Photo by Peat Bakke
There are so many things I wish I had known right after having Noob Baby. I remember so many people telling me to “sleep when the baby sleeps.”
At the time, it sounded like a no-brainer.
Well when the Noob Baby invasion was finally upon us, all wisdom and logic went out the window. I was so enamored with this 24/7 pooping machine, that when she was asleep, I just ogled and cudded her, ignoring all advice to SLEEP! Truth betold, I tried to sleep when she was sleeping, but then this madness descended … and I felt like I had to clean, had to do the laundry, and whatever other domestic task Martha Stewart would be proud of.
I was so go-go-go, that I didn’t realize I could take control of our day and actually start carving out a routine.
I was just … on call. Sure I was keeping logs of when I was feeding her and when she was pooping, 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 starting to emerge.
After reading Tracy Hogg’s book, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
In this post, I’ll share what I learned from Hogg’s book about getting a 1-4 month old on an E-A-S-Y routine. Also check out the EASY for 4-9 month olds. And I’ve also created an EASY Cheat Sheet that includes 4 side-by-side schedule samples that range from 4 weeks to 1 year. It’s a great free printable you can keep referencing as your little one gets older!
And one really important note: Take this as a loosely designed routine, but one that you need to adapt and shape to work with your noob. If you get too Type-A psycho on the time slots, you will drive yourself crazy. A-hem… guilty as charged. Trust me when I say that you will probably never have an identical EASY routine. That’s ok. Just try and keep with a predictable E-A-S-Y pattern, and you will be ok!
And just to drive that point home… here is my post When E-A-S-Y is Not So Easy. It’s a quickie post with some extra tips that may help when EASY gets a little overwhelming. Isn’t that ironic?
E is for Eat
Just plain old eatin’ time. Take a look at Hogg’s Feeding Guide for an idea of how much to feed at each age.
A is for Activity
After eating, try to encourage your little one into some activity time 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, diaper changes, singing lullabies, bath time, and hanging out with visitors. Just keep it limited — too much activity and you will have an overstimulated noob who wants nothing to do with naptime.
S is for Sleep
Sleep is the precious time when our little ones grow and develop their brains. Naps can range from 20 minutes to 2 hours (after the first few months). Good naps during the day will actually help baby sleep better at night. Contrary to popular belief, keeping your noob up late won’t make her sleep longer! I just pray you don’t have horrid Nap Town mishaps like me!!
Y is for Your time
After baby is asleep, you get sacred time to do whatever you want. I strongly suggest you take a nap and recharge, too. But if your “house” is looking more like “the city dump with upgrades,” then by all means … wash dishes, scrub the spit-up from your clothes, and quickly push the take-out boxes under the couch. Oh yeah, a shower might be called for, eh? Count backwards from 20 (because that’s all the time you have before the noob is up again, seriously.)
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 from Hogg’s book of what an E.A.S.Y Structured Routine may look like for a 4 wk-old. Heed the words … Be flexible.
Typical E.A.S.Y. Routine for 4 weeks to 4 months
E – 7:00 – Feed
A – 7:45 – Diaper change. Some playing, talking. Keep an eye out for sleepy cues
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 – 7:15 – 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 (between 10-11).
This routine assumes baby doesn’t have special needs, isn’t below birthweight, etc. that may require more frequent feedings.
For babies older than 4 months, see Hogg’s EASY for 4-9 months. Don’t forget to print out my free EASY Cheat Sheet to use as a reference guide!
Have you tried this or another routine that works for you? I would love to hear about it.
Want your own copy of The Baby Whisperer’s book? Share the love and buy it here:
The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems
My dilemma is laying her down and getting her to nap. She is wide eyed and alert and with yawning which is a cute but she will not nap. I feel like its maybe because she cant be swaddled. She has to have her arms out which also keeps her awake I think. What are some other cues? Your link on the page for sleepy cues goes to another story.
What do you do when baby doesn’t fall asleep? How do you adjust schedule when baby only naps for 20-30 minutes (at 11 weeks)?
Thanks for the post!
The routines look great. I’m curious to know what the recommended routine is from 11pm to 7am?
Thanks so much!
I love this type of routine! So helpful to see it written out like this. But looking at the schedule I’m confused about one thing— it ends at 11pm and starts at 7am. My 7 week old is not sleeping 8 hours straight. And I noticed even the 4-week schedule has an 8-hour stretch. Am I missing something?
What is a cluster feed?
A cluster feed is a feed that is in between the normal feeds. If a baby cluster feeds, it means they are feeding more frequently than they normally would.
Do you feed during the night? What is that schedule if yes?
I had the same question as my 3 weeks old baby eats few times a night and I don’t think that will completely go away next week when he is 4 weeks old.
My 5 month old is only napping 30-45 minutes during the day. How do you follow this schedule if they wake before the 2 hours? I currently feed/pat/rock to sleep as she screams the house down if I put her in het cot awake.
My 3 week old is having little problems following EASY during the day. We cluster feed usually at 5 and 7, sometimes at 9:30/10 he wakes up to eat again…and so I don’t really dream feed yet unless he’s still asleep at that time. Then I go to bed and “cross my fingers” like Tracy writes in her book, but every night he wakes up every two hours to eat again. And yes, he’s hungry. I know he’s still a baby, but shouldn’t it be working at night if he’s doing all the right things during the day? 🙁 this is my second kid and my toddler didn’t sleep through the night for TWO YEARS. So, I’m putting all my bets on the BW. Help! I just want to know that if I stick to it he’ll stop waking up every two hours at night – please!
Hi
I have been loving your articles. They have been such a helpful addition to the Baby Whisperer book. You have helped fill in many gaps that I feel the book left out. I too can relate to having to not get too crazy about the times but I know this is my personality and am at least self aware;).
My question is (I couldn’t find it in the book). Why is it recommended to stop cluster feeding at 8 weeks if we want to “tank up” the baby? My little one is 10 weeks old and I seem to have more luck with cluster feeding than a dream feed as she takes a long time to settle after even if she doesn’t open her eyes! She also seems to not be able to go much more than 2 hours between feeds during the day and is awake an hour or so and napping for 45-1 hour. Hope she stretches longer to the three hours soon (again with me trying to make the routine a schedule!)
Hi! I have a 10 week old baby and I would like you to help me with your advice on a bedtime routine. Right now he has a routine in which he eats every 3 hours (example: eats at 7am and is awake until 8am and then he sleeps for two hours until 10am bottle).
I was wondering how to manage the night routine. What I am doing is that I am making his last nap shorter (1 hour) and then trying to keep him awake for an hour before I start the routine: bath, bottle, sleep.
Am I doing it right? Please advice!
My son is almost 3 months old. We have been doing EASY for 2 days now. He eats generally for 20 mins, and I usually can keep him away for about an hour until he gets fussy and tired. I bring him to his crib, close the curtains, put on music and swaddle him arms out so he can find his hands (at this point he is crying). I don’t get a chance to sit and calm him, I use the shush pat method. Lower him into his crib etc. Takes about 15 mins. However, he has had 3 naps today (it’s only 1:30pm), and he only naps for about 40 minutes. He wakes grumpy at times and happy at others. He wakes in the morning at 6:30-7am, and is in bed by 7pm. Lately he’s been a habitual waker at 2 and 5am, so I roused him at 1am and he fell back asleep, did not ask for food until 3am and 6:30am. I am wondering how the heck I get him to sleep longer than 40 mins and help him transition into the next sleep cycle during the day to make our EASY longer than 2.5 hrs
During the night hours be careful not to stimulate your babies senses. Dim the lights, no noises etc. When you wake him in the morning expose him to loss of daylight and then noise throughout the day. It’s important to get daylight to have the melatonin kick in and have days and nights in their right places. The 2nd thing I would recommend is to plan to feed your baby again before you go to bed, it will allow you to get more consecutive hours of sleep. It could be at 10 or 11pm, after feeding him burp him, change the diaper and put him to sleep. Again no bright lights or noise during this feeding. I think your baby will soon sleep until 6:30am, that extra food in his tummy will allow him to stay asleep. I’ve used this advice for my own baby who is 4 weeks old, and its worked well for her. For my daughter, I feed her at 7:30pm, 10pm, 1am (cluster feedings) and then she sleeps until 6:30am or as late as 8:30am.
I am trying to put my 7 month old baby on a schedule but I have to do a modified EASY schedule due to his acid reflux. I have to burp and keep him upright for half hour after each feeding. He usually falls asleep during this period. So we don’t get much real play time and I am afraid he’s not getting enough. I am also having a hard time with the evening because he is colicky and cries for no apparent reason from 7 until 11 (he eats -he cries – we get him to calm down – by this time is his next feeding and start all over again until he falls asleep between 9 and 10). I don’t know what to do. Please help!
Is your babe sitting up or crawling yet? Are they on medication for reflux like Zantac or anything?
This is the EXACT same problem I am having with my son. Seems like if he is not sleeping and not eating he is crying. We keep him upright for 30 mins and he wants to feed every 2 hours. I was told with reflux to feed them half the amount and twice as often so how do I work the easy routine with that. I myself is a creature of routine and do think that children do well on it so looking for some guidance on how to do this. Is there anyone out there that can help!?!?
Thanks
N
Alessandra & nicole, I’m also having same problem (Including the same evening nightmare/schedule Alessandra!)—did either of you figure out a solution? You are a couple months ahead of me, hoping you can pass on where you are today and how you got there…
This is a great and informative article! Thank you so much for taking the time to share for us new mommas. My little lady just turned 4 months so I’m going to attempt the 4 month EASY schedual now and see how she takes it. Shes slept with us in our bed up to this point so we will now try and put her in her own room and crib. Its will be a huge adjustment for everyone. She has been exclusively breastfed since birth and mostly fed on demand/every 2-2 1/2 hours through the day and maybe 2-3 feeds during the night. Now at 4 months were at around every 3 hours during the day and 1-2 feeds at night. So I’m thinking this new schedual could slowy work. I’m glad that I breastfed her mostly on demand for the first 4 months. I do think it’s better for them to get as much nurshment and comfort as they want in those early months. And once they give you the signal of going a bit longer during the day (4 months for us) then I feel more comfortable putting her slowly on a more strict schedule. Of course every baby and momma is different. Do what feels right to you and your family! Were all in this together! I’m glad to have fellow momma bears out there sharing their experiences and advice to us noobies. Thank you!! 🙂
Thanks Tori! Great points! I love supporting other mommas and trying to refrain from judgement even if the parenting style is different than my own! We are all 1) trying to love and support our children and 2) love and nourish ourselves. Easing into a new schedule when your little one shows signs of being ready is very smart. As much as I LOVE EASY and the Baby Whisperer, I always remind parents to be flexible and go with what feels right for your child!
Thanks Tori! Great points! I love supporting other mommas and trying to refrain from judgement even if the parenting style is different than my own! We are all 1) trying to love and support our children and 2) love and nourish ourselves. Easing into a new schedule when your little one shows signs of being ready is very smart. As much as I LOVE EASY and the Baby Whisperer, I always remind parents to be flexible and go with what feels right for your child!
Given that breastmilk or formula should be the majority of a babies diet until a year these schedules are awful.
This is a horrible thing to do to babies. They are biologically designed to nurse to sleep.
🙁
This is coming from a mom of 6. Not sleep deprived by the way because my babies nurse to sleep and sleep with me.
I acknowledge normal biological functions of tiny humans and go off what they need vs trying to shove them into a malnourishing schedule.
Hi there!
I love the EASY routine. I’ve had my son on it since he was ( weeks old. He’s now 8 weeks (Born two weeks late) and weighs 15 pounds. He no longer seems to do well on the three hour schedule, groggy when I would wake him and not eating vigorously. He currently sleeps from 8ish until about 4/4:30 am to eat and then goes back down until 7 am. Wondering is I can/should move him to the 4-hour routine. Is he too young? I’m struggling with figuring this out as I go back to work in two weeks. Thanks in advance.
Hey everyone, I’m a new mother and I am trying to get my five month little one to sleep longer during night. Right now I’m fortunate to have three hours sleep a night. Best wishes
Hi! Thanks for this, I’ve been looking for a sample routine and this could really work. I have two questions though;
1. What about tummy time? I find this important so my baby can learn to lift his head, but I guess this would count as an activity and I don’t think putting my baby flat on his stomach after a feed is smart…
2. I bottlefeed my baby and was wondering if, when clusterfeeding, I would give him a full bottle each time or a bit less?
Hi.
If you wait about 10-15 minutes after the feeding, baby should be ok for tummy time. You can do other activities until then like sitting up and talking to baby , diaper change, etc.
As for the cluster feeding, I nurse my son and what I’ve done is a do half the feeding (10 minutes on one breast) during the first cluster feed. Then at the second I do the other half (10 minutes on other breast) and this seems to work for him. Your baby may be different. Try to follow baby’s cues on what they’ll take during each cluster feed.
Hi Noob Mommy,
My lo is 10 weeks and often sleeps through the night or wakes up once. However, I have two questions:
1. Is a 9pm bedtime reasonable? My husband gets home from work 7-7:30pm and wants time with her.
2. Can’t get the y is easy down. LO will only sleep when being held and often needs to be rocked. What do you recommend we do?
Thanks so much!
Hi, my 14 week old is on EASY. he’s a sleeping champ, and will go down fairly easily (sometimes requires gentle rocking for a minute). he always wakes up crying though, and because of EASY I assume that he’s hungry. it’s usually been at least 2 hours since he ate, but sometimes is 3 or 4. so we’re not on a strict schedule but assume he’s hungry because he woke up and it’s eating time. thoughts? is he not really hungry/ready for the eating part of schedule?
Ok, my biggest stress and frustration is how do I get my baby to fall asleep? I made the mistake of nursing my last baby to sleep I don’t know how to not nurse to sleep.
hello, my 6 week old is fighting sleep. the EASY doesnt work because she eats every 2 hours on the dot. do you recommend i wait till shes older? she is on schedule of eat play sleep, but sometimes its eat play eat sleep… and she catnaps alot…
help
Hi Dasha,
My baby ate every two hours in the early days too. I just followed a 2 hour EASY routine. Her longest naps were always in the morning. I stuck to the routine, but really struggled with putting her down to sleep. She would usually only sleep for 20-45 minutes at a time during the day. There were definitely times where we ended up EAEAS instead of EAS. If she fell asleep while feeding the second time, I would still change her diaper to get that short activity in. Eventually I grew tired of “fighting” to put her down for naps so I would let her sleep in my arms. It was a tough phase, but only lasted about a week, then we started putting her down in her bassinet for naps. Now she is 5 months and is on a good routine. She naps for 1.5-2 hours in the morning, a short (45 min) nap after lunch, then another 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon. She goes to bed around 8 and wakes up around 7 am (with a dream feed). The best thing I recommend is to not watch the clock, but stick with the order of things. The routine will naturally work it’s way into a 3 hour schedule, then a 4 hour schedule after 4 months.
I have been reading my tail off looking for the certainty and safety of routines and schedules for our babies as it relates to feedings, timing, and sleeping methods. This article highlights the 5 leading experts on this subject since 1984 and tells about all 5 books (they show a real similarity): http://www.babywisebooks.com/babywise-method/
Good luck, and happy feedings & sleeping!
routines are critical. and we all have different schedules. my favorite article on this issue shows the five leading experts (Hogg is one of them) on this topic. See what they each wrote, who was first, and all the huge similarities between these five doctors/nurses: http://www.babywisebooks.com/babywise-method/
Enjoy!
Hi,
I fear my baby is associating feed and sleep 🙁 we seem to have an ok schedule during the day although she struggles to fall asleep by herself ( lots of crying ).
