There are so many things I wish I had known right after having Noob Baby. I remember in our parenting class called “Post Pregnancy,” the instructor just kept saying, “Sleep when the baby sleeps!” It’s a mantra I heard over and over again in every parenting book I read.
Well, when Noob Baby was finally here, and it was just the three of us (oh yeah, plus the entire family tree. Hey, who’s that sketchy guy? Ohhhh… Uncle Jim… oops), that piece of advice goes out the window.
Even though you are exhausted, sleep-deprived, hungry, and just plain Funky Town with your sexy-eye-bags-post-prego-belly-ginormous-juggs, the adrenaline will keep you awake; particularly when you are hiding out in the closet praying for sleep. Gosh, for just once, why can’t Noob Daddy breastfeed the baby?!
I thought a good plan was basically being on-call, on-demand for Noob Baby. I was so beat that I didn’t really think of easing her into a routine. Sure I was keeping logs of when I was feeding her, but I certainly didn’t realize that her eating, then staring at visitors, and finally napping in her bouncy seat was a baby routine in itself emerging.
After reading Tracy Hogg’s book, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
Eat - Babies most importantly will need to eat. Take a look at Hogg’s Feeding Guide for an idea of how much to feed at each stage.
Activity - After eating, it’s best to encourage baby to have a little bit of activity before falling asleep. This may be especially hard to do for the super noobie babies, but as they hit the 1-month mark, it’ll be easier to keep them awake for a short time before napping. Activities for newborns can be as basic as cooing, staring at a toy or visitors, diaper changes, or bath. No need to overdo it.
Sleep - Sleep helps baby grow and develop. Naps can range from 20 minutes to 2 hours (after the first few months). Good naps during the day help baby sleep better at night. Protect those precious naps and pray you don’t have horrid Nap Town mishaps like me!!
Your Time - After baby is asleep, you get precious time to do whatever you want. Wash dishes. Laundry. Slyly push old take-out boxes under the couch. Clean kitty’s litter box (finally). Shower. Eat.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
For the first month, you probably won’t even try to get a routine going, but after you slowly emerge from your zombie-chrysalis, you will be begging for some predictability! Here’s an example of what an E.A.S.Y Structured Routine may look like for a 4 wk-old. My routine is similar, but not the same because NB wouldn’t nap longer than 45 minutes (in the beginning). Just be flexible!
Typical E.A.S.Y. Day for a 4-week-old to 4 months
E – 7:00 – Feed
A – 7:45 – Diaper change. Some playing, talking. Watch cues for sleepiness.
S – 8:15 – Swaddle and lay baby in crib. May take 15-20 min. to fall asleep.
Y – 8:30 – You nap.
E – 10:00 – Feed
A – 10:45 – See 7:45 above.
S – 11:15 – 2nd morning nap.
Y – 11:30 – Your time.
E – 1:00 – Feed
A – 1:45 – See 7:45 above.
S – 2:15 – Afternoon nap.
Y – 2:30 – Your time.
E – 4:00 – Feed
A – 4:45 – See 7:45 above.
S – 5:15 – Catnap (about 40-45 min)
Y – 5:30 – Your time.
E – 6:00 – 1st Cluster Feed
A – 7:00 – Bath, bedtime ritual
S – 7:30 – Another catnap
Y – 7:30 – You eat dinner.
E – 8:00 – 2nd Cluster Feed
A – None
S – Put baby right back to sleep.
Y – Enjoy your time until the Dream Feed.
E – Between 10-11 – Dream Feed.
This routine assumes baby doesn’t have special needs, isn’t below birthweight, etc. that may require more frequent feedings.
Later this week, I will post a sample E.A.S.Y. plan for babies 4 months and older.
Have you tried this or another routine that works for you? I would love to hear about it!
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I have a 4 wk old and we’re trying EASY. We’re still trying to master the cluster/dream feeds so she’ll sleep longer at night but it’ll come with time. Overall, it’s been a great book for us.
I am looking for the 4 month EASY plan: I was eagerly following the plan until my little guy was 3 months old with good success. He then hit the 3month growth spurt along with the 4 month sleep regression! Who knows??? At any rate I believe I got into the habit of feeding him when he was tired, upset, and hungry and need to get back on track. Thanks!
I have the second part to this plan on the Noob Parents 101 link. It’s EASY Part 2. Hope it helps!
I have a 3.5 month old and we’re TRYING to do the every 3 hour EASY schedule, but we’re stuck on those blasted 45 minute naps! (sometimes 30 mins! ugh) How did you lengthen these naps? Did it just take time?? Im finding it near impossible to do EASY while the 45 minute intruder has visited us…
Hi Hilaree- We tried giving her the pacifier, patting her on the back, and just letting her play in the crib hoping she’d fall back to sleep. Honestly, the 45 mins didn’t lengthen until she was about 5-6 months old (at which time we sleep trained her). I think that was the biggest factor … her ability to soothe herself. You can try wake-to-sleep – going in right before you know she’ll wake and giving her a pacifier or rocking, soothing until she falls back into the next REM cycle. Good luck!
