night (10pm to 9am), she eats well (bottle fed) and naps more or less ok. However, we do have two minor problems - she falls asleep in my arms and we do not have much of a routine during the day (because she wakes up at different times) My question is - do I need to implement EASY anyway, despite the fact that everything suits me so far, or should I follow Mrs. Hogg's advice not to fix what's working? And, is it really bad that I let my baby fall asleep in my arms?
Thanks! 

[rebecaq]

Hi Laura, welcome to the boards

I, personally, think that a routine is great for babies. It helps you the mom to read her better and helps the baby know what's coming in her day. Babies have so much going on internally that a structured outside world helps them to feel calm and relaxed.  Also, you need to ask yourself if you don't mind rocking an 18 month old to sleep....because if she becomes used to this as being the way to fall asleep she will expect it.

- Beca

[* Paula *]

I totally agree with Beca.

Getting your lo started on a routine helps them realise exactly what is coming next.  The beauty about EASY is that it is not a strict schedule but more of a routine to help your lo realise when it is time to eat and play and it also teaches independant sleep.

Rocking is not the best thing to get your lo to fall asleep, casue as Beca said, she is going to come to rely on it, and you don't want to have to get up in the middle of the night with night wakings having to rock your lo back to sleep.  Especially when they are older an much heavier.

Paula

[Lorelei Lee]

Thanks for responding!

First I must note that I do not rock my daughter, but only hold her while watching TV on the cauch or sitting at to the computer desk. She falls asleep almost immidiately and I transfer her to her crib while in the state of active sleep, so she must be partially aware that I'm putting her down. Sometimes she naps entirely in my arms while I watch a movie (rarely).
However, since yesterday I became more aware of the problem and started to make her fall asleep on her own, with a soother - quite succesfuly (took about 45 minutes yesterday and only 10 minutes today). At night she falls asleep on the bottle and I can't do much about it. I usually take the soother away when she's asleep.
I do agree with both of you that a structured routine is beneficial. But what can I do if she wakes up 30 minutes into her nap, refreshed and happy, and there is no way I can make her sleep even another ten minutes?
I was wondering if you can take a look at our most ideal routine and tell me what I do wrong, so she doesn't nap very well.

9:00-9:30 wake
9:30-10:00 feed
11:00-11:30/12:00 sleep
13:30/14:00 feed
14:30-16:00 sleep (outside in a stroller)
18:00 feed
19:00-19:45/20:00 sleep
21:30 - bath
22:00 - feed and sleep for the night

What do you think?

Thanks again!   

[rebecaq]

It seems to me that she has a routine going, even if it isn't the "ideal" EASY times, she seems to be doing well.

If she wakes early from a nap you should try to settle her down for the rest of her "S" time. Basically you want to send her the message that this time is used for being calmed and relaxed.

I wanted to mention that there's a difference between feeding to sleep, and them falling asleep during the last bottle. She's fallnig asleep at the last bottle which is perfectly fine!   

Things sound really well!

- Beca