At night she wakes up every 1 to 1.5 hour after a first long stretch of 3 to 4 hours sleep. Would you have any suggestions?
I have a 3 and a half month old. I’ve never tried laying her down awake in her crib to fall asleep on her own because she has reflux and I have to hold her upright after she eats. I’m trying to establish a schedule but she wakes when I lay her down for a nap. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the sample schedules. I have a 16.5 week old son who is breastfed and our day typically looks like the 3 mth old EASY, though there are some days where he feeds 3.5/4 hourly. How do I know when he is ready for the 4 month schedule and how do I get him to follow it, when during the day he typically feeds 3 hourly? He does well at night with 1 or 2 feeds and his awake time during the day is really only 1.5 hours. He does some sleeps well during thre day and others he will only nap for 45 mins. I usually try and resettle but it doesn’t always work. He goes to bed around 7/7.30 and is up a bit before 7 am. He is restless at 5.30am but can be resettled and sleeps until 7. He is on the 90th percentile for weight.
I’m really hoping someone has some advice for me! My 8 week old baby was started on easy last week and we have had great nights so far. She is typically going down at 7:30 and sleeping until 3. Before we started this we would be up 3-4 times a night or more. The problem I’m having is with naps during the day. I feel like I spend my entire day battling naps with her. We are trying shush pat which occasionally works but it seems she gets very restless at times as well. She doesn’t want to sleep but going by her cues she is very tired. We try to have her swaddled by the second yawn. Then she fusses and I find myself pacing and patting which I know is not correct. When we do the shush pat in her crib she is squirming the whole time and may go to sleep but wakes right up in about ten minutes even if we shush pat for 20+ minutes and think she is out. We do this 2-3 times per nap and sometimes just give up. What are we doing wrong? This is so frustrating because I know she sleeps better at night when she naps during the day. Please help 🙂
how do you get a 6 wk old to sleep through the night? I see on the 3 hour EASY for 6wk-4months that the last feeding is 10pm dream feed. Then the next feeding is 7am. What methods do you suggest to get a 6wk old to sleep without nursing from 10pm to 7am? Our son is 6wks old and we follow this schedule but he never goes through the night without two feedings usually one around 1AM and another around 4or 5AM. We never pick him up durring the night when he wakes unless he’s fully awake and crying as we’ve noticed he drifts in and out of sleep throughout the night. But once he’s all out crying, he’s awake and hungry and unable to put himself back to sleep without nursing and seems quite hungry.
Hello!
My baby is 3 months old. She has recently started sleeping through the night (7:30/8 until 5…she takes a bottle then falls back to sleep until 7/7:30) so we are pretty happy about that!
My husband and I are struggling with naps during the day though. I’ve read a few people comment that their little ones have a problem of only taking about 45 minute naps, which is what we are dealing with. She takes these naps around the same time every day but it’s frustrating that it only last like 30-45 minutes. Sometimes she only even sleeps for like 20 minutes!!!! Also, in order for her to take these naps she normally needs a small bottle. I know its been said that its a bad habit to have but that’s the only way she falls a sleep for any type of nap during the day. Any suggestions/tips?
My little guy is 11 weeks old. We are on EASY. He tends to take a super long nap in the morning starting around 9/10 — right now he’s going on 3 hours… Do I wake him? Also, he likes to take long afternoon naps starting about 3/4. Issue is our household goes to bed early , 9, given work schedules, and my husband gets home about 4/5 so I’d like for the little guy to spend time with him. We’ve tried waking him from the afternoon nap for eating, bath, bed, but he is so sleepy and does not eat vigorously. We’ve also tried keeping him awake and he is soooo fussy. Any thoughts? Thanks!
My little girl is 12 weeks and absolutely hates her crib (which is in our room) but she would sleep on the couch, rocker and carseat with ease. She would not fall asleep on her own – I have to feed, walk and then nurse her before she’s out. 99% of the time she wants to nurse to fall asleep.
She feeds every 3 hours (4oz – 5oz) and she naps 2 – 3 times a day for an hour and some on average. She bathes at 12:15pm and at 6pm. I try putting her to bed at 7pm but this girl resists! She will not sleep in her crib at all. If she falls asleep in the rocker and I try to transition her to the crib, she will get up and cry. I have tried the crying method and that did not work at all. Poor thing had red puffy eyes and was sobbing uncontrollably. What I did notice though, when I put a pillow in her crib and had her elevated, she slept sooo much better! Could it be that she got so accustomed to the rocker that she needs that elevation to sleep?
At night, she feeds every 3 hours. I did notice a lot of spit up but then someone mentioned I should burp her in between a feeding..that works, but she screams bloody murder as she feels I am taking her feed away! She still spits up occasionally.
Please help! Daddy is working and needs his sleep to function properly, so basically, it’s me alone dealing with this. I return to work in 2 weeks and my sister is coming to stay to help us out, but it’s been 12 years since her baby!!! I am so concerned.
Can you help me out with a feeding/bedtime schedule. I would so appreciate it. I look like such a hot mess right now because of the lack of sleep!!
Thanks! *hugs*
HI!
I love your blog and have really enjoyed reading it! My lo is 11 weeks old and over the past 2 weeks seems to have fallen naturally into a 4 hour schedule. She weighs about 12 pounds and eats 6 times per 24 hour period. Her average awake time is anywhere from 1 1/2 to 1 hr. 45 minutes and that’s stretching it. As long as I catch her sleepy cues she’ll usually go down without any fanfare. So my question is – Is it okay for LO to be on a 4 hour schedule even though she is only 3 months old? – Again this just seemed to have come naturally to her. Thanks!
I have an 10 wk old who was doing really well with night sleep, 5-6hrs at the start, and has since gone backwards. She is now waking every 3hrs or less. We feed her a bottle around 7pm and she takes 4-5oz so I know she is full. My husband puts her down when she is done eating, sometimes still a little awake, and she will settle herself to sleep. She wakes up every 3hrs or so and cries out. I always go to her and try to nurse her but it seems she isn’t always that hungry and is back to sleep in 5 min or so sometimes. Is she just toying with me and not really hungry every time? Should I try not to feed her everytime she wakes? I don’t want her to be hungry but think she can go longer. Thanks!
How does EASY work for Premie Babies?
I have a premie baby born at 33 weeks.
The hospital had her on a 3 hour schedule: ESY 6 am, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9, 12, 3 (E included Burping)
She came home at 36 weeks and we tried to stick to this schedule and it was working until last week 37 week. Now she is all over the place, mostly every 2 hours she wants to eat and about one time a day, randomly, she is up and stays up until the next feeding, no S and no Y. There does not seem to be a schedule…and we are past the growth spurt that happened
She is gaining so no issue there.
She also is spitting up when I put her down in the crib, I clean it/her up and then she goes down. (She is a bit hard to burp, but she does burp–in fact burping is pretty much the only A that I have in the line up. She seems to be a happy spitter, not reflux
The good news is: She is in the crib and goes down well.
Question are
1) What is your recommendation for us ? Do I do 4 week EASY as she will be 6 weeks next week (premie) or 1 week next week (actual due date). Basically how it
2) How to rid of the spit up when I lay her down. Maybe I need to insert the A into the schedule so she has time to digest ?
3) Is it normal for a schedule to be 6:30 am (20 breastfeed), 8:30 am (30 breastfeed), 10:30 (60 on-off breastfeed), 1:30 (breastfeed). I just want a more constant schedule, but am I asking too much or am I setting up bad habits. Mostly I do not want to set up bad habits. What we do now is: She wakes, change diaper, feed, burp attempt for up to :30 min, put her down, she spits up a small puddle, pick up, clean off (do not change sheet or her), she sleeps 2 hours, leaving me 1 Y hour.
4) Waking at 3:30 am and feeding for 3-7 minutes…should I just give a paci?
5) I am not comfortable with the dream feed (personal issue with the force feed)….I can cluster feed, but again is cluster feeding ok for me to implement
6) Is there a list of A’s?
Question-can you explain the dream feed. What does it mean or what are the instructions for doing one? Thanks!
Hi! Great article – my baby is 5 weeks old and we have been using the EASY schedule with some success – she has given me some 4-5 hr stretches so hoping nights will get better soon. Was looking at the cheat sheet for ~6wks to 4 months – a little confused about the schedule between 4 pm and 7 pm. So lets say baby eats at 4pm so after 4 is there any activity time between 4 and before catnap (around 5-6pm)? Thanks so much for all the info.
I’m a noob mommy as well and a noob to your website – and I love it! Thanks for all of the helpful info you post and the perfect balance of humor you add in. I’m trying to get my 3.5 month old on a routine and am really drawn to E.A.S.Y. Really the only part that gives me pause and makes me feel uncomfortable is the rigid schedule you’re supposed to follow the first few days to kickstart your baby onto the routine. Have you or other readers had luck getting their baby on a routine in a gentler way? More like gently but firmly guiding them vs rigidly requiring them to get on board? Thanks for thoughts!
Jen – Hopefully my post will help you feel better about adapting the Baby Whisperer’s EASY schedule to your own. Remember flexibility is ok as long as consistency is there. Babies, children and even adults really love predictability and routine! Good luck!
This information is really helpful. Thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge to help others regain some of our sanity, too!! My 10 week old daughter follows EASY really well during the day for her first three naps. She goes to sleep on her own as long as I have her in her crib within an hour of her last WT. But after 4 until we finally get her to bed around 9 after A LOT cuddling, sshing and begging, she is a wreck! She doesn’t want to sleep in the afternoon/evening at all. The only way I can get her to nap for a bit is by wearing her. Do you have any suggestions for encouraging the afternoon naps and making bedtime a bit easier? We are at a total loss to understand her scheduling needs in the afternoon! Thanks in advance for your help.
I have just started my 8 week old daughter on EASY. She was loosely on a eat, play, sleep routine for about a week beforehand. Yesterday was our first official day and she napped 3X for 45 mins- 1 hr and 1x for 2 hours. Our problem is that she won’t sleep for more than 45mins without fussing and then waking at night. Last night I fed her every other time she woke up and tried to pat and shoosh the alternate times. She is currently in a bassinet next to my bed. I would love to know if anyone else had issues with night time sleep when they began EASY and any suggestions you have for me. At this point, she has only slept between 1 and 2 hours at a time at night since Sunday night and I am having issues with exhaustion.
Any suggestions on what to do w a 6 week old that will not go to sleep at night from 8pm-3a. He’s just wide awake and we feed him every 3 hours during this time. He was previously sleeping decently and waking every 3-4 hours at night. Help!
Hi there,
As I was reading your blog all I could think about is “why didn’t I see this before”. You make it sound so easy and I stress make caus I know how hard it is to get a baby on a sleep routine. My son is 8 months and 3 weeks and he is still not sleeping through the night. He never did!!! He catnaps all day and I just want to find a way to get my little one sleeping. He also isn’t eating solids. I’m EBF!!! I’m slowly but surely weaning him off the boobs but it’s hard. With all this said, I just wish I had seen your page when he was much younger. I feel like I would not be here, up since 4am and still not being able to sleep cause he’s waking up every half hour. Thank you for posting!!
Akilah – I’m so happy to hear that you’ve found some of the posts helpful. It’s not too late for your little 8 month old to get on a routine. Be consistent and find a good rhythm for your family. Good luck!
Just started the EASY plan yesterday with my 7 week old son. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, am I not to feed him and only change his diaper? He usually wakes up about every 2-3 hours in the night and that’s what I’m trying to fix. Thanks for your help! I love the easy to read/understand schedule!
Hi there, I have a four week old and we are going to try the EASY method to get him on a schedule. Could someone please tell me what happens after the dream feed? Should he still be waking up every three hours?
Thank you for any advise 🙂
Hi there!
Thank you so much for this, it really helps. I have a 10 week old daughter and she seems to want to eat every 2 hours. I’m trying to extend this to 3 but its tough! Any suggestions? Also what if she doesn’t nap for the 1.5 hour nap? When she wakes up do you just wait until the next feed and play with her? Any tips will help a lot. Thank you! 🙂
Like for example this morning he woke up at 7 and played while feeding him 4oz he slept at 9 and i have to wake him up at 11:30 to feed, so i woke him up, fed him,played, bathe him (my mom wont allow me to bathe him at nights) and fell asleep at 1 pm. And he still asleep at 3 so intried to wake him up but he doesnt want to i fed him half awake and goes back to sleep its 5pm and he still asleep, im afraid that he will benawakenall night coz hes asleep all day, please help me.’first time mom and no one to advice around me here. Please please reply
Akiko
0 mins ago
Hi! I have 8 week old baby, and im trying to follow this routine. I was having trouble because he sleeps all day and awake all night. Im confuse im following the 3 hour routine if it comes to E and he is still asleep should i wake him up? Or feed him while hes still sleeping. Im afraid it would just make his nap longer. Please in having trouble any suggestion?
My son is 12 weeks old and has been following the 3 week feeding routine well for a few weeks now. He is breastfed and takes a really good feed every 3 hours between 7 am and 7pm. He has three 45 minute naps in the day at 9am, 11.30am and 2.30pm and sometimes a catnap at 5pm which will be ‘on-the-go’ in his pram or bouncer rather than in his cot. He goes down to sleep in the evening between 7.30 and 8pm generally falling asleep within 5 minutes and takes a dream feed at 10pm where we give him a 125ml bottle of milk I’ve expressed that morning – he takes this really well but nearly always decides he has finished with about 10ml left. So all going well – however – he still wakes for a full feed once in the night between 3.30 and 4.30am! Given that the daytime routine is going so well I am not sure what I can do to rectify this and I can’t increase the amount he has at his dream feed. I’m looking at transitioning to a four hour feeding routine over the next few weeks during the day as he feeds so well. Is there any hope of him sleeping right through the night?! To be fair he does sleep really well through the night either side of the feed and he takes the feed very efficiently, going back to sleep straight away until 6.30am so I can’t really complain! I’ve tried not feeding him but then he just stays awake.
What do I do if my baby cries when I lay him down? He refuses to sleep in his cradle and cries when I lay him down for his naps. Will only fall asleep if someone is holding him or in his swing. Help! He is 3.5 weeks old
Nm-
Your website is great! Lots of good info and laughs. Thank you.
I have a 6 week old little boy. We are working on getting a routine down. So far he is doing good with a bedtime. He goes down at 9 then sleeps till 7 or 8, waking up 2-3 times.
My issue is during the day… he doesn’t want to take naps. He will go down once or twice but not longer than an hour. I think he needs to sleep more for his development, how can I get him to sleep during the day?
Also he likes to graze, 2-4oz every hour or 2. Is this normal? I would like to give him 6oz less frequently.
Thank you, Agatha
LOVE this blog. Here’s my question. My son is 7 weeks tomorrow and I’m trying to set him up on a schedule. When he wakes early from a nap (say after 1 hour vs 1 1/2), should I try to get him to continue sleeping for the next 1/2 hour until the next feed with paci, shh, etc. Or should I just feed him earlier than the 3 hours and try to stretch the next feed to 3 hours. In other words, is it more critical to stretch out the feed times to 3 hours or have him sleep?
Michelle – Congrats on your new little one! In just a few weeks, you may notice your little one settling more into a better routine and being able to consume more. Consuming more milk at each feeding can lead to a longer stretch between feed times… but of course it all depends on their little bellies developing and growing more. So, I’d say you can let him fuss or play for a little after the early nap wake up and see how he does, but if he’s only going to sleep a little longer and you go through all the trouble of shush-pat, etc. it may not be worth all the trouble. Also, you want to gauge his wake up mood. If he seems grouchy and tired still when he wakes early, then he probably still needs some extra sleep time. Again, if he seems hungry when he wakes up… then definitely go ahead and feed him. If he’s just crying because he’s tired then the milk may not really be the solution. Good luck!
