The "E.A.S.Y" schedule... Did it work for you?

[Aw12345]

First time mum, 30 weeks pregnant, have been told by a couple of friends to do the "Secrets of a baby whisperer" EASY schedule (eat, activity, sleep, you time).

Has anyone tried it? Does it work? I though sleep schedules didn't work for young babies?

Any wisdom/advice welcome!

Yes, it really helped me. Just seemed to make sense!

I think, like other posters have said, babies eat then sleep. They are designed to do this. We seem to think that we're going to create sleep crutches if we let them do this which is not true. So I think for your first, if it gives your day a bit if structure, then great. But don't expect them to follow the pattern given.

Thank you for this thread, I have just ordered the book. My 6 week old is fine in the night and morning but from midday she fights her nap and is awake all the way through until 10pm. Hopefully this will have some tips!

Mine always fell asleep while feeding and would never sleep after playing - they needed a full belly to sleep

Totally useless for us and I ended up recycling the book because I couldn’t bear to pass it on to some other poor sap (total bollocks advice about breastfeeding + guilt-trip over “accidental parenting”). But I know other people whose babies suited it really well. Try it if you fancy it, but don’t get too stressed if it doesn’t work out.

Not for us. My baby was not going to co operate with that routine no matter how hard I tried. She generally fell asleep feeding which I think the book tells you not to do, It is however, quite a natural thing for babies to do especially if they are BF.
Use the book as a guide but don't get stressed if it doesn't quite go as planned. You and your baby will find your own routine over time anyway which may match the EASY method or may be slightly different.

Nope didn’t work for me. Some babies are easy and some are not. My first had colic and nothing worked. She was a very difficult baby. With my subsequent dc I didn’t need to buy any books as they were easy babies. Ironically my eldest is now by far my easiest child.

I think I tried it for two miserable weeks before realising that my baby would eat then sleep and that doing things in a different order just left everyone unhappy.

I found it useful for the pattern of sleep-eat-awake - got into the habit of feeding when they woke up rather than feeding to sleep.

However mine were breastfed and never managed 3-4 hours between feeds until on solids, and were also 40 minute napper til about 6 months.

From 6 months all of them naturally fell into more of a Gina Ford routine.

This brought back memories Yes we success with it.

It's brilliant! Really changed our routine for the better, as it encouraged me not to feed to sleep (bf). DS was waking up umpteen times a night because his dummy (my boob) was missing. I was so sleep deprived and felt like a zombie, EASY helped me so much. However it's not a hard rule and is flexible and I've recommended it to so many.

Didn't read the book but generally ds1 followed Eat, Activity, Eat, Sleep. I found he slept a lot longer if fed directly before sleep and woke up happier

If I recall correctly the separation of Eat and Sleep is key to EASY. It’s seen a small important the baby doesn’t need milk to fall asleep.

As mentioned above it’s an order of doing things rather than a routine. I found it a relief after reading about stricter routines. I felt like I needed ‘something’ but no way could I have fitted myself or my baby into a strict routine.

I think she had a way of working out your baby’s ‘temperament’ too which was loosely useful.

I read it before I had my DD and I did use the EASY routine a little but only from about 4/5 months as I didn’t think it was great for breastfeeding.

Actually, no books I’ve read have been helpful for EBF (on demand) baby - be that the baby whisperer, Gina ford, An Irish sleep ‘trainers’ book. So I muddled through and DD started sleeping through the night at about 9/10 months. She’s 2 now and I’ve never had a problem with her sleep since.

I think baby whisperer bit useless. I think its fine if you get a child who fits in with what a book says.

Its ridiculous to add time for you. That usually means brushing your teeth or something, not learning italian. Were you going to forget to do that?!

All babies will eat sleep and be active. Dont stress out if they dontdo it incquite the right 'order'.

My baby is 5 weeks old and I've just read the book. I just don't see how on earth it can work for EBF babies - it doesn't take cluster feeding into account for one thing, and as many pps have said, surely it's natural for them to feed to sleep at the start?

I can see how it might work for formula fed babies, and/or older ones, but not newborns who are EBF. Also don't like her "accidental parenting stuff".

No. My baby is high needs intense and breast fed on demand. I don't believe in scheduling a child in the way Gina Ford suggests. It works well for many families so I don't doubt the benefits but it's not something I would do.

I actually am not a fan of the book, but I still like the EASY principle and found that her advice to structure things that way helped us to far better read our babies cues and respond properly as opposed to thinking everything meant he was hungry

I found some parts of it useful, such as the not feeding to sleep and also making sure your baby isn't overtired or overstimulated which I think many parents overlook. I also like that it's a middle road between AP and a strict routine.

I find the advice is very dubious wrt to BFing though. But I wonder if that's because the book has never been revised as the author died. Most other baby routine authors have revised their own books in response to feedback criticism.

I also agree with a PP that if it doesn't work for you then take the elements which do help but then forget the rest. Both my DDs were 30 min nappers which the book does not account for. With DD1 I drove myself crazy with trying to get her to nap in the cot and trying to extend her naps. With DD2 I was a lot more chilled out and when I realised she was going the same way as DD1, I just used to put her in the sling to go to sleep as it was quick and I had a 2yo to chase.

It sounds obvious but also bear in mind that all books promise The Answer to your baby's sleep problems because we want to believe that if we do XYZ they will sleep well. For most there is no magic bullet and either you have a good sleeper or you don't. Give it a go and hopefully it'll have some benefit, albeit probably not the answer to all your problems.

Totally useless for us I’m afraid. Nice in theory, and I’m sure it works for some, but definitely not us.
Oh the hours I lost and tears or frustration I shed over shh pat...

I fell into it at about 3mo when bf ds began to refuse to feed at any time other than when he very first woke and was still dozy.
Any other time he was too nosy and wouldn’t feed for turning his head and looking about even in a darkened room. It was pretty shitty till a hv suggested feeding right after a nap and then we fell into EASY.

I agree with Chloe above, you either get a good sleeper or you don’t.

If you don’t, you’ll read all manner of different books, all promising that if you just follow their particular routine everything will be fine. In reality you’ll probably just have to wait it out. Reading books and trying new techniques is just to give you an illusion of feeling like you’re doing something/ in control.

Even if I liked the idea, my babies didn’t, much preferring to eat then sleep.

Totally agree with Chloechloe and Graysor. Had a 30 minute napper and kept feeling like it was my fault that he wouldn't sleep longer because I wasn't doing shush/pat or pick up/put down properly. It obviously worked for some but if you give it a couple of days and it isn't working chuck it away, it isn't worth spending early days getting frustrated with yourself/the baby because you aren't doing it 'right'.

It totally worked for me! Pick up out down worked too. Just stick to it.

We also swaddled our newborns and they loved it.