Hi, I started this EASY routine after your comment on BabyCentre. We're also threatened by the 45 min wake up during the naps, usually he has some tummy discomfort and I try to soothe him back to sleep (rocking, dummy, etc.) Sometimes he falls into deep sleep again and past the 3 hour feedging time, should I wake him up then?? Don't want him to have his longest strech of sleep during the day but rather at night time . Thanks! Marcela
Love your page by the way
Marcela – Thanks so much for reading my blog! How old is DS? If he's already a few months old and at a healthy weight, I wouldn't worry too much about cutting into his night time sleep or feeding time. If he's taking an epically long nap (say more than 3 hours) then you should probably wake him. Otherwise, it's normal for babies to take 1.5-3 hr naps… though the other 2 naps may be shorter. This is the case with Noob Baby. Again, if he's around 3-4 months old, then he may be getting ready to transition into the 4-hour feeding routine as well. Email me if I didn't answer your question
He's 8 weeks and 6 kilos. I let him sleep during the night, even happier if he goes 6 hours! He sleeps from around 11-5 ish on a good night. During the day I wake him up after 4 hours from last feed, these naps sometimes break in 2, after your advise I'll wake him up during they day so he doesnt go more than 4 hours from last fed and won't feed him before 3 hours unless he doesn't settle even in my arms! Do you think this is a good idea? I'm also a newbie and trying new things every day! Thanks
Marcela – At 8 weeks, you should probably feed him at least every 3 hours, just to make sure he gets enough nutrition. Every 4 hours comes around the 4 month mark. As far as sleeping at night though, I'd say just let him sleep through the night and don't wake him…but during the day, make sure he gets enough calories. I guess you should take a look at my Feeding Guide and check how many ounces or minutes of BF to be safe. I think the calories/amount of milk is probably more important than the time in between
Gotta give this dream feed a try! My little one is 9 weeks old now and I more or less demand feed him, but it tends to fall into a 3 hourly schedule. But for a few tough nights where he has fed every hour, he has been great – sleeps for a stretch of 5 or 6 hours and then back to the 3 hourly wake up calls. Last night I bathed him at around 7:45 then put him in his rocker for a while to calm him, as he is not a huge fan of bath time at the moment, and then fed him at 8:15. Went straight to bed with him and we both nodded off at around 9. He then woke at 1:30am and again at 5:00am. Going to try to dream feed him at 11:00pm tonight and see if he skips the 1/2am feed … wish me luck!
My little one is 4 months this week, and doing the same, 40 minute catnaps making it impossible to follow EASY. This week I'm having problems even getting her to nap. You mentioned above that naps didn't get longer until 5-6 months of age… so until then – what?
Jasmine – The naps didn't really get easier for us until after we sleep trained the Noob at 5-6 months using the Ferber technique (mentioned in previous posts). Until then, I'd be consistent with naps, try to give a pacifier or other comfort without "over soothing" – meaning, don't get into the habit of rocking because your LO will end up depending on that later on. I've also read about other people who go in right before they expect their LO to wake up, and soothe them back to sleep before they hit that 40 minute "alarm". I'll try to think of more ideas. Email me if you have other questions!
Noob mommy…if baby sleeps at 8, 9pm or 10 pm should we wake him up around 11 to dream feed or just let him sleep til he wakes up for his feeding? He's 10 weeks tomorrow.
Just started the EASY the past two days….working!!! Love it but I agree the 45 minute mark is killer. Just have to do the shh-pat or PU/PD if they fuss more than a few minutes. I've held myself back from going in when she fusses and she put herself back to sleep. Grace is 11 weeks and 12.5 lbs. How did ferberizing work with this routine??
J's Mom- It's up to you for the dream feed. We tried dream feeds with Noob, and it never seemed to make a difference. However, you can try a couple times and see if it extends his night time sleep. If not, then maybe not worth it. Just remember to keep activity and disturbance as minimal as possible. Feed him and plop hiim back down quietly
Hi
From what I understood the baby whisperer says that we shouldn't feed baby before sleep not to give her a bad habit.
However, according to your "routine" exemple, we give baby a second "cluster feed" and put her right back to bed.
Is it not giving a bad habit?
Also, how did you manage to stop the "dream feed"?
I have tried it for the first time last night (my baby is 5 weeks old). First it was a nightmare to wake her up. But also I am worried about giving her a bad habit of eating late at night.
Thanks a lot for your help!