Lovely site and posts! Sorry if this question has been asked before, but it seems like even with a dream feed at 10PM, going from 10PM-7AM is a long stretch. My daughter is 3.5 months, and she still wakes up 1-2 times in the middle of the night for her night feedings. What do you suggest I should do since the Ferber method is not recommended until 5-6 months of age?
Thanks!
Hi there. My baby has been on a three hour feeding schedule since the nurses in the NICU put him on one when he was a day old. We also found in the hospital that he would go for one 4 hour stretch between feedings at night. Therefore, putting him on a version of the EASY schedule fairly early on wasn’t too big of an ordeal. He’s now 11 weeks old, eats, plays, and sleeps according to a rough version of the EASY schedule that we have “negotiated” with him during the day, and routinely sleeps as long as 5 (sometimes 6) hours per night. Some days and/or nights are better than others, but I would say that things are going reasonably well.
My question is about bedtime. For a while, we would do a “last call” feeding at about 10 and put him to bed after that (we’d pushed that back from 12 midnight, then, 11:15, then finally to 10pm). (He generally gets up somewhere between 3 and 4 am for a feeding and goes back to bed until about 7am or 7:30am.) This put his “bedtime,” so to speak at about 10:30. I’ve read in more than one place, however, that the baby’s bedtime at this age really should be much earlier – 8pm is the latest, and I’ve read in a handful of sources that some think he should be put down at 6:45pm to get to sleep by 7pm. The schedule above has the baby do his “bath and bedtime ritual” at about 7pm and a “catnap” at 7:15pm. Is this bedtime? Then the baby wakes up and eats at 8pm and goes immediately back to sleep. Is *this* bedtime? Also, given that one of the positive aspects of the program is that the baby is not supposed to eat and then immediately sleep, thus breaking the habit of needing food to sleep, how does the second cluster feed and then immediately to bed arrangement fit here? (I’m not referring to the dream feed.) Maybe I’m getting caught up in semantics, but where is “bedtime” here? Could you elaborate?
Thanks so much!
I came across your site through a Google search and love the easy to understand information. Here are some questions that I couldn’t find answers to. I have a 10 week old with reflux. He is on special formula for the reflux and a milk allergy. Right now he goes 4 hours between day feedings just fine, but we have NO nap routine and he fights them unless in someone’s arms, in the car, or swing.. Because of the reflux we have to hold him upright in our arms for 30 min. after every feeding. He often falls asleep during that time since he is being comforted. I also have a 4 year old, so we are often following her schedule for school, ballet, etc. what are your suggestions for fitting activity time in while still holding him upright for the reflux as well as creating a nap schedule! Help! With the two kids, I don’t want my oldest to resent the baby for being cranky from lack of sleep or him to miss out from sleep. Thank you!
Hi again! What would the evening feeds look like after 4 pm for a 7 week old without the clutter feeds? A 7 PM feed and then a the dream feed? Is it not a good idea to force a feed at some point because you want to go to bed yourself? Thanks!
Allison – You can try and do a feed before you go to bed (which is essentially what the dream feed is supposed to be) and see if that will extend the nighttime stretch of sleep. However, at 7 weeks, it’s very typical to still have to wake every 3 hours or so even in the middle of the night for feeding. Your little one won’t be on a regular sleep schedule quite yet as her circadian rhythm hasn’t quite been established.
I just started the EASY schedule with my 8 week old and it is going great! The only problem I am having is putting her down at nap time. After a long time of “shh shh shh” she will finally fall asleep but only for about 20 minutes. I can not swaddle her because we discovered her rolling on her stomach. I have a routine for bedtime but not nap time. Do you recommend one? If so, what is a good routine for nap time?
Christine – A naptime routine is an excellent idea! I’d just pare down your bedtime routine a little and use the same. So, you can start winding down “activity” to something quite and calm. Maybe dimming the bedroom lights (drawing the blinds, etc) Play some lullabies and flip through some picture books. No need to read or sing a lot, but the idea is to signal to your LO that sleep time is coming up next. Babies and children thrive on predictability, consistency and routine… so when they can sense what is next, it naturally makes the transition more relaxing and positive! Good luck!
Hi! Thanks for the all the info on this blog, it is great. My 7 week old is on a pretty good 2.5-3 hr schedule and sleeps pretty well at night. Problem is she is on a A, E, S, Y schedule. How do I go about changing that? Another problem is she feeds better that way because she gets sleepy when she is nursing. Any advice would be great!
Great site!! I am a huge fan of the Baby Whisperer and EASY. I followed it with my son who was sleeping like a dream by 8 weeks and still is to this day (he’s almost 3). My daughter is just shy of 11 weeks and is not following in his footsteps! I was hoping you might have some advise for me. She is 11+ pounds and eats every 3 hours. She is currently getting approximately 7 feedings a day (about 4 oz each). I nurse her at 5 and 8 am and then she gets 3 more bottles of breastmilk and 2 bottles of formula. I’d like to stop nursing but until she stops getting up so frequently in the night, its just easier to not have to deal with bottles. Her last feed is at approximately 7-8 pm. We’ve tried doing dream feeds at about 10/10:30 but even with them she continues to wake up at 2 am. She has been able to stretch from 8:30 pm to 2 am a few times but thats about it. So she is consistently eating on this schedule: 2, 5, 8, 11, 2, 5ish, 7:30ish, 10ish. I would give anything to be able to drop the 2 am and 5 am feedings. So my questions to you: Am I better off skipping the dream feed and letting her do that early stretch? What is the best way to shift the stretch of sleep so that it occurs during those early morning hours? Will stretching her daytime feedings out to 3.5 or 4 hours help her stretch longer at night? Should I try and get her to start her day earlier, say with a 7 am feed? What are your recommendations for getting her to sleep through the 2 am feeding?? I am exhausted!!! Thank you!!
Hi – I’ve just started the EASY routine with my 12 week old. He generally feeds every 3 hours (can sometimes go for 3.5). His bedtime is around 7:30pm and he only wakes for one night feed between 4-5am. I tried a DF at 8 weeks but don’t offer a dream feed anymore as this made no difference to when he woke for his 2 night feeds at the time. I wake him between 7/7:30am to start the day but he is not hungry and only takes 3oz if I’m lucky. This is more like a snack for him as he is usually a hungry baby. Am I waking him too soon after his night feed, should I start to gradually move to a 4 hour schedule, should I try the DF again to see if he then goes through to 7am?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Monica- I’m currently on the fence with this since I’m having the same debate for NB2.0 She still wants to wake up around 4:30 and she’ll take a full 7 oz or so and sleep till 7 am. I believe she’s capable of sleeping the extra few hours if I sleep train her and let her CIO using the proper Ferber techniques. I believe with your 12 week old, you could experiment a little and see how he does. I think if he’s never really taken to the dream feed, it may not work. However, it doesn’t hurt to try and see what happens. I agree that the’s probably not that hungry after his 5 am feed to take a full breakfast at 7ish. You can also try another technique… giving him a little less milk during that 4-5 am feed and see if you can slowly “wean” him from that early morning feed over the course of a few weeks. It’s up to you! Good luck!
I’ve been trying the 3 h EASY for a few weeks off and on. N is now 11 weeks old. My question is, she wakes 45 min into a nap, and I can’t get her to sleep, do I feed her or try to go the 3 hours? She was doing well on 3hours feeds (EBF) then i think she had a growth spurt and wanted to feed every 2 hours. That was a week ago and now she’s still fussy when she wakes up and the only way i can calm her is to feed her. Any ideas? thnaks
Hi! My daughter who is now almost 7 months went through a very long stretch (6wks to 5 months) of mostly 45 minute naps with the occasional longer nap. I tried everything: adjusting waketime longer and shorter, feeding her every 2 hours, CIO, shh pat, rocking her back to sleep…. The only thing that allowed me to keep the schedule we were on was to let her get at least 1 good nap per day by letting her finish the nap on me in the rocking chair. I would even let her sleep past the next feed time in anticipation of the next nap again being only 45 minutes, just to keep us close to her supposed feeding times. So when she woke early I gave her 5-10 minutes to resettle which 99% of the time didn’t happen, then I got her and went to the rocking chair. Sometimes it took her 10-15 minutes, but she would fall back alseep for another hour or more. I would suggest you trying that. If she won’t go back to sleep no matter what you’ve tried, then I would assume it is hunger. A growth spurt will last as long as it needs to. If you don’t get the calories she needs in her, it will contiue on. Lots of people put their babies in the swing to finish a nap that was cut short, so try that too! I know when mine was that age(11 wks) I had the hardest time telling myself it was ok to do APOP(accidental parenting on purpose-such as rocking to sleep). I thought I was ruining everything! But it has all worked out fine! Remember to put her to bed awake, and just do what you have to get that good nap in! She is almost 7 months now and she is starting to be a pretty good napper. It is such a relief. She puts herself back to sleep quite regularly. Try to keep your patience. It almost drove me crazy!
Hello!! I’m just looking for a bit of advise 🙂 I’ve started the EASY routine with my 7 week old baby girl….I’ve change it a little to suit her so just wanted to know if this kind of routine is right for a 7 week old.
7:00/7:30 wake up / top and tail
7:30 feeds (4 ounces)
8:00 snuggles in bed
8:30/9:00 nap
10:30 feed (4 ounces)
11:00 change nappy / play/ sing songs / snuggles
11:30/11:44 afternoon nap
2:00/ 2:30 feed (4 ounces)
2:30/ 3:00 change/ play mat / snuggles
3:30 / 4:00 evening nap
5:30 feed (4 ounces but I’m going to put this up to 5)
6:15 Isabelle has naked time…she like to have a bit of time with her nappy off. / plays with her toys
6:45 bath time
7:00 bed time routine. Lights dimmed/ play soft soothing music / story time
7:15 feed (3 ounces)
7:30 bed
9:30 change nappy (we use pampers stay dry as these last all night) last feed (3 ounces)
11:00 dream feed (we offer 4 ounces but Isabelle will only for 2/3)
I’ve tried to put her down for the 45 minute nap but she wasn’t having any of it and the above routine seemed to work tonight!
I just wanted to know is 3 maps enough? How long should she sleep during the day?
Should we be changing her nappy at 9:30 a night or should I cut this feed out?
Is she sleeping too much?
So many questions….apologies! I Had all these questions to ask my health visitor but she cancelled her visit! I just wan to know if I’m doing the right thing!
Ooh also….at what age should I change this routine? And what should it change to?
Thanks
katy x
Not sure if I’m missing the big secret here???…. What do I do between 110pm (dream feed) & 7am feed? My 9 week old baby wants to feed two to three times between then
Hi!
I believe feeding 2-3 times at that age is normal, just make sure he does not fall asleep on the breast: feed him, then wake him if needed, burp him and put to bed awake to self-settle.
Alex- In reality, your 9 week old will probably still wake up every 3 hours or so to feed during the night. But as she gets older, you will gain more sleep time if you are able to be consistent with your daytime routines, naps, and feeding. Good luck!
Hi
This website is great. Please can you help with something i have been trying towork out for ages. On the easy routines, how can an approximately 40minute catnap start at 5 or 6or somewhere in between and finish at 7? Im very confused! There must be some activity time in there to bridge this gap but if so why isnt there an A for activity there?
I know its approximate and only a rough guide but i’d just like a rough template (like there is for the rest of theday)to depart from.
Thank you!
Rosie- It’s an approximation 🙂 Some catnaps may only be 40 minutes, while others may last a whole hour. Just remember that it’s ok to be flexible with EASY. As long as you understand the basics of the pattern & routine, you will be able to figure out what should come next for your little one based on their cues and how your day is flowing. So if the catnap ends early, EASY-A. For some it may be starting the bedtime ritual (which is an Activity) or others it may be bedtime feeding EASY-E (Eat) then then bedtime ritual (Activity). Hope that helps put your mind at ease.
Hi!
What a great website! I just discovered it 🙂
I’m trying to establish EASY with my little girl (9 weeks old) but am having trouble with lights out at 8 PM. We do get up too late in the morning (around 9 AM) but my problem is differentiating the 8 PM sleep for the night with the daytime naps. My baby will go to sleep but for no more than 45-60 min. What would you recommend?
Thanks!
xo,
Felicia
Hi there, really interesting reading everyone’s post here. My daughter is 2 weeks old today, do you think it’s too early to start the easy routine? I’ve started reading the book but my daughter likes to eat then nap. She breast feeds for about 5 min then has a break then feeds again, this repeats for about 45mins till she falls asleep and I place her in her Moses basket. This happens throughout the day, she has been sleeping for about 1.30 hours at night I put her to bed 7.30 wake her at 11 then she wakes around 4 then again at 5 or 6. My question is how do I get her to stay awake then sleep? So that we are easy not esya?
Hi there, I’ve been following EASY routines since my little one was 4 weeks and we love it. the teacher in me needs a schedule:) and she has been on 4hour easy for a while now. We’re trying to transition To the 6 month schedule now and the 1st half seems easy enough but have some questions I hoped u could shed some light on.
In the 6 month schedule it says
dinner(solids) 5:30-6
Bath and Bed time at 7.
Does this mean there is no bottle before they go to bed?
Could you explain the schedule in more detail for me please cause sleep deprivation is making me very confused!
Thanks
Typical EASY schedule up to 4 months recommends cluster feeding at night. However, feeding 101 says not to cluster feed after 8 weeks. Should do 7p feed, down to sleep, then DF?? Thanks.
Hi there,
My little boy is 7 weeks old & so far we have just been “going with the flow” rather than attempting any sort of schedule. (I came across you blog via a search re daytime naps)
At night he tends to sleep for 4 hours at a time, then wake for a feed & then sleep for the same again. He doesn’t normally go down to sleep til 11pm though – is that too late? His daytime naps are really really variable though. Do you have any advice on how to adapt to your EASY schedule so that daytime has a little more structure?
Also, on your EASY cheat sheet for his age you say “wake & feed @ 7am” -does this mean I am to wake him at 7am to feed him?
Thanks
Rosie x
My 8 week old is doing great. sleeping through the night and on most days does well with a schedule similar to the one you posted. Recently her naps are shorter, when she wakes is it best to play before eating or just let her sit and be? or do you change the routine and feed each time they wake up?
Thank you for your advice.
Hi! I want to thank you for all the information you have on your site. Now, on to my questions! I have a soon to be 6 week old baby. I have “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer” and I have had her on the routine since she was a couple days old. My question is about the night time. Based on the book, I thought that a baby her age will give you about 7-8 hours at night. But when I look at your EASY schedule for 4wks to 4months it has nighttime going from 8pm-7am. I usually do EASY routine until about 10 – 10:30pm and then I put her to bed for the night. I also feed her right before I lay her down for the night. I give a 2oz bottle of pumped breastmilk since I have usually just finished nursing her 45 minutes before. I also save bath until this last activitiy time before the bottle. She goes to bed around 10-10:30 and will sleep until 6-7am with 1 feed in the middle, maybe around 3am. I just can’t see her giving up that last Activity time and giving me 11hours of sleep at night! Should I try to do it? Or will she extend the night on her own at which point I can just back up her bedtime little by little? I would also like to say that I have noticed that putting her down sooner rather than later has made a HUGE difference in how long her naps last. If I wait until she has droopy eyes she usually cries a few minutes and will only sleep for 30-40minutes. If I put her down when she just starts to get fussy, she sleeps so much better and for longer. One more question: Does she need to eat pretty much every 3 hours during the day still? Does that last until 4 months? Will she extend the time on her own or do I have to encourage it?
