EASY help needed

[Spod]

am trying to use EASY to help me get 4 week old into a routine... being very flexible with it still as dd is v young but... confused... whats this 40/ 45 minute thing? does it mean eat 40 mins, activity 45mins, sleep 45 mins etc etc ad infinitum ??? then what about the 2-3 hours naps or is it eat 40 mins, activet 45 mins, sleep 2 hours???? sleep deprived and confused......thanks

Beccarollo knows about this I think - she mentioned it on the nonsleeping baby up for sale thread...

got the book in front of me...haven't typed it out exactly but this should be enough to get the idea.

Eating.. 25-40mins - a baby over 6lb can go 2.5-3 hours before next feed

Activity..45mins (includes nappy changing)

Sleeping..15 mins to fall asleep ; naps of 30mins to one hour; will go progressively longer periods through the night after first 2 or 3 weeks

You..an hour or more for you when baby is asleep

Hope I didn't confuse you on the Oct babies thread..sorry

Spod, I found it completely incomprehensible too. And couldn't work out how 2hour naps worked with this system at all. Suppose your baby only feeds for ten minutes? I tried it for about a week, did nothing but look at my watch and panic all the time about these 45minute blocks, nothing he did fitted with the routine and just could not make head nor tail of what an EASY day was supposed to be like. Threw the book out, started putting ds down two hours after he woke (a la Gina) and that was the first bit of routine he ever had. Eventually progressed to two sleeps, one two hours after he woke up, and one 12 - 2.30ish - very Gina!

BTW my ds was nearer 4months that 4weeks - can't begin to imagine a routine for a four week old, personally!

no bluebear! you didnt confuse me.... was already confused... you just prompted me to ask the question.... aloha... yeah, i know 4 weeks is early... not really trying to enforce a routine, more a case of trying to learn good habits and knowing the differnce btw night and day.... as you say, 4 weeks too young for routine for most babies

Hi

The way I started it was just starting with the A coming after the E how ever long it took. This to me is the most important bit about not allowing bad sleep associations to develop.

So if E was from 10 - 10.30 I would nappy change and play etc for a little while then the next cry I could put down to tiredness rather than hunger. If anything this was the most useful part of it for me, to understand his cries a bit more. After I stuck at it like this the EAS bit started to take more shape until he was consistenly following the EASYEASYEASYEASY pattern all day with predictable times. I posted on the babywhisperer site once asking what happened if baby woke up and it wasnt time to eat what to do and got the reply that very often your baby will have a EASYAEASYAEASY with an extra activity in before the feed is ready, this is fine as at least your not feeding to sleep.

Remember that with a young baby the A part is quite often nothing more than a nappy change and back to bed, that is fine.

Im glad Ive followed it loosely and may start following more closely and do a dreamfeed now he is a bit older, I now have a baby that is easy to read and goes to sleep happily on his own and sleeps well, not sure how much is down to EASY though!

I wish you luck! I was never organised enough, and anyway, just wanted to be out all day and couldn't bear the idea of being in for naps. But now nothing gets in the way of sleeptime.

I dont stay in for sleeptime either - I find it easier to go out and stay on easy than i would on GF I think - but not sure as ive never tried that one

I loosely follow GF and have said from the beginning that I wouldn't stay in all day and follow her regimented routines, and only use her for sleep and feed timings.

However, I actually sat and read some of the chapters of contented little baby book for the first time last week and was surprised to see that she actually does talk about going out at sleep times. She even mentions coming back from somewhere after 7pm so that baby sleeps in the car.....

Never heard of EASY. Sounds interesting....

BR

i chose easy cos the GF looked far too regimented for me... would have driven me mad!! I'm using EASY flexibly as dd is only 4 weeks... like you say beccarollo, just for the info on different tyoes of cry and body langage and how to handle baby, talk to her etc... seems to be making a real differnece in only 2 days... baby much more chilled. and we are not sticking to the EASY order all the time.... dare I confess that i do feed her to sleep... i will break out of this over the next week i hope... but at the moment it makes her sleep longer and i'm desperate for sleep! a question of priorities. Everyone should be given a copy of this womans book...it really makes sense... even if you dont wanna follow the routine... an I go out... time it with nap time as she falls aslepp in pram/car...seems okay.

So what exactly is EASY? Which book do I buy??
BR

Someone else has just posted on this (at the top of active conversations at the mo) its called The Secrets of The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. I think her pu/pd method would help with the problems your having with daytime sleep but its pretty much what Pupuce expertly described anyway

EASY stands for

E - eat
A - activity
S - Sleep
Y - You time

She suggests your babies day will be structured with this approach one after another EASY EASY EASY etc to prevent sleep associations with feeding and to know how to better understand your babies cries/needs

She suggests cluster feeding a dream feed to tank them up so they can sleep at night.

She has a method for sleep training (Pick Up/Put Down) where by you repeatedly pick up the baby and comfort them then place them back down until they get the message that you arent abandoning them but that they must sleep.

Another acronym she uses is SLOW (stop, listen, observe, watch - if I remember correctly and gives you a handy chart to work out what baby wants based on crying and body language.

God I sound like an advert lol

For anyone that is interested and you have sky tv

The Baby Whisperer is on every day at 3.30pm on discovery health

Now I DEFINITELY sound like an ad

I also posted on whisperers site but never got a reply. So glad I read this about the bit were they wake up well b4 feed though and the EASY thing is more like EASYAEASY!!!!

Melsy - I was reading something about on the site the other day apparently when they wake up before feed you can choose to either do a EASYAE or reset easy and feed straight away when they wake up which doesnt make sense to me as they might not be due a feed and could encourage snacking - Im sticking with EASYAE for now!