Anon- I agree that the Baby Whisperer's technique of dream feeding is a bit confusing and does seem contradictory. Noob Baby never really caught on to the dream feeds. It seemed no matter how many times we tried the dream feed, she would always wake up a few hours later anyway. So we nixed the approach, and just toughed it out for several months. Although, I do recall around 4 months she began to sleep longer automatically. And as their stomachs are able to hold more, they will sleep longer
Now as far as the bad habit – Tracy Hogg does try to distinguish between dream feeding, and using feeding as a crutch to sleep. She points out that when you dream feed, baby should already be sleep…and you put baby back down totally asleep. Therefore, baby doesn't "need" the milk as a means to get back to sleep… it's not a soothing technique in other words, rather it's just a way to get them fuller. If they're not awake, they don't really know what's happening 
She suggests you try the dream feed for at least a week before giving up. I'd say at 5 weeks you don't have to worry too much about developing a bad habit. They need the milk at that age, and your LO will wake up just a few hours later whether you like it or not, right? Now, unless your LO is already sleeping through the night… in which case you should stop reading immediately and go buy some lottery tickets …. then, let sleeping babies lie 
Do not disturb and enjoy getting your sleep now! Good luck!
Hi NM
Thanks for answering so fast
Sorry If my question wasn't clear. When I was talking about bad habit about feeding the baby to put her to sleep I was more refering to the second cluster feed.
Indeed after that cluster feed there is no activity and you put the baby to bed directly…
Thanks!
Hi
Would it be ok simply to move this shedule so everything happens 2 hours later? So first wake would be at 9:00 and dream feed between 12-01. Timing like that would be perfect for me and baby seems already to be in this shedule too.
LOL
I have 3 children. My youngest is almost 3 months old. All my kids are different but they shared the same sleep routines. I never heard of the Baby Whisperer,instead I went off the advice from my mother in law. From 1 month on the baby should gradually eat more food and go a longer period of time between each feedings. I 'shceduled' them to do this. Eventually around 2 months your baby should be at 3 hrs between feedings-except at night.And like you stated above at 4 months should be ar 4 hrs. my lil one sleeps 5 or more hours every single night! Also-soft lighting and noise or no noise helps!
Hi – my baby is 7 weeks old. So I'm trying to follow the EASY 3 hour routine.
But what do I do for example if my baby is awake for 45 minutes (including eating and activity) then takes an hour nap.
What do I do for the other 45 minutes before he is to eat again? I don't want him to be overly tired before he eats again. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your blog, I've been researching the EASY approach and came across your blog today.
Anons – If you are already on a routine that is working for you, I say stick with it. If it's something manageable for you and baby, great! Baby Whisperer is just one recommendation. As for moving the dream feed back to 12-1 am… she recommends 11 pm the latest. Anything later will cut into their daytime feeding schedule. With that said, see if your baby is feeding enough during the day. If so, should be ok. One recommendation I do have is to try and get your noob to bed earlier (between 7-8). Even though it is counter-intuitive, babies will usually sleep later when put to bed early. Unless there is something keeping you up … maybe to stay up later and hang out with Daddy etc… otherwise, give it a try.
Anon2 – Use EASY as just a general guideline. Noob Baby didn't follow the schedule to the T because her naps were also 40-45 minutes. So we ended up going through a lot of EAS-EAS-EAS type schedules
I'd say to go with your instinct. If your LO appears tired, put him down for nap. Or if he sees pretty awake but not hungry, give him a little stimulation. I hope that helps. Feel free to email me with more details 
Hello,
We have a 8 wk old boy and we are having some difficulty with the setting a routine. We have read the Baby Whisperer and really enjoyed it. We jumped right into the E.A.S.Y steps. It was a rough few nights but it seemed to be working. After the third night, he started fussing a bit more. We have him laying down in his crib with one of our hands on his belly while shushing him, he stops crying and calms down, but suddenly has a type of spasm and his hands on his face wakes him up (We are now back to square one) Some nights it takes us 30 min while others take 3 hours. We dont talk or pick him up. Also how long should a baby at this age nap for?
Anon- Congrats on your little one! And also congrats on getting such a head start on reading up and setting a routine. That's going to put you way ahead of the game
Does your LO respond well to swaddling? I thought maybe that would help a bit with the arm spasming. Even though they may seem to fight it, deep down our little noobs really find comfort in swaddling for several months. As for shushing for 3 hours… so sorry to hear. That has got to be tiring and frustrating. I think when it's so early on, you can try other soothing techniques. A little bit rocking, cuddling, pacifier, white noise/music. Any little bit helps. I'd worry about the bad habit forming a little later… plus, a little sleep training can break that pretty easily. However, I understand if you're wary to try that. At that age… babies can nap anywhere from 30 minutes up to a couple hours. Noob Baby couldn't sleep past 45 minutes on-the-dot. Go with what you're comfortable with and what will enable you to get some sleep as well!