My baby is 2,5 months old, around 6kg. She is eating and sleeping a lot. In the last month she starts to be more awake between feeds so I have tried to put her on the EASY routine. After eating we play for an hour but after half an hour sleeping she wakes up and cries. My mother in law keeps on telling me that she should be eating every 3 hours, and this sample EASY routine shows the same. So now what? Should I feed her again (every 2 hours), or rock her to get back to sleep or wait with eating and play with her before the next feed (every 3 hours)?
I dont know WHAT I’m doing…
I went to a lactation specialist because I needed some assurance that I’m producing enough milk and that my newborn is eating enough. She assured me that I’m doing everything right and that he, in fact, is eating enough (about 1.5 oz at each feed). However, he is extremely fussy and sometimes it takes hours to calm him down. We think it may be gas, so I changed my diet (no more dairy or greens) and I have tried the gripe water…nothing seems to work – or if it does it’s very temporary. He is only 2 weeks old and constantly fights his sleep – he doesn’t nap between feedings and feeds every 2 hours – my husband and I are exhausted! We have tried the swing, rocking him, the pacifier, even the car seat, but all of these seem to be a very temporary solution. Please advise – I am a hopeless first time mommy!
Thanks for posting the hour by hour schedule – I’ve found it super helpful! My son is 6 weeks old and we follow the schedule relatively closely during the day. My question is what happens after 8 pm. My son sleeps well for the first 2 stretches of the night (8 – 11/12, then 11 – 2 a.m.) , but then he’d be up almost every hour after that (so from 2 – 6 a.m.). It’s not that he is hungry, he just fusses and wants to be held/soothed to get back to sleep. Obviously that’s making us really tired. Any advice/suggestions? And for a breastfed baby, how many “feedings” is considered normal between 8 pm to 6 am?
Hi! My little on is two weeks old today and I have been trying to put him on the EASY schedule since day one. I am breastfeeding and didn’t get off to a good start. I had to supplement with formula a few times because he seemed like he was still hungry right after a feed. Now he seems to be feeding a lot better and seems satisfied after each feeding – he will go about 2 hours – almost 4 during the night. My problem is his napping schedule. He doesn’t want to go down for a nap! I tried the white noise, the pacifier (he just cries if it falls out), the swing (which keeps him more awake)…
Should I be worried that he isn’t getting all of the naps the the EASY schedule recommends?
When I do get him to nap, he naps for a long stretch – I took him for a walk today and he’s been sleeping for 2 hours! Should I let him nap that long, or should I wake him up to feed?
This new mommy isn’t getting any sleep either!!
MHanson – Congrats on your new little one! Two weeks is still very young and it will be hard to get him on any schedule at this age (realistically). At two months, the newborn schedule starts to become more consistent with more waketime hours during the day. I imagine your little one should be sleeping a lot right now? Newborns do sleep a lot. It may be a good idea to wake him after 2-3 hours for feedings, particularly if he has any special needs (jaundice, low birth weight, preemie, etc). Are you still swaddling? We have had wonderful success with a good tight swaddle, white noise, and some gentle rocking. At this age… rocking is just fine 🙂 Good luck!
Hi there,
I have just started reading the baby whisperer and trying to set a routine for my 8 week old baby, however i am a little confused.
He usually wakes 2 times a night once around 1-2 and then again around 5.30-6am. During the days i have been trying to apply the E.A.S.Y. tecnique however he struggles to stay awake longer than a nappy change! sometimes i can squeeze in 2 minutes of goo gars and eye contact on a mat but then the tired cues start – yawning and getting agitated. I swaddle him up and put him to bed in his cot and he is out again! I am worried that he is not getting enough awake/activity time. His feeds have also decreased in time and sometimes he is only on the breast for 5-10 minutes. I keep trying with the E.A.S.Y but i feel i am still just following his cues rather than setting the routine and i’m not sure how long he will be awake or napping? I feel like i have all the information but just not sure how to use it or adapt it to my situation! hopefully you can shed some light for me and set me in the right direction!
My son just turned 3mos this week and has been napping more than ever. He sleeps from 9pm-630am no matter what his nap schedule is like…unless he takes a nap after 7pm. The problem I am having lately has been trying to get him to nap between 5-7pm. If he refuses to nap before 7pm (he’s not fussy just not tired until 7ish…then very fussy) should I let him nap at 7pm or keep him up and bear through the tears until 9pm?
I printed out your cheat sheet today, and plan on trying to follow that schedule starting to tomorrow. I’m hoping to get control of his naps!
Also, he still only eats about 4oz a feeding. He is eating every 1.5-2hrs, and once he is full there is no getting him to eat more. Before bed he only finishes off 2-3oz, but it still holds him through the night. Will eat just one day want more than 4oz and then go longer in between feedings, or should I coax him to eat more each feeding?
Hi,
I have an 7.5 week old baby. She is breastfed. I am wondering if I could get some advice. She eats every 2.5-3hrs during the day but at night she eats every 1.5-2hrs,which makes one tired mommy. She use to have a 5 hour strech from 9pm-2am but doesn’t anymore.
Hi! My baby just turned 1 month. I am having trouble sticking to a schedule like this because he wakes up at different times in the middle of the night which throws the whole schedule off for the next day. I don’t mind waking him up for feedings during the day to get to a routine but is it okay for me to wake him up in middle of the night so I can have an official schedule for him?
Hi – love this site and so glad I came across it. My daughter is 9 weeks old and I’m now trying to get her on a schedule. To-date she has been pretty good with eating every 2-3 hours and long nap periods but those have shortened for some reason. Lately I can’t get more than 45 minutes.
Today for example, she ate at 10am, we played for 30 minutes and I put her down close to 11am. She was up and crying around 11:45 and there was no settling her down to sleep longer. Any thoughts on how to get the nap longer OR if I do get her up, what is recommended until 1pm for her next feed?
Thanks so much
HI, i have been looking for a simple routine to begin as my baby girl turns 4 weeks tomorrow. I have a couple of questions:
a) at nap times, should she be settling herself is she isn’t sleepy yet or should i “parent” her to sleep to help introduce her to the routine?
b) Can you please clarify what to expect between 11pm and 7am in terms if sleep and feeding?
c) how do i incorporate expressing into this to 1) avoid issues if she sleeps longer than 4 hours at a time i become engorged and 2) if i want my husband to do the dream feed OR we want to not rush home from a night out?
Thanks so much in advance for your help
Hi! I just found your website and I’m really looking forward to trying the EASY schedule for my 5 week old. I’m a teacher as well and REALLY craving a schedule/plan for myself and this little girl!!! Just one question, (sorry if this is posted somewhere and I missed it) what do you do during the night? The sample schedule for the 4-week EASY only goes till 11:00 pm. Do you just continue the basic timeline that has been set during the day? She is breastfed with supplemental formula (I don’t have enough for her sometimes) and as of now she is eating every 1.5 – 2 hours. Sometimes even less. I think the problem is she falls asleep during feedings, which I am reading about correcting on here right now! Thanks so much for all the great information!
You mention that shush pay didn’t work for you, what did you do from 0 – 4 months before PU/PD?
I’ve been holding my 2 month old a lot because he only sleeps an hour at a time, but I’m seeing I’m making matters worse by doing this.
MeNBabySimon – If you’ve read any of my old posts, you’ll see that we were in Hell from about 2-4 months because all we did was rock Noob Baby to sleep. We did what we had to do to get her to nap and sleep… and then later we had to undo what we did (which was the sleep training part at 6 months). Honestly, I think there is no real cure to this. It doesn’t seem like any “sleep experts” say much except to try swaddling, pacifier, white noise, little bit of rocking…the usual. Wish I could be of more help, but babies just don’t know how to sleep! The one consolation is that things do get easier after 2 months! My neighbor once told me things would get better after 2 months and I thought that seemed like a totally arbitrary number. Then she was right! Quite a few parenting experts also say that after 2 months, you are able to get more of a daytime routine down…which helps with nighttime sleep as a result.
Hi there! I tried to cluster feed my 7 weeks old baby at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm (we would want him to sleep after the 8pm feed). But he is not keen on the 6pm feed and only drank 50ml / 2 oz (he is on 4 oz). Questions (1): Does this mean that cluster feeding is not for him, (2) does baby has to finish the whole bottle (4 oz) when cluster feeding? Thanks!
Angela – It’s very likely cluster feeding isn’t for him… but also, he may not eat that much at the cluster feed either. I’d play by ear and see if it even helps him sleep longer. If not, it may not be worth keeping it around. NB never took on to cluster feeds or dream feeds, so don’t stress if it isn’t for him.
I was successful following the EASY plan with #2 as he was a great sleeper from day one. #2 doesn’t sleep more than 30 mins for nap how do you adjust feeding on 2-3 schedule and sleeping to fit it together smoothly?
I could handle the few adjustments made with #1 but this little one is throwing me for a loop optimal schedule:
730/8 wake-feed
Wake time 30/40 min
Up 30 min after wake time
Rinse repeat etc….
How do you adjust? just keep up for optimal WT then put back down for another 30 min until we get closer to the 3 mark? think we are on a 2 schedule at times since know what to d since she sleep nd it is tough to get her down with out nursing to sleep
LO is 8 weeks and sleeps well at night 730 feed/bed time, wake for DF 1030ish and only wakes 1-2 before 730/8.
I just don’t know what do to during the day there is no “Y” since by the time she is down awake again. And with a 2 yo at home the only for me is during his nap but never down long enough to shower let aone nap. ugh……..
Libby – 2-3 months is that difficult period where you don’t really want to be putting them in a swing and having them accustomed to rocking to sleep, but at the same time… they are still young enough where they may need that to really help fall asleep. Are you using other methods to help with soothing? Continuing to swaddle, use a pacifier, have white noise etc. are also great mood-setters. I know how difficult it is to keep an EASY routine or any routine for that matter when your LO is basically catnapping the whole day. Noob Baby was an infamous 40 minute napper until she went through sleep training at 6 months. My suggestions are to keep as much of a consistent routine as you can so that she knows (and you know) what her sleep cues/times are. Remember to set the mood, even for naps! I’m sure this is really difficult with a 2-yo-old at home … I’ll be experiencing this in another month! But, it’s probably easy to just put her down and say, “NAPTIME!” when you’re preoccupied. Set the mood – wind down, dim the lights, read a quiet book, sing a lullaby or have some white noise, swaddle, etc. and that may also help ease into the naptimes. Good luck!
Thank you for the reply. my concern is by keeping to a 3 schedule and given her sleep routine we end up with this:
745f/8 wake feed
9 nap (we get a decent one here 1)
10 wake
11 nap but this gets us to her feed
Since she does about 30/45 min could let her sleep and feed after or feed her but that leads to a nursed induced sleep. we then follow a 30 min sleep 1 wake which is tolerable. we follow the same routine albeit shorter than w #1 but w him running around have to get her down and keep him out of trouble she falls asleep within minutes.
Do you follow a cluster feed? if so how long does a babe do it? #2 is 21 weeks ow and we an only get a 3 hour routine all day long a few days a week. usually by 4pm she switches to a 2/2.5 routine.
Should put her down prior to her feeding when we get close? am torn if put her down know l’ll only get 30 min but if feed may get 30- an hour……
Not sure how to modify…
I need to say THANK YOU for posting this! I stumbled across this post (and your blog…more on that in a sec) one night around 3am while I was doing my usual Googling “how to get your baby to sleep more” on my iPhone while I nursed my own Noob for what felt like the 25th time that night. We started the EASY schedule a few days ago and HOLY LORD has it made a huge difference! I am a teacher as well, and I live and die by routine and predictability (as do kids, IMO). I hated the feeling of being totally helpless as to what the heck his deal was when he was screaming bloody murder for the 40 minute car ride home from the winery (true story). Your blog along with Troublesome Tots’ blog showed me the light! Thank you for saving my sanity!
On another note, I’m now an official Noob Mommy fan. Your blog is hilarious and informative, two things I love. I feel like I could have written half the things you say (minus the wisdom from experience though). Thanks so much!
Nicole – Thanks so much for your comments! So glad you found my blog. Congrats on your new little one and joining the noob parents club 🙂
Nicole – So glad you stumbled upon my blog and I hope you’ll continue to subscribe/read! Congrats on your new little one and hopefully you are learning the ropes of being a noob parent 🙂
Hi, you have a very helpful site. I will try follow this plan, just a few questions with my 7 week mold, he sleeps for about three hours and is awake for 3. We have our morning and afternoon naps but he wont nap during the evening, i know its not meant to be for long but git takes alot of effort to put him down and hit doesnt feel like he gets enough rest. How long could it take to establish, is it vital to have 2 catnaps or can hi do 1 put together, it has easier 3 hourly he sleeps longer just doesnt settle hin the evening :/
Jenny – I would say the two catnaps are not essential … combining into one that isn’t too late in the evening may be sufficient as long as your LO doesn’t seem overtired. Overtired = Worse nighttime sleep. At 3 months old or so, you can start shifting towards a predictable routine. Before then, it’s really hard to have any routine at all.
I have my lo in a routine but she has her feed at 8pm and then sleeps from 9 ish till 3. Then feeds at 3 and sleeps till seven . Can I change this by adding a dream feed at night so she sleeps till 7 instead of waking at three or am I best stick with this till she is being weaned ?
I tried it last night and she fed at 11 then woke at 2 I gave her a dummy and she grissled till 3 then screamed till I fed her ! I don’t want her to expect a feed at 11 and 3 . What should I do as the sleep from 9-3 is great and I don’t want to risk losing it ?
Samantha – Not sure how old your LO is. It depends on her age and if she is even capable of sleeping for that long of a stretch yet?
P.S. thank you for this website! You rock!
Hi!
If baby is sleeping longer than 45min during catnap do you wake them? Also, if my baby gets tired after 30 min of activity how do you go out and about and run wrrands, see girlfriends, go to dinner etc…?
Thank you-Amy
Help. my 10 week old is going 4 hours between feeds is waking at 2am for a feed and wakes again at 4am. at my wits end so tired. i notice he should be on the 3 hour easy but he goes 4 hours. not sure what to do. he takes between 6 and 5 oz. im stuck!
Hey there noob mommy 🙂 kudos on the site! I’m going to try E-A-S-Y and see if our LO likes it any better than his current routine….he’s currently 2 months old we just beat c*l*c *shudders* I’ve had him on a 4h schedual and he’s been great except everytime he hits a growth spurt It takes a good week n a half to get him readjusted; so i’m hoping maybe the 3h feeds and additional naps will help…..my question is everytime he feeds (like as soon as he gets the nipple in his mouth) he falls asleep….he still eats slowly but the E-A-S-Y method says not to let them sleep during/ following a feed? Is this important? How do I get him to stop sleep-eating? Thanks!!!
Smiling – Yes, you wanna try and keep your LO awake during feedings so he stays awake to get the fatty hindmilk (which will fill up his belly and not just make him drowsy). If you don’t, he’ll only get his “appetizer course” the foremilk and eventually wake up hungry very soon after. This pattern may turn him into a snacker, which is disruptive to scheduling and sleep overall. If you can, try to keep him engaged during feeding, maybe talking to him, sitting him more upright, or rolling his palm (Baby Whisperer doesn’t recommend tickling feet). Also, Dr. Sears suggests you feed them until you see them get drowsy, then sit him up, burp him, and switch breasts. When he gets sleepy again, do the same thing and switch back to the first breast. I haven’t tried this technique, but it may help him from falling asleep. Good luck!
hi 🙂 i should of mentioned he’s on formula… he’ll still finish his bottle while he sleeps (in fact its less of a fight if he’s asleep) he just takes longer to finish it 🙂 perhaps where he is eating his whole serving; and theres no difference in the ‘milk’ consistancy this doesnt apply to us? I’m having a terrible time getting him back on a daytime schedual as well (he’s still generally great at night thank goodness 😀 :P) he wants to eat on average every 2 hours – would this be normal for a growth spurt or is there something else I should be doing? And how do I know when a growth spurt is over and he doesn’t need to be feed so often anymore? or for future reference once he’s back on a schedual how can one tell when an ‘unschedualled growth spurt’ is coming, versus just a fussy spell – ie when should i start feeding him more often and when should i just let him CIO until his next schedualled feed? sorry for all the questions; i’m really new at this!! Thanks for your help 🙂
Hi there. I have a 4 month old who is on the 3 hour EASY schedule and is exclusively breastfed. I have been having trouble lately getting him to go back to sleep early morning. in the evening he eats at 6pm followed by a bath and then falls asleep until his next BF at 11pm. He then sleeps until 2:30 or 3am but will not sleep for a long stretch after this feed. He wakes up every 1 to 2 hours. Any ideas on what I could do to encourage better sleep until 7am?
Kellie – Not sure if your little one uses a paci or still enjoys being swaddled. White noise may also be helpful still. I do remember a 4 month growth spurt and period of more frequent waking. Hopefully your little one will get over the hump. If the more frequent wakings is something new, it could also be a developmental milestone, teething, etc. Keep with a regular routine and be consistent with what you were doing before that encouraged good sleep. If it’s just a phase, growth spurt, and not illness… then it may be get better again.
Kellie – Not sure if your little one uses a paci or still enjoys being swaddled. White noise may also be helpful still. I do remember a 4 month growth spurt and period of more frequent waking. Hopefully your little one will get over the hump. If the more frequent wakings is something new, it could also be a developmental milestone, teething, etc. Keep with a regular routine and be consistent with what you were doing before that encouraged good sleep. If it’s just a phase, growth spurt, and not illness… then it may get better again.
hi. I am using easy with my 3 month old and it works great. I did have to tweak a bit BC she tends to eat every 2 1/2 hrs. I am having trouble with bedtime though. I have a 21 month old as well. I feed her @ 5:15, put her in bath after @5:45, let her play while i feed baby, then i bathe baby, followed by joint story time and rocking. Both fall asleep but as soon as i leave toddlers Room. And put baby in bassinet in my room she is wide awake until her next cluster feed around 8:30 and sometimes
until 10 after feeding. Its a bit tricky BC i have two and do both at same time. I really need help with getting 3 month old to stay asleep between 7:30-10.
She is very fussy and I have to hold her the whole time
this doesn’t leave much time for cleaning up and shower
. Thank u
Let me start off by saying I love this Blog!!!! I have a couple of questions. My son is 2.5months and I just started him on this schedule. I wish that I would have know about it before. I used to feed him to sleep so I was worried about how he would transition…he has done great. With every nap time he goes to sleep awake, but here is question number 1….I always give him his binkie to fall asleep, is that a bad thing to do? the only time that he seems to need his binkie is when he is sleeping cause he is such a happy kiddo. My next question is that I have done this routine for 2 days now and he isn’t sleeping any longer at night. He is still up every 2-3hrs to eat. I have done the dream feeding and followed the schedule almost exactly. What do I do when he wakes up at 12:30 to eat…do I feed him or let him CIO. Thank you so much for being so helpfu.. You can even email me if you would like too. ksommers14@ymail.com
Katie- The binkie is not a problem. It does prove to be a great soothing device for our little ones. It’s also been linked to a reduced rate of SIDS, which is interesting! Since your LO is only 2.5 months, I would say it is much to soon to start CIO. CIO should be started around 5-6 months, once baby’s belly is big enough to hold more nutrients through the night. Right now, a 2-3 hour feeding schedule is very normal, albeit quiet inconvenient during the middle of the night. My experience is that EASY is a great guideline, but if you expect everything to go exactly as she has it written, you may set yourself up for failure. Be flexible, know that things will get better in a couple months, and if not… then you can consider CIO training. Good luck!
I followed a very loose eat-play-sleep routine with my first, and decided to be very loose and on-demand with my new baby, at least until she’s 3 months. Well, she’s approaching that, and I’m craving some kind of routine. We have no structure, and her naps and bedtime are all over the place. An issue we’re having is that she’s started taking very short naps (she had been doing catnaps morning and afternoon, with a 2-3 hour nap mid-day). Also, she’s ready for bed very, very early. (And I know babies to like an early bedtime, but this is really early.) Some nights it’s anywhere from 4:30-5:30, although we’ve had later bedtimes as well. Those early nights, we haven’t been able to get her ready or establish any kind of bedtime routine, because we’re in the middle of dinner and taking care of our oldest child. When these “catnaps” turn into the long stretch of sleep, should we wake her and get a more reasonable bedtime (and so she can get in another feeding and not have her last bottle in the afternoon)? I tried that a couple times, but she was so incredibly fussy and would not eat (she’s very business and will not eat when she wants to sleep — no nursing or bottle ’til drowsy for us). We ultimately had to put her right back down. I’ve even tried keeping this nap in the living room w/ activity, but she’ll still want to start her long stretch. Any advice?? I’m sure this will all change as she gets older and as spring arrives (and it’s not dark at 4:30), but right now we’re struggling.
Traci- That’s a tricky predicament, and it sounds like you have a good instinct and previous experience warning you that those late afternoon catnaps may be encroaching on her night time sleep. My instinct (and I’m not a doctor) is the same as yours. I think if her late afternoon (4:30-5:30) nap is going into 7 pm/bedtime, you should try and rouse her. Perhaps you can take a gradual approach over the span of a week or so. Wake her a little earlier each time so that she gets used to it. But it does seem like a good idea that she is separating her naps from bedtime and squeezing in the time for dinner. According to the Baby Whisperer’s 3-HR EASY, shoot for naps around 8:30 am/11:30/2:30/5 or 6. Maybe that extra 2:30 nap is one that she’s missing and making her sleep longer in the evening?
Hello – can you give me some advice on getting my 11 week old baby to sleep during the day? I’ve only been able to get him to sleep during the day in the buggy or the car and both of these don’t seem to be working anymore and I’ m worried that he’s now only getting a couple of hours sleep a day. He seems to fight sleep and cries alot. Do you have any suggestions for good, solid sleep during the day? I have been following a routine but he has only followed it when in the buggy/car, and refuses to sleep in his cot. Thank you!
So I have put my LO on a schedule using the easy routine. I love it. I get a lot of slack from people because I wake my baby to feed him on the schedule. Should I be doing this? Or should I let him sleep as long as he wants? That is what I was doing before and it was driving me crazy because I didn’t know if I was coming or going. My LO is thriving according to the doctor. He is 10 weeks old and still gets up once at night to feed but before I put him on a schedule and woke him he was getting up multiple times at night.
New Mom – Congratulations for finding a schedule that works for you! If you are happy and your LO is happy on this schedule, who cares what the other moms think?! There are always going to be nay-sayers and people who think they know how to parent your child. Ok, with that said… if your LO is sleeping well through the night and gaining weight healthily, then you may want to relax and let him sleep longer (and you can sleep at night too!). But, if you think that messes up his schedule during the day for whatever reason, then it just might not be worth it for you and your peace of mind. Again, it’s all a matter of what your personal preference is and what type of schedule he thrives in the most. Also, you can have a routine even with him sleeping for a good chunk of time. Both the 3 and 4 Hour EASY routines allow for a long nap time. Is he going way beyond 1-2 hour naps?
My 13 week old is already on the 4 hour EASY schedule and she is doing great. I know in the next few months she will be able to stay awake longer…… WHen this happens do I keep her naps at 1 1/2 – 2 hours and then just extend her to a longer time between feeds (say 5 hours) or does she just stay on the 4-hour routine but her awake time is just 2- 2 1/2 hours and her sleep/nap time decreases? Does this make sense?
Alexis- As they get older, their in between feeding times will stretch out longer until, of course, they are basically eating at the same times as adults (breakfast, lunch, dinner with snack times scattered between) – around 1+ years. At this point, I wouldn’t go to far past 4 or 5 hours between feeding because your daughter is still growing quickly. I would ask her pediatrician next time about feeding and also confirm that she’s gaining weight at a healthy rate. If all is ok, then you can continue with the 4-5 hour schedule based on what she needs. You’ll notice that with intermittent growth spurts, sometimes they’ll want to eat A LOT and FREQUENTLY, and other times they’re just on a regular routine. Again, I wouldn’t decrease her sleep/nap time. If she is napping and sleeping well (very important for their brain development), relish that time and don’t stress yourself out 🙂 You can continue to use the 4-hour EASY as your guide with tweaks based on your own experience until about 6 months when she starts some solids. Good luck!
Ok so I will just keep her on the 4-hour EASY with about 2 hours wake time and then 2 hours of naptime until at least 6-7 months correct?
Yes, she is gaining weight excellent. I bought a baby scale at 4 weeks and I weigh her before and after each feed to log her intake and weight. She is now at 16 weeks and is one pound away from doubling her birth weight. 🙂
Thanks for your help and for creating this site, sometimes I feel like I will know when it is time to stretch out her feeds but sometimes I get so many opinions from family members….some who think i should be keeping her up longer each month and others who think that she should feed and sleep whenever, wherever….
I love the structure of EASY and we follow the Baby Whisperer for feeding and the Ferber method for sleeping (although she never really cries, she just fusses/whines). I love that you have resources for both on your site. 🙂
I am struggling with the 4pm schedule. my little one does very well generally with the routine through the day and night, and is nicely stretching hours through the night for longer periods.. I wake him at 4pm for a feed, then there is no chance of getting him back to sleep for a catnap before the bed/ bath time routine arrives, he simply wont settle.. so he stays awake until his bath, last feed and bed for 7pm, when I am sure he must be over tired, without the nap.. any suggestions??? help!!
Annie – I can see that if he’s getting a nice restful nap in all the way till 4pm, perhaps your little guy won’t be ready for another catnip around 5ish. Does he actually seem overtired at 7pm? You can always scoot your schedule up a little bit and shoot for an earlier bedtime if that’s the case. Otherwise, he might be so rested around 4 that you can just keep your activities nice and mellow, earlier bedtime routime, and early bedtime, then possibly a dream feed later on. Play around with your schedule and see which works best for both of you. You don’t have to stick to EASY so rigidly if he’s happy and rested. Those are just guidelines. Good luck!
Hello!
I just stumbled across your blog looking for 3-hour schedules for my 7-week old. It is exactly what I was looking for! I do have some questions that I would love to get your take on (please excuse me if this information is already in a post of a comment!).
My sweet son hasn’t slept in his crib yet. He sleeps in the pack and play in our room. This was completely our doing as we were paranoid first parents and didn’t want to take our eyes off him for the first few weeks…now, he has no interest being in his crib. Also, he has a hard time going to sleep unless we are walking him around…again, our doing. Just as Tracey Hogg says in BW, parents get tired of doing this as soon as their backs ache. Well, we are at that point.
I have read BW a few times now, and I am still not 100% sure how to break him of these habits we have set up for him: (1) not sleeping in his crib or actually anywhere we aren’t, and (2) how to get him to settle down on his own. He goes CRAZY when he gets too tired as many children do, and if I could put him down somewhere after he has his first yawn, our household would be so much happier! He sleeps very well (1 – 2 hour naps and 4 to 5 hour stretches at night) whenhe finally gets to sleep.
We are now stretching his feedings to 3 hours (he is 100% breastfed), and he is adapting just fine. We have been so lucky with breastfeeding, but the sleeping (especially napping) is killing us.
Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!
My baby is currently a month old. He eats 2 oz every 2hours. I wish he would sleep longer at night but he only gets about 2-2.5 hours before he wakes for a feeding. How can I adjust this schedule and use dreamfeeding to help him sleep longer? It seems the dreamfeeding times are his normal times for a feeding (every 2 hours). If he eats more than 2 oz, he always spits up. I’m confused about the amount to give as well. If he normally eats 2 oz, lets say at 7pm, after a bath do I feed him .5 oz, 1 oz or another 2 oz an hour later? Any help would be great since I’m so confused, I’m just a mom who would love to see my baby sleep longer than 2 hours each night.
Having trouble with starting this routine. My main concern is “E” atm. Although there are many other challenges to tackle afterwards. My son refused nursing a few weeks ago. Since then he has been bottle/formula-feeding. I can only get him to eat 2 oz most of the time. Sometimes he’ll drink less, sometime he’ll want more and I’ll have to prepare another and by then, he doesn’t want to eat anymore although he continues to suck his hands. I am wondering how I can create a schedule with this issue! He will not eat enough to let himself have activity and then eventually sleep. He’ll want to eat so many times through 2 hours, most of which is wasted…. I don’t know what to do besides let him cry it out (which I really do not want to do) to get him on a schedule….
Marissa – How old is your son?
Hi. Love your website-super helpful! I too am following the easy schedule for my 5 week old boy. He is doing great and eating every 3 hours during the day and usually going 6 hours after the last cluster feed at night (waking about 3 am to feed). However, the dream feeds don’t seem to work for us, so we have just been sticking to doing two cluster feeds at night. I know the book recommends transitioning to no cluster feeds at 8 weeks…any suggestions on how to successfully do this?? Since the dream feed doesn’t work for us I am thinking that just stopping the cluster feeding is not going to work and he will start waking up again more frequently during the night. But I would love to not have to do the cluster feeds every night. Any suggestions on how to stop the cluster feeds or any of your own experience with this would be appreciated! Thanks
Lauren – Cluster feeding and dream feeds (particularly) didn’t really have much effect on NB. Even after she had her DF, she would still wake up a few hours later, so we quickly dropped that part of our routine. I’m thinking that you may be able to continue cluster feeding a little after 8 weeks with the intent of transitioning off of it by 3 months so that he can be on a 3-hr EASY schedule. That should be your near-future goal (3-hr EASY) so that his eating will be more regular and stretched out during the day. So in the meantime, you can continue for a while longer or start dropping a cluster feed and see what happens. It’s always an experiment, and just when you think you’ve got everything figured out… they go through a growth spurt and throw everything out the window! In the long run, you don’t really need the cluster feed anyway because their little tummies are slowly starting to hold more calories between feedings anyway. Good luck!
Okay, I’m trying this easy method (my son is 2 months old now) and its not as easy as i thought lol. morning starts out great, but after the first nap it just goes downhill. First off, my son NEVER takes a nap longer than 30 minutes, and he wakes up cranky! I even lay him down awake for him to fall asleep on his own (he actually does this excellently, i don’t even need to help him) but he wakes up crying 30 minutes later. so once he’s up, and mad because he didn’t sleep enough. I will try to get him to go back to sleep but it doesn’t work, so i just rock with him on my chest until he stops crying and snoozes again….this goes on every day. He sleeps great in his crib tho! he can sleep at an 8 hour span without even sturring. how do I get him to nap longer in his crib? I’ve let him fuss a little on his own, but he just wakes himself up more, and I’ve blocked out the sun and have white noise going, but nothing works, and he just cries all day long if he doesn’t sleep for an hour or more at a time (which is never).