Hi,
Thanks for your great posts! The schedule you've posted has really helped me with daytime naps. I still have some problems but it's helped me figure out what to try and not to try.
My daughter is going to be 4 months old on 10 November. Nights were going sooooo well until just before 3 months from about 5 weeks old. She was sleeping from 8 or 9 pm until about 8 am every night. Suddenly, about week 12, she started waking up 2, 3, 4 times a night. I'm exhausted! I started feeding her at least once and last night I decided to stop and just give her the pacifier. She still woke up a couple times but didn't need to eat until 6:30 am. I've also started a bedtime routine with bath and massage but she's still waking at night. What do I do?
Also, sometimes she's napping for 1.5 to 3 hours but mostly only 45 minutes. Is this normal? I feel so frustrated trying to do the Shhh Pat because it doesn't work for her. She just lays there staring at me. I put her down while in the 7 mile stare, she goes to sleep easily, and I've sat in her room watching her sleep to figure out the Wake to Sleep thing. I've tried nudging her every minute from 25-35 minutes but she either sleeps over 45 minutes by quite a bit or right at it.
Oh, I still swaddle her too but I'm afraid I'm discouraging her from finding her pacifier for herself. She still can't get it into her own mouth. Isn't that late development?
Thank you!
Hi,
Thank you so much for your blog, it is really helpful! I am just a little confused about how to get the EASY routine to work for me and my 9 week old. He eats about every 3 hours (exclusively breastfed) on his own and sleeps well at night. He goes to bed around 8:30pm every night and will normally wake around 2am (sometimes not until 5am) to feed, then sleeps until morning. He is a healthy weight and is thriving. However, my problem is that his morning wake differs so much and it throws off our whole day. One morning it will be 7am another day it will be 930am! I was trying to watch for a pattern so we could base our daily feeding/sleep routine around that, but there is no consisteny in the morning. Should I be waking him up around the same time each day? I have just always heard never to wake a sleeping baby… I just think if we had a consitent sleep/wake time, I could make the naps easier throughout the day and be able to plan my day a little better. Because right now, he is not napping well at all. Please help!
do you actually wake the babies up for the ‘cluster’ feeds if they are still sleeping? My 4 week old sleeps from 730pm-1am…feeds…then sleeps from about 2am-545am….then feeds but WILL NOT go back to sleep after that, he wants to be awake and drops back of for a short nap about 730-8pm by which pint im tired from being up since the crack of dawn. Any suggestions? He drinks between 4 and 5ozs per night feed. between 2-5ozs in day feeds depending on his mood.
Hi! Great site. I have a 4 week old and we have decided to start the EASY schedule now. Currently he has really long sleep periods, some even 4-4.5 hrs long. Should I be interupting these long sleeps (day and night) so that I can work the schedule? Our bigger issue seems to be that he does not like to be put down sleepy….any tips?
I’m going to buy the book but I’m assuming that for naps they need to be put where they sleep at night?
Sammy – Yes, ideally you should be training your little one to get used to sleeping in his/her crib as soon as possible. Now, in noob world, that didn’t exactly happen. She slept in a swing for months. Which is why it was harder for us to get her on the proper sleeping track. Best to you!
I am wondering does this mean after the 6pm feeding we don;t change a diaper?? seems there is no activity posted..my babies to also sleep in the bouncy seats because mainly of my son;s acid reflux.. when should I start getting them into the cribs. also I have twins born at 36 weeks. Should I really expect all sleep milestones to be that delayed? They are over 7lbs right now (5 weeks)
Julie – After bedtime, you don’t have to change diapers if your little one is sleeping well and he hasn’t gone #2. The Baby Whisperer suggested slathering on the diaper cream and doing a little quickie check just to make sure he hasn’t soaked through. This has always worked very well for us. That way you don’t have to disrupt their precious sleep. As for sleeping in the crib, the earlier the better. This is mostly for your own sanity. Noobs tend to develop habits pretty easily, as ours did. So, she got used to us rocking her to sleep and being in her swing. It made it hard for us to make the crib transition. With that said, if your little one has difficulty with acid reflux and you’ve spoken to the pediatrician, you should follow his/her recommendation. If there are health concerns involved, that should be a consideration. Good luck!
Thank you for your awesome Blog. I have enjoyed reading it. I have a 12 week old baby boy. He sleeps very well at night in his crib. During the day, we find it very challenging to get him to sleep in his crib. He will sleep a max of 45 mins and this has only happened a couple of times. Usually I rock him to sleep and put him in his crib and he cries. I am wondering if he is lacking self-soothing skills… what is the best way to teach this? He sleeps very well during the day in his Ergo carrier… and sometimes in his carseat (althought this hasn’t been as successful lately).
Thank you!