One other problem I have, which i think is more a pediatrician concern, but after his first morning bottle, he is not really interested in eating anymore. Every time he cries after its been 3 or even 4 hours I will offer him a bottle, but he really doesn’t want too much to do with it. in the morning he can suck down 7 ounces like its nothing, but after that he takes one, maybe two ounces and he’s done. I more or less have to force another 1 to 2 ounces into him after that. He’s gaining weight great! (he weighs 14 lbs already; he was 9 lb 1 oz at birth) but if i went with his cues to eat, I feel like he would never eat! (one time I let him go 5 hours and he still didn’t get too hungry)…plz tell me your thoughts I’m struggling and I need all the advice I can get
I mean he sleeps at night in his crib great. during the day he doesn’t sleep good anywhere unless its on my chest.
Hi Crystal – It sounds like the 8hr night time stretches is something you should be really appreciating! That is very unusual at this age and any sleep-deprived mom would be jealous. As for naps, we always had difficulty getting NB to sleep longer than 40 minutes. It was the evil 40-minute nap that drove me up the wall. I had no solution for it, unfortunately, and I tried all the techniques suggested in various parenting books. For us, the cure finally came after we sleep trained her at 5-6 months. How long does he snooze for if you rock him? At 2 months, it’s still hard to say what kind of sleep pattern is going to develop with your little one. Within a month or two, things should be settling into more of a routine and you can reevaluate the naps. As for the feeding issue, I’d say you should definitely direct that question to your Ped. It’s great that he’s gaining weight steadily and healthy! But his lack of interest in eating is very unique! If you get an answer, please come back here and let us know what the ped says. I’m very curious!
Hi! Love your site!
So, my son is 8wks and we’ve gotten into the horrible habit if him sleeping only on my chest or in the baby Bjorn. (always said I’d never do that!) Anyway, my husband and older son are going to be gone for a few days so I am going to try the baby whisperer techniques to get the lo to sleep in his crib. I have just a couple questions that I felt weren’t clear in the book:
1. Right now he wakes every 3-4 hours at night to ear as long as I’m holding him. If I lay him down he may last 20 mins. How will I know when to just pick him up to calm him and when to feed him at night?
2. My older son attends a special school that is an hour round trip away. Little brother hates being in the car more than 15-20 minutes. He ends up screaming and getting overtired by the time we get home. It really messes with the EASY schedule too since we are in the car 8:30-9:30 and 1:30-2:30. Then when we get home in the afternoon, I have big brother to deal with too (he’s loud too…keeps lo awake!) any suggestions? LO will not sleep in the car unless he screams himself to exhaustion. 🙁
Julie- This is a good time to get your little one slowly transitioned to a 3-hour EASY routine. If he’s eating every 2-3 hours during the day, it sounds like he’s right on track. If he’s waking up a lot in the evening, then he may be having some other soothing issues or discomfort. Does he have any problem with reflux? I ask because you mention that he sleeps well being held up but not laying down. If this is the case, then you’ll want to look into some solutions for infant reflux/GERD. Make sure you continue to swaddle him, use some white noise and a paci too. When you feed him at night, if he just snacks a little then falls asleep until you put him down, then he’s probably not crying because he’s hungry. At this early age, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with some extra soothing techniques so that you can get some rest too. You definitely don’t want to be trapped in a situation where you’re holding him to bed every night! You need your sleep. About the school commute, it sounds like it’s a difficult battle and I feel for you. I’m surprised the little guy isn’t able to fall asleep on such a long drive. I’m sure it’s probably during his naptime too. I don’t have much help in that respect, except maybe to give him a paci before the trip, have the car mirror so he can see himself, play some relaxing music (Baby Einstein lullabies, Raffi, etc.) If he sleeps better on a full belly, perhaps feeding him before the car ride may help? Just want to make sure he won’t be spit up with the jostle of the car. I wish I could help more, but perhaps some other moms will have some suggestions for you here. Good luck!
Thank you for your suggestions! I’ve been reading the BW books, and we’ve gotten the night thing figured out, sort of. He is sleeping in his crib, but still wakes every 2-3 hours to feed (he’s 10 weeks now.) So, I’m thinking I need to feed him a bit more during the day. The carseat is still a frustrating struggle. I just feel so bad for the little guy. He’s just beside himself by the time we get home. If you think of anything else, please let me know! Thanks!
Hi! I’m trying to follow easy but having some problems and questions. Please help! I know I sound dramatic but I have no other place to turn as my doc doesn’t teach easy and I’m really focused on getting this right, because I need to sleep! I’m doing the routine but without being strict on the clock. She’s such a little person with her own ideas on when and for how long to sleep,
Question: I’ve been putting the LO in the crib every day at the same time, around 45 min to an hour and 15 min after her last nap (around 830 or 9 usually) but she has not been sleeping soundly for an horus. I’ll have to stand by by her crib and keep the pacifier in her mouth, and put it back in case it falls out. She has to be swaddled for the naps when I try to put her down. She’s in a great smiley mood with no yawning. It usually takes 20 minutes and sometimes shell wake again, sometimes she wont. What ends up happening is she wakes up an hour before her next meal so it’s more like Easyae.. We have activity before she is hungry ( usually about every 3 to 4 hours. Should I feed her after she wakes up even if she’s not hungry or is easyae fine? I’m putting her down for her first nap before she gets overtired but sometimes it feels like she us not tired at all.
Q2: do you wake them up from their naps if they sleep to long? She loves to take a nap at 1130 or 12 for 3 even 4 hours. Should I wake her to feed her or feed her whenever she wakes up?
Q3: bedtime routine, if I feed her at 7. Then wait 30 min to bathe her, play and then put her to bed at 8 or 8:30, should I wake her to feed her at 10 or 11am? Wha time should she sleep until? She she sleep right after bath?
Q4: how do I get her to not wake up for the 4am feeding? She sleeps from 10 to 3 or 4 usually.
Thanks!!!! I know, lots of questions.
Q2:
Hi Katya – I’m going to email you directly since this is a lengthy one 🙂
Hi, I’ve just started doing the EASY routine for my 6 week old but have a couple of questions…
Should you wake them if their day naps go over 2 hours?
Should I wake him to feed after the catnap (after bath time) to give him his final feed?
Do dream feeds still work if he wakes?
He wakes every 2 hours in the night but only has 5-8mins (I’m breastfeeding)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Love your website, always reading it during the night feeds!
Hi Lucy! Congrats on your noob 🙂 Waking from a nap is up to you, I’d say 2-3 hours is fine, but it’s up to your LO and how he does after the nap. Go with your instinct. A little top off before bed is fine also, and the dream feed is based on the idea that he sleeps through it and goes straight back to bed afterward. For us, the dream feed wasn’t really necessary. Waking every 2-3 hours at this age is totally normal. Once you have more of a routine down (around 3 months or so), then you may find that 2 hour wake up stretching out even further. Good luck!
Great site!
I read the secrets of the baby whisperer months before my little one arrived. I read everything I could on getting a baby to sleep in anticipation of the sleepless nights, then got given the sleepiest baby in the world! She is now 10 weeks old, and does the EASY routine pretty well. I have just started her on formula though, and now I’m confused as to when to do the feeds. The tin says she should have 5 feeds a day, but on EASY and breastmilk she’s been having 6 or 7. We normally do 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm, 11pm and usually 3am, although she has slept through the night before. My other query, is how long she should be awake for. It says that you can expect your baby to take up to 20 minutes to fall asleep, but Danica can often take 20 seconds and she’s gone. That then means that she’s often sleeping for 2 hours between feeds. She tends to finish a bottle in about 15 mins, then I cannot keep her awake longer than an hour before she gets grumpy, telling me she’s tired. Essentially that means that she is only awake for 4 – 5 hours max at 2 months old. Is this okay?
Hi Abby – It sounds like you have the EASY routine down pretty good! You’ve got consistency and predictability, which is great! The 3-hour EASY is working well for you. I’d say that things sound great and the fact that she’s eating well and then sleeping well is wonderful. Don’t worry about keeping her awake. You certainly don’t want to keep her up if she’s becoming overtired and grouchy. That would make things worse for her. Congrats on your noob!
I just found out about the baby whisperer book and am going to order it today. My daughter is five weeks tomorrow and we are having the hardest time getting her to sleep at night. Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all until about 4am. I am starting to worry about how I am going to go back to work next month. She does not want to be put down. I can feed her, burp her, change her, swaddle her, give her a paci, lay her down and she screams until I pick her back up. I tried letting her cry for a few minutes but it doesn’t seem to do any good so then I end up picking her back up and in the end she ends up sleeping with us which I really don’t like because I am afraid she will get rolled on.
Do you have any recommendations on how to lay her down in her own bed at this age? Thanks!
Nicolle – I have to be honest, we totally didn’t know what we were doing the first few months with Noob Baby. She refused to sleep in her bassinet and crib, so she ended up sleeping in her bouncy seat and swing for the first couple months. I thought she’d be a hunchback. Does your LO enjoy the rocking motion? Does she like tight spaces like her bouncy or car seat? Does she prefer to be propped at an incline? If she really fusses a lot (particularly after a feeding) and doesn’t want to lay down, it may be reflux. But it could be that she just wants to be held tight and cuddled (like the womb feeling). Continue with the swaddling and paci, use white noise if that soothes her … and last resort … consider rocking *a wee bit*. As Dr. Karp says, the 5’s is what newborns really need and are accustomed to. You can be a hard ass and let her cry a bit or you can accept that she’s still young and you’ll have the willpower to break her of any bad habits in a few months. Sorry it’s not the most “prudent” advice, but I strongly feel that the first couple months are all about trial and error and lack of sleep. I personally don’t believe in cry it out until at least 4-5 months age. Good luck!!
Hi Nicolle,
We had the same problem(s) with our now 7 month old daughter. She would sleep happily between us in the big bed but would scream bloody murder when put in her own crib. We tried many things (letting her sleep in her pram, putting a hot water bottle in her crib, swaddling). Eventually the thing that saved us all from going insane was a co-sleeper. This is a crib or cot with only 3 sides which you can attach to your own bed. Our little madam slept in there happily as she was always close to me and yet she had her own space. Brilliant for night feeds if you are breastfeeding as well. And the ideal way to ‘train’ your baby to sleep in her own bed before actually moving her further away.
It may not work for you but thought I would suggest it!
Hi there! I am so thankful to have found your site. I am trying to implement a routine for my almost 4week old daughter. For the past four weeks (am I too late) she has done remarkably well with sleeping and nursing, however I feel like it is time to get into a groove. Right now my daughter nurses around 8:15/8:30pm and in bed and asleep by 9:30 (with a few times of shhhhing and patting) and then wakes around 1:30/2:30 am and then not again until around 6:30am. I feel extremely blessed to have her doing so well at night- that was her idea so I have rolled with it. She seems to be on more of a 4 hour nursing schedule and seems to need her nap around 1 hour and 15 min of waking (watching her cues). She then nurses around 10:30am and then again around 2:30 or 3. Often times she sleeps longer in these nap periods- should I wake her to keep her on this routine? As for her evenings, she nurses around 6:15 and then around 8:15. she is often fussy during this 2 hour span. Should I have her cat nap and then wake her at the 8:00 feeding if she sleeps longer? I don’t feel like I need the dream feed. I tried it one night and it seem to create more problems- she was gassy because she was so asleep for the feed that I could barely keep her head up to burp her. Since she is doing so well at night…is it ok to skip the dream feed? Can you talk a little more about what is “ok” habit wise for putting them down in their crib “awake?” I have been using the 4S’s from Happiest Baby on the Block and it seems to work very well for her. I have tried Baby Wise with my first child and almost had to burn that book- I can only let them cry for so long. Thank you for your advice and thoughts in advance.
Hi Maddy! It sounds like things are going really great with your routine! As long as your ped has cleared your little one with healthy weight gain, then the longer stretches may be fine for now. Obviously, if she’s not gaining enough weight, then you probably will have to wake her up from her naps and make sure she’s eating at least every 3 hours or so. Like I said, if things are going well and she seems happy, you should be relieved. You don’t need to wake her up for the dream feed if it isn’t helping much anyway. Honestly, the dream feed didn’t do much for us either. As far as habits go, that’s a tricky one. Yes, in the long run the 4S’s could develop into sleep crutches (needing to be rocked or need a pacifier), but if that works now and you are ok with breaking those habits later – get your sleep and enjoy that now. If the idea of breaking those habits later freaks you out, then you will need to start putting her down semi-awake now and let her cry *a little. According to Ferber, you shouldn’t do any CIO until 5 months of age. For me, I needed that sleep so badly I was willing to rock NB until about 5 months, at which point we called it quits for the sake of our backs! Good luck!
I have Hogg’s 2nd book, which answers all the questions, but not the first. I’m wondering what she suggests for feedings at night. My first son, I woke every 3 hours during the day and 5 hours at night. He was over 8 lbs, so I wonder if I shouldn’t have been waking him at night? I am due in a month with second son and want to be prepared, but can’t seem to find anything that says to wake a baby at night. Is that because she doesn’t recommend waking at night at all, just feeding when baby wakes?
Rebekah – If your little one is at a healthy weight and gaining well, then there isn’t really a need to wake him at night if he’s full and happy. That’s in my opinion of course. If he’s getting enough to eat during the day and your check ups with the ped are good, I’d say to enjoy your night time rest. Congrats on noob #2!
HI! Question- my 11 week old follows the EASY schedule in the morning, however, his naps are never longer than 40-45 min! Any suggestion on how I can increase the time he sleeps? Also, he still often falls asleep immediately after I feed him Usually while I am burping him, he falls asleep. In the morning, it’s hard to get him to do an activity. Again, suggestions??
Also, when you cluster feed, should I be giving a little less milk than normal feeds? (I am exclusively pumping and Bottle feeding)
Hello,
Thanx for posting all this info.
I have a few questions:
1) during the day if your baby wakes up before the 3 hour mark do you feed even if they don’t seem hungry or do you play with them until next time slot?
2) my baby will wake up between 5-6am on some days to eat and then goes right back to sleep. To keep her on the schedule do I wake her up at 7am or let her sleep and start schedule from time she wakes up?
3) if I wake her up do I try and feed even if it’s only been 1-2 hours so she can make it till next feed at 10am?
4) what if my baby wakes from nap but doesn’t seem hungry, what do I do? Lately she will get up but only take 1.5-2nd….she is 3.5 months.
Thank you!!!!
Hi Tani – Thanks for posting on my blog. It sounds like with all these questions, the best advice might be to be flexible and adjust to your little one’s needs. Use EASY as a general guideline but make adjustments based on how your little one is responding. The post I did today addressed these same concerns you have because many parents have the same questions! I don’t suggest interrupting sleep unless your baby is underweight (your ped will tell you that). If she’s sleeping well (especially at night) let her be because you will be begging for that sleep time in a few months! I also don’t recommend feeding unless your noob is hungry or it’s around the appropriate feeding time for her age (around every 3-4 hours). If it’s long past 4 hours, then go for it. But if it’s just been an hour, don’t do it … especially if she’s not showing signs of hunger. You may inadvertently train her to be a snacker if you feed her when she doesn’t need it. You can always offer a paci if she needs that sucking time. As for waking at 5-6 am, it’s up to you. You can experiment and see how the early wake time affects her overall schedule and day. I remember we used to feed and go back to sleep and it didn’t affect her morning nap (around 9-10ish) at all. It is typical for younger babies to take an early morning nap soon after her “breakfast.” Hope these suggestions help!
Hi Noob Mommy,
I’m glad I stumbled across this blog. I have the Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems Book, but unfortunately haven’t had the time to finish it (as baby came earlier than expected and I am in the midst of the first few weeks at home – aka: “the fog of war.”) I have a 10 day old I’m trying to start on EASY. He was a good sleeper at first, but I think he may be going through a growth spurt now. The thing is, the growth spurt seems to only “happen” at night. He loves to eat and snooze happily during the day. I wake him up to feed him as recommended by my pediatrician (he was 3 weeks early) on the EASY schedule. We haven’t yet instituted the catnap or bath time as he is so out cold he can’t be roused much of the time (and he doesn’t need a bath daily.) At night, however, our little snorfler becomes a fussy hungry hungry hippo of a baby and demands feeding every 2 hours despite an extra tank-up beforehand. What do you think? Is it possible he is just backwards on his circadian rhythm? We have no idea how to adjust this. : /
Thank you in advance!
Hi Infant pwning me 🙂 Great name by the way! Sorry to hear you’re getting pwned. I know the feeling … actually, I think I’m still losing this battle at 3 yrs now. You have yourself a little nooborn preemie on your hands, which means that it’s a little too soon to get caught up with the EASY schedule. It’s definitely admirable and intelligent that you have a routine and structure planned, but since he’s still so small and born early, it may be too soon to expect him to stick with anything predicable right now. Newborns also eat a lot in the first month or so. Every 2 hours is definitely not unusual. In a month or so, you can start to revisit the EASY plan but adjust it back for a preemie. If you get a chance, flip through the book for more scheduling and preemie info, because Hogg does address some of those issues in there. Best of luck to you! Congrats on your new family member.
Hi Noob Mommy,
Great website! There used to be a baby whisperer forum, but it’s now gone. I’m desperate for some advice. With my first son, I bought the book when he was 8 months and it worked so miraculously well that I swore I would use it on my second baby. Well, my second son is now 2 months and it hasn’t been working so well. Maybe because he’s not ready for pick up / put down yet. I am little confused about the EASY routine. In the book, it said not to cluster feed past 8 weeks unless going through a growth spurt, which means the feed is at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, 11. So here I am, trying to put him on a 3 hour routine, but he gets tired after his catnap (wake around 6:00pm) and he has to wait for a whole hour for the next feed (7pm). Is that right?? I tried that a few days, and he was overtired by the time I finished the feed and bath. He woke up in 20 minutes as if he had a power nap and refused to sleep altogether!! I am a little confused with Tracy’s book regarding this. Should I just keep doing it until he “grows out” of it…I mean he should be able to go longer A time as he gets older right? And also, I hate to say it, but with my first born, spending my whole entire day getting him into a good sleeping habit was OK. However, I’m really flummoxed right now juggling with 2 kids’ routines!! Any advice??
Thank you for the E.A.S.Y schedule! I’m following it for the morning and evening part. Currently reading “secrets of the baby whisperer”. =)
Pauline – Thanks for your comment. I hope you find some useful information from the Baby Whisperer. I find her books to be very practical and useful!
introducing solids….
I am sure this info is in the book, but i cant seem to find it. how do you keep a schedule when you are feeding solids. we are still on the 3 hr schedule ( she is only 11pounds at 4 months) so i think we are gonna wait another month to try solids ( even though my dr said i could start now)…but i am stressing about her EASY….can you help
Love your blog! My 11-week old breastfed baby had started lasting about 2.5-3 hours in the day between feeds, and 3.5 hours in the night. However, last 10 days or so, she has gone back to less than 2 hours – day or night! At night, she does one 3.5 hour stretch, but otherwise it’s pretty much 2 hours or even a little less! Any ideas?
Shwe – Thanks for finding my blog! I hope you subscribe as well! As for the change in feeding time. It may be that your LO is going through a growth spurt and needs to eat more. Does she eat more as well as eat more frequently? You can try adjusting so that she is getting more milk at each feeding and perhaps that will compensate for a growth spurt and for the increased hunger. I’d say just experiment a little with that for a week and see if it helps. Good luck!
Hi! I have been using the EASY plan and it’s been wonderful but I’m wondering how to get my 7 week old to go from a 2 hour schedule to the recommended 3 hour? She wakes up hungry exactly 2 hours after every daytime feed. Like clockwork…you could set your watch by it. She sleeps really well at night however. Sometimes as much as 7 hours! Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated?
Dominique – Congrats on your noob! And truly, enjoy those 7 hours at night! Most moms would give at least one kidney to have that 🙂 The best suggestion for stretching the daytime feeding is to offer a little more milk if you can so she’s getting her tummy fuller. You’ve probably already thought of that, but when they’re still at this young age… there isn’t too much you can do. The reality is they have small tummies that will grow as they get older, but until then, feed when the noob is hungry. Make sure you feed till she’s full and not just till she falls asleep or dozes off. Of course, you don’t want to fill her up so much that she spits up, but you catch my drift. I’d say that you don’t have to get too caught up in the hours if you know that she’s not snacking but eating well each time. Hope that helps! Best to you.
Thank you for this article! If I had brought another parenting book into the house, my husband would probably have a conniption. Luckily, I got the gist of the Baby Whisperer book right here and have been doing this routine (with a few tweaks here and there for out little one) for weeks now and it’s made all the difference in the world! The hardest part was getting her to stay awake for a little while after feedings, but once that hurdle was over with, it’s been great. She still has her off-days, like Easter when there was house-hopping, as well as a lot of people for her to deal with. But I’ve found that as long as she has the same bedtime routine, she sleeps just fine and it’s like a reset button for her. Thank you for this!
Thanks for your comment Emily! I also try to stop purchasing all these parenting books. You should see how many books I check out from the library though 🙂 I say it’s all in the name of parenting and blog research!
Sorry did that not make any sense. I’ll try again.
On an afternoon I can never make out what Gracie’s need is. We havent yet worked out what cry signals which. Whether she’s tired, hungry, over tired, wanting to play etc. So I was looking on the internet for some guideance of what kind of afternoon a 6 week old might have, which is when I came across E.A.S.Y. As Gracie’s morning folllows this almost identically, I would like to try and continue it through the rest of the day. Matter is of having already established a bedtime routine. I was just wondering whether u had any advice on how I could follow the EASY steps but also keep the bedtime routine as it is. Maybe just have the five EASY steps, rather than six. Putting the two cat naps together. But then would I have an over tired baby or whatever?
HELLO!! thank you for all your help with establishing a routine. My 13 week old just moved up to 4 oz every 3 hours, should I still wait until the 4th month to move her to the E.A.SY. schedule for 4 hour eat?
i do give her an extra 2 oz at 5:30-6, then we do bath and she does her night time botle about 7-730. I think i will drop that once she goes every 4 hours to eat, what do you think?
Jenna – I think it depends on how much our LO is eating. If she’s chugging down more now and can go a longer stretch without eating (longer than 3 hours) then you could potentially start transitioning her to a 4 hour EASY. I think the idea is that usually at 3 months, their tummies aren’t able to hold that much anyway, so they’ll still get hungry before 4 hours. But, you should experiment and see what makes your daughter happy! Also, you may still have to keep some sort of nighttime bottle just so she can sleep longer at night. Again, play around with that a bit and see what schedule works best for you both!
1st…i love this website!!
I wasnt planning on dropping the nighttime bottle, i meant dropping the cluster feed, but when i do she takes her night time bottle and the wakes up 2 hrs later. It is still the best way i can “fill her up” since she wont take more than 4 oz at a time. the book says i should have dropped the cluster feed….but onthe other hand i dont do the dream feed ( didnt work for us). do you think it is ok? Maybe when she goes to a 4 hr she will not need the cluster and will just take the bedtime bottle. How did you do the 4 hr feed? sis you follow the instructions in the book to get your kid on it?
Thanks for your comment Jenna! Dream feed didn’t work for us either. There are actually quite a few Baby Whisperer techniques that didn’t work with NB (dream feed, shush pat, etc) but I still love her strategies and routines. Anyway, once you get your little one taking more milk during the day (and that also comes with age and stomach capacity), she will start sleeping for longer stretches. At 4 months, I slowly started tacking on a few extra minutes in between feedings till eventually she didn’t fuss when we were feeding every 4 hours. It was a gradual transition stretched about a week long.
Hi, my little girl is 6 weeks old. She has getting herself into a great morning routine, which is almost identical to the E.A.S.Y steps. The problems start later on in the afternoon. We begun establishing a bedtime routine a few days ago. Bottle at 7, bath at 8 (which she loves – being a water baby!) then bedtime. Shes following this really well. Do u have any suggestions of how I could work around this? She’s a good sleeper so maybe we could try stretching her cat naps into one……….worth a go!
Thanks 🙂
Hi Sarah! Thanks for your comment. Not sure what your question is though? You mentioned about how you need suggestions on working around a problem. Can you shoot me an email with your question again?
Hi, my little girl is 6 weeks old. She has getting herself into a great morning routine, which is almost identical to the E.A.S.Y steps. The problems start later on in the afternoon. So we begun establishing a bedtime routine a few days ago. Bottle at 7, bath at 8 then bedtime. Shes following this really well. Do u have any suggestions of how I could work around this? She’s a good sleeper so maybe we could try stretching her cat naps into one……….worth a go! Thanks!
HI there,
I came across your blog while searching for baby routines – you have alot of great information posted. I do have a few questions – if you had errands to do during the day, when did you do them? Was there a certain time during the schedule? Also did your baby eat all of her feedings during the cluster feeding time? I think that I’m going to give it a try and just see what happens!
Thank you so much,
Geri
Hi Geri – Thanks for visiting my blog. Please subscribe as well! Noob Baby and I have always been pretty busy running errands and the like during the day since she was young. There’s no putting those tasks off, and I think it’s a great idea to get out of the house and get fresh air. The best thing is to get your errands done in a manageable time frame, and try to be back for most of the naps. Or depending on how young your little one is, they can be very content napping in the car seat or stroller (just don’t make it a regular habit or they won’t like sleeping in the crib later on IMO). I recommend just doing a few errands on a trip when it works best for you. Late morning (perhaps after the first long morning nap) to late afternoon (before the last nap) is a good time. Of course, don’t do it when your LO is cranky or overstimulated. Visiting too many places in one day can cause an eventual meltdown when you least want it.
As for the cluster feed, we did do this for awhile, but eventually it didn’t seem to make too much of a difference in her nighttime sleep. I say give it a try and see if helps your LO sleep longer at night. If not, no big deal! Best to you 🙂
Thanks you so much! I love reading your blog. I just started a blog myself and started the JM 30 day shred as well.
Take care,
Geri
Another issue…it takes her an hr to eat all of her btle…sometimes longer
I am wanting to start this with my 8 week old but am anxious. She hasn’t been to her crib yet, and naps are rare. Cat naps for about 15 min but sometimes a 2 hr one. I need something before I go crazy…and back to work. Is it best to start this one morning?
How much do u feed at cluster feeds?
She hates her back…ugh…
Please help!
I am ready to move her to her room, and hope this works, and hope daycare doesn’t mess her up. Can I tweak it for day care?
Currently she goes to bed at 10, up at 130 and again at 530 and will sleep till 9! I need to get her to go to bed earlier, and have tried, but it isn’t working
Jenna- Congrats on your little one! It isn’t too soon to start implementing EASY for your 8 week old. But, have an open mind going into this. Know that your schedule isn’t going to look identical to the EASY sample. You’ll have to adapt, be flexible and know when to let go and not be hung up on the minutes. With that said, start creating a structure day for your little one with the E-A-S-Y pattern in mind. Try and encourage naps and bedtime in crib if possible. Use comfort techniques such as swaddling, pacifier, lulling music, white noise, and maybe a little rocking if necessary. Be sure to catch naps and bedtime EARLY! No 10:30 bedtimes. Start shifting everything earlier so she’s not overtired. It sounds like you are already trying to do that … so props to you! Cluster feed is like a little “top off” before she goes to bed, so she has a fuller belly going into nighttime sleep. This may or may not work for you – so adjust if needed. As far as taking an hour to eat. Is she falling asleep during feedings? Are there any other difficulties besides being a slow eater? Is she snacking a lot? Is she at a healthy weight? It’s possible she’s a slow eater, but perhaps there are other issues at play. Email me if you want to chat more about the feeding and I’ll try my best to help ya! Good luck 🙂
i have successfully gotten her to sleep at 830 fir 3 nights. she has bee napping in her crib, hates it, but is atleast doing it fir 30 min how do i adjust that? she is doing bette about eating at 3 hr instead of 2.5.
she falls asleep and i try to wake her to eat, doesnt work all the time. 🙁 i have also been trying to get to her before she wakes up crying to feed her.
as for the cluster, i cant even get her to finish her bedtime bottle, so not sure she will cluster feed?
I just love, Love your blog! I was wondering what it means to “cluster feed?” also any ideas why my little guy doesn’t sleep through the night? he is 3 months this week. I feed him a 6oz bottle at 10pm and he usually wakes between 3-4am. to only take 2-3oz, then back to sleep. He eats a 10, 2, & 6 throughout the day. Any ideas? Hope to hear from you soon.
Hello and thank you for such an informative blog! I have a question. How to proceed with the schedule when a baby wakes up at 5am? Feed a little or somehow make him wait till 7am? (seems impossible) Thank you very much in advance!!
NMom – The goal would be to try and drag out the feeding time a little longer till you are closer to your 7 am wake up 🙂 Easier said than done! I think realistically most noobs are waking up quite early until they hit about one yr or so. We definitely had early wake ups over in the Noob household. I just tried to adjust the EASY schedule accordingly. Find a reasonable schedule that works for you without making everyone cranky 🙂 Good luck!
Maggie – Thanks for reading my blog and leaving me a comment. Cluster Feeding is also referred to as “tanking up” in the Baby Whisperer book. The idea is to fill the little one up within an hour or two after his/her last feed. Ideally, you’d be increasing the nighttime stretch with the extra milk in tummy. I have to admit, cluster and dream feeds just didn’t work for us, but I say it’s worth a try and see if it does work for you guys. As for your little noob, 3 months is still early to be sleeping through the night. And FYI, most consider sleeping through the night a 5 hour stretch. So, it sounds like you’re pretty on target for this stage. Give it a few more months, and if the wake ups seem more habitual than out of hunger, feel free to email me and I’ll let you know how our sleep training helped with that!
Hi Noob Mom,
Thanks so much for the encouragement and insight. Truly appreciated! I’m overjoyed to report that since I’ve been more relaxed about putting us all on a schedule :), the baby self transitioned to a 4 hour schedule and began sleeping 9+ hours at a time! Woohooo! Naps are getting better, but I’m trying not to stress too much about it, as I hope that they will eventually fall into place. Thanks again! Emy
Hi Noob Mom,
Thanks so much for the encouragement and insight.
How does EASY work for Premie Babies?
I have a premie baby born at 33 weeks.
The hospital had her on a 3 hour schedule: ESY 6 am, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9, 12, 3 (E included Burping)
She came home at 36 weeks and we tried to stick to this schedule and it was working until last week 37 week. Now she is all over the place, mostly every 2 hours she wants to eat and about one time a day, randomly, she is up and stays up until the next feeding, no S and no Y. There does not seem to be a schedule…and we are past the growth spurt that happened
She is gaining so no issue there.
She also is spitting up when I put her down in the crib, I clean it/her up and then she goes down. (She is a bit hard to burp, but she does burp–in fact burping is pretty much the only A that I have in the line up. She seems to be a happy spitter, not reflux
The good news is: She is in the crib and goes down well.
Question are
1) What is your recommendation for us ? Do I do 4 week EASY as she will be 6 weeks next week (premie) or 1 week next week (actual due date). Basically how it
2) How to rid of the spit up when I lay her down. Maybe I need to insert the A into the schedule so she has time to digest ?
3) Is it normal for a schedule to be 6:30 am (20 breastfeed), 8:30 am (30 breastfeed), 10:30 (60 on-off breastfeed), 1:30 (breastfeed). I just want a more constant schedule, but am I asking too much or am I setting up bad habits. Mostly I do not want to set up bad habits. What we do now is: She wakes, change diaper, feed, burp attempt for up to :30 min, put her down, she spits up a small puddle, pick up, clean off (do not change sheet or her), she sleeps 2 hours, leaving me 1 Y hour.
4) Waking at 3:30 am and feeding for 3-7 minutes…should I just give a paci?
5) I am not comfortable with the dream feed (personal issue with the force feed)….I can cluster feed, but again is cluster feeding ok for me to implement
6) Is there a list of A’s?
Hello! Boy oh boy am I happy to have found you! I cannot imagine how you have found the time and energy to take on this project, but I am so grateful! THANK you!
So I have a 12-week-old girl and like “Emy” am overwhelmed with all the different theories. You seem to be the most practical about implementing all of this, and so I too, and interested to hear your response to Emy, as I am in a similar boat, schedule-wise with the waking every 45-minutes. (although she is currently in a growth spurt, eating every 1-2 hrs).
My other question, however (which I can’t find addressed anywhere else yet–I apologize if I’ve missed it), is this: We set up her play mat in her crib where she can bat and kick and play with toys, mostly because I feel she is safest in there, rather than on the floor (where she could get licked by our dog), and due to lack of space. She does NOT fall asleep on her own when laid down for sleep, but rather will fall asleep if swaddled and shh’ed and held and patted for a couple minutes. Do you think that the problem is that we let her have play/wake time in her crib? I really appreciate your thoughts on the subject!
Hi Noob Mom!
I made the mental fatal mistake of reading all the major books out there about baby sleeping and eating “Baby Whisperer”, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child”, “12 hours’ sleep by 12 weeks”, “Babywise” among other websites posting and articles. I think all that information has overwhelmed me to the point that I am becoming anxious because my baby is yet to be able to sleep through the night. My 4 month old baby boy and I were on a 3 hours EASY routine up to a month ago. He’s been dreamfeeding around 10:30, and is still waking up once a night sometime between 2-4 am to feed (although many of times, he only takes 1-2 oz). It has made me crazy and I can’t figure out why he is still waking up in the middle of the night for a feed. According to the books that I have read, if he is on a flexible eating schedule and doing well on it, then shouldn’t he now be able to sleep for more than 5-6 hours at a time? Do you have any thoughts about what I could do to help him along to sleeping longer hours in the night? Do you think dreamfeeding him has any benefits at this point?
Also, we are transitioning to a 4 hour EASY schedule, and he seems to be doing pretty well with the transition of eating every 4 hours. However, I’m having difficulty sorting out the activity/nap portions within the 4 hours, because my baby can only stay up for a max of 1.5 hours before needing a nap. And once he goes down, he has decided that a 45 minute nap is plenty. So these two factors result in my baby waking up from a nap and being awake for an hour or so before it’s time for his next feeding. That triggers a domino effect for his next 4 hour segments, because he is not able to stay up long after his feed, goes down for a nap sooner than later, wakes up after 45 minutes, etc… you get the idea.
Anyhow, any advice would be greatly appreciated. After reading so much about the different theories and schedules, I would love some advice/suggestions from someone who has lived and worked through it.
Thanks in advance!
Emy
Emy and Amanda – Congrats to the both of you for being such informed mothers! It sounds like you’ve certainly done your research, and I highly suggest it’s time for you to start your own blog… because you will soon be more of an expert than you think 🙂 As for your concerns… first off, I hear ya! I was on that same boat. Driving myself crazy at the 45 minute nap mark… just waiting for her to wake up. It seems like most parents that email me have that same exact problem way more than the parents who have little ones who nap for hours, right?!
Ok, first off, try and let go a little. I say this because clearly you are informed and trying your best to do the right thing. But, I know that feeling and when things don’t go by the books, you can feel overwhelmed, frustrated and ready to scream. So, just try and accept what routine you’ve got and stick with it. If it’s not exactly a “4/4” that’s ok. Just keep the E-A-S-Y pattern as much as possible. Try and stretch out the in between feeding time to as close to 4 hours as you can. The key is to not let your little one become a snacker. Make sure he is getting full (and be on the look out for growth spurts). Also keep an eye out for sleepy cues. Make sure you are putting him down before he’s overtired/overstimulated. That first morning nap may sneak up faster than you think. And if he’s up super early in the morning, try and hold back to see if he’ll fall asleep again. You don’t want to break up his nighttime sleep cycle.
As for the snacking at night… I think that’s exactly what it is. It’s habitual waking and not out of hunger. The 1-2 oz feeds is the big indicator that he’s not truly hungry. Try and tank him up before bed, and see how it goes if you cut out the dreamfeed. That never really worked for me anyway 🙂 You can try offering the binky during those night wakings or just some shush/rocking back to sleep. Try and break the habit of needing to snack at night.
Amanda – I think the play time in the crib shouldn’t really confuse your little one. At this age, the honest answer is most noobs have a hard time falling asleep on their own in the crib. It does require a lot of help from mommy/daddy in the form of rocking, shushing, singing, swaddling, etc. That’s all normal. The goal is to eventually have them sleep on their own in the crib, but for now… she probably needs that extra comfort. I do think it would be a good idea though for some out-of-crib playtime. If you have a travel crib/playpen or play mat that is out of the way of Pooch, that will let her get a change of scenery too. Good luck!
Hi, Noob Mom!
Thanks so much for your blog and forum! I’ve start E.A.S.Y. With our 5 week old. Do you think it’s unrealistic to expect one that small to sleep more than 4-5 hrs per night? She did sleep 6-7 hours a couple nights in a row before we started the routine, but that may have just been a fluke (didn’t do anything differently). We’ve cut the dream feed out, as it does nothing for her, but she still goes down around 9 pm and is up around 1-2am for another feeding. She’s a good napper during the day, but I’m just concerned about her night sleep. Am I just asking too much of one so young?
Many thanks in advance!
Jessica – One word – YES. 5 weeks is just too young to be expecting your little one to sleep through the night. I’ve heard tales and myths and legends of this happening early on, but it’s definitely not something that happens to the 97% of us moms! I know you are drooling, dying, lusting for that extra sleep time … and you will have it again…. someday… I think … but until then, if it happens count your blessings. But you have to accept the reality that you will be a zombie for at least a few more months. Welcome to the club 🙂
K…I need serious help. My little guy is all over the map. He is almost at the 4 month mark and is still eating every 2 hours…sometimes I can stretch it to 2.5 during the day and through the night. He naps for 30-40 minutes at the most…and I’ve tried soothing him before he wakes…doesn’t work. If he is in his swing…he will go 1-2 hours during the day and 4-5 hours at night, depending on his mood? He is refusing a bottle (solely breast milk)…most of the time and some days he will take a pacifier and other days spits it out like its poison. He doesn’t seem to show consistency with anything. He hates his car seat and stroller…lucky me! Any advice would be much appreciated!
Natalie – Wish I had some good advice for you. Trust me, I know how unpredictable these little noobs can be, and it doesn’t let up. Oh, that’s probably not what you wanted to hear, huh?! Well, with your little one being so unpredictable, my best recommendation is for you to keep up with what consistency you can. Stick to it, and avoid changing things up too much in hopes of finding the right “cure all.” Try and work on the feeding, tacking on a little extra time between feedings as best you can. When he’s able to go longer, that may help set other things into a better rhythm. I hope! As far as naps, I was at my last straw too. We waited until 5-6 months and did the sleep training. That worked wonders for us, but it’s not for everyone. That’s something you may consider in a month or two. Until then, it may be worthwhile to have him sleep in whatever way gets him that rest (for now). If he can sleep for such long stretches in the swing and it buys you some sanity, I say go for it. In a month or two, he may be more mature and ready to make some changes 🙂 Good luck!
my 3 1/2 month old boy still does not go longer than a 5 hr stretch during the night. He falls asleep pretty easily with his pacifier in the crib, but then wakes during the night several times. I go in to plug him and it gets him to the next hour where we repeat it again. I am exhausted. He is my 3rd child and the other 2 slept through night at 9-10 wks. Oh, he is also bottle fed 6 ounces/feed every 3-4 hrs. I usually have to wake him at around 9pm to give him a feed. What am I doing wrong?
I know you give 45 minutes to eat and 30 for an activity, but what about if your child takes 15 minutes to eat? Where’s the other 30 minutes go?
Brandi – We were never totally en pointe with EASY either. The key is just to establish a routine that works for you and your noob and stick to it, be consistent. If she’s not eating for exactly 45 minutes, no biggie…readjust and try to keep with the E-A-S-Y pattern. It may mean moving up the activity, cutting down activity time or increasing it…and/or heading into an earlier sleep time. Try not to get too hung up on the minutes. I did that for a long time and it drove me crazy. Best of luck!
Many thanks, Noob Mummy! I guess I have to keep trying!
Hi Noob Mummy,
It was great coming across your blog. I’m a first-time mummy too and am now tearing my hair out over my baby’s sleeping. I hope you could hear me out and give me some suggestions. My baby is just 10 weeks old and on exclusive breastfeeding. I just started following the E.A.S.Y. routine but the naps are so difficult. She kicks up a fuss before sleeping. I’m catching her cues that she’s tired but even though I try putting her down to sleep, she just refuses. I’m resorting to carrying her in a Baby Bjorn carrier for her naps but I don’t want that to become a habit. What should I do?!
Julie – Congrats on your new noob! I give props to you for trying to install a routine early in the game. I have to say that it was difficult to get decent naps and EASY in at that age. It wasn’t till around 4 months that we really settled into a more comfortable groove. That said, continue to use your soothing techniques. When noobs are still so young, they don’t know how to self-soothe yet. So, you can’t really expect them to fall asleep in their crib yet on their own. Dr. Harvey Karp’s 5 S’s is a good starting point (swaddle, stomach position, shush, swing, suck) http://www.babyslumber.com/happiestbaby.html . Adding in a white noise machine may also help. Continue to keep an eye out for tired cues. You want to put your noob down BEFORE she starts exhibiting sleep signs. I think you’ll soon figure that out and be able to just check your watch to know. Good luck!
Many thanks 🙂
Hi my daughter is 3 months and will not sleep longer than 4 hrs at night, we’ve decided we will try and introduce e.a.s.y however she always relys on being breast fed to fall to sleep I think I’m going to find it a real struggle changing this habit any words of advice or encouragement to get me thru? Also if she wakes in night how long should I feed before attempting to put her down?
Shell- As far as sleep time stretch goes, 4 hrs is pretty acceptable at that age. It isn’t till about 4-5 months that the noobs start sleeping more towards 5 + hours (which is considered “sleeping through the night” by the way – ha!) It is very difficult to get out of the habit of nursing to sleep. I’d start with naps and gradually try to wean off nursing to bedtime as well in the long run. You can try to substitute a pacifier and see if she’ll accept that. Otherwise, there isn’t a sure trick. Keep trying with different soothing techniques. Just be careful of the rocking to sleep. That’s a hard habit to break, and it’ll break your back in the meantime 🙂 Good luck!
I have a 4 month lil girl..she has pretty much slept really well up until a week sgo…she usually goes down at 7pm..wakes at 3:30 back to sleep till 6:30-7. But lately she has been waking up alot more and very restless through the night. I am not sure how much more I can handle..also my husband has been out of town for work. I am desperate for any ideas.
Blaire- It’s very likely that your little girl is going through a growth spurt. This happens about once a month or so, and is usually indicated by change in sleep or eating. This is also likely if she’s been sleeping great before and suddenly things are off. Also, another culprit could be teething. Check around in there and see if you can feel any swollen gums or little protruding teeth. If she’s acting very abnormal and you’re quite concerned, it’s always a good idea to check with her pediatrician. Other than that, I don’t have any ideas really because it sounds like things were pretty well established before. Keep it up and try not to stray from the routine you’ve put in place. Good luck to you!
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!
Hi Michelle – Thank you for posting and congratulations on having your little one sleep in the crib already! That is a feat in itself. Daytime naps can be tricky, and you are probably right that your noob is having difficulty self-soothing. Some suggestions would be to put him down before he gets overtired. Keep on a regular nap schedule as much as possible, which can be difficult if you are out running errands (trust me, I know!). Also, you can continue to swaddle baby for many months. They still enjoy that wrapped up cozy feeling! If you haven’t introduced a pacifier, it may be worth considering. Sucking motion is one self-soothing skill they are born with and don’t outgrow for awhile. You may want to wait in the room and pat or providing little shushing sounds or other white noise as well. It’s very difficult to get good daytime naps in, and you may know from reading my blog that we resorted to rocking for 6 months! That was the surefire trick, but it resulted in bad sleeping habits that we eventually had to break. I hope some of these help… and if you get desperate, I’m certainly not going to judge you if you pop your little one in the stroller or car seat for a ride 🙂
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!
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!
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?
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,
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!
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!
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!
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?
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 🙂
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.
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
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.
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!
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
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!
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 🙂
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??
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.
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!
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?
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!
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 🙂
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 – 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 🙂
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
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!
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…
One of the reasons , why baby is waking up after 30 min, or 45, it’s because baby is hungry !!! E.A.S.Y dosen’t work for me that well!
Maybe not. When my son was little I used to feed him to sleep and he would still wake up after 45 minutes. He definitely wasn’t hungry I fed him ALL the time.
I have the second part to this plan on the Noob Parents 101 link. It’s EASY Part 2. Hope it helps!
Hi! Your blog is so helpful. My son just turned 10 weeks and we started the 7 to 7 3 hour EASY schedule about 2.5 weeks ago. I think he is adapting to the routine well, with the 10pm dream feed, he wakes up once at night. If he wakes earlier than 7am, he is usually happy and content with a pacifier to go back to sleep until wake up time at 7am. My concern is with how much he is eating. Prior to the schedule, we fed on demand, and he was eating every 3.5-4 hours, each time about 4-5oz. So usually he will take about 26 – 27oz in a 24 hour period. Over the last week, as he has adjusted to waking only once at night to eat, he hasn’t increased his intake during the day. In fact, while he always ate at least 4oz in the past, he is now sometimes just taking 3oz (or even as low as 2oz) in a feeding during the day. I I think sometimes he is just not that hungry after 3 hours. He eats more at 7pm evening feed so overall, he is averaging about 23 -25oz a day. Should I be worried? He is at least 12 lbs now, and I read he should be eating about 30oz at 12lbs. I feel guilty that the schedule (which works better for mommy and daddy) may be stunting his growth!! I am also afraid that if the night time sleeping keeps improving, and he drops the night feeding all together….he will be down to only 22oz in a day.
You are right to be concerned. Please google “baby whisperer failure to thrive” for the dangers in scheduling young babies’ feedings.
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 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.
Hi- this is such a great resource! I used the EASY routine with my little girl and it worked great, I have a 4 week old boy now and am having some difficulty establishing the routine. During the dream feed he sleeps fine but ends up being wide awake when we go to lay him in the crib so the 10:00 feeding turns into the 12am feeding. He then wakes up around 4 or 5 am to eat again which is great but I’m not sure if I should start his day then or try to put him back to sleep to wake at 7 – any suggestions?? I am wondering if the dream feed is interrupting his sleep cycle too much – right now he is eating 4 oz every 3 hours during the day and cluster feeding at 4, 6, and 8 – by the 10:00 feeding he just looks miserable if we try to feed him more.