EASY and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

iris427 · February 2009

I read this book over the weekend and I don't get it. For example she advocates feeding every 2 hours or so for 45 minutes. But what if that's not enough for your baby? What if baby wants to eat again an hour later? Do you feed your hungry baby? Or try to stick to EASY?

Also her breastfeeding section was AWFUL. Not only was it medically wrong, but she really seemed to be discouraging her readers from breastfeeding.

If you do EASY, is it easy to get your baby onto this routine? What if they want to break from it? (e.g. eat or play at the wrong time)

JessMil10 · February 2009

I follow the EASY routine but fixed to meet my own baby's needs. Right now we do feed (which takes her 10 minutes), play for an hour and a half, nap, repeat. Her naps vary in time but she is usually ready to feed again once she is awake, also sometimes she only plays for an hour before a nap. We do the general idea and what works best for us.

sunnygyrl · February 2009

I have never been able to follow her routine to the T. DD always wants to eat before going to bed - even for a nap. I get the basic concept of her book, but I too have had the same problems that you have faced. The book now just sits on my shelf.

mrskadams · February 2009

I haven't read the book, but we are loosely following EASY. I don't worry about the times too much, but my daughter eats approximately every 3 hours. My big thing is getting her to nap. If she gets overtired then we can forget it here.

userdeleted · February 2009

I agree that her bf'ing advice is not very good. We FF so it was probably easier. Also, I didn't really "get" him on this schedule, he was kind of close to doing it himself already, all it took was a little nudge on my part, lol.

Oh and of course it never goes perfectly how the book makes it look, I think he's actually still on his own little schedule and just laughing at how mommy thinks she has him on a routine, lol.

AngelaL · February 2009

We started following EASY with every intention to be flexible with the routine, however DD really adapted well to it and we rarely need to stray from it. I was concerned as well with her wanting to BF every 2 hours at first, but as soon as we started on this, she started going for 3-4 hours. I do think though that I was misreading DD's sleepy cues as hungry cues.?

iris427 · February 2009

Rach03k:

I agree that her bf'ing advice is not very good. We FF so it was probably easier. Also, I didn't really "get" him on this schedule, he was kind of close to doing it himself already, all it took was a little nudge on my part, lol.

Oh and of course it never goes perfectly how the book makes it look, I think he's actually still on his own little schedule and just laughing at how mommy thinks she has him on a routine, lol.

This is what I was thinking. Some babies naturally fall into routines easily on their own. It seems like EASY would work for them much more than for babies who don't.

Skipperg82 · February 2009

I do this routine and it has been wonderful getting DS to STTN and not to rely on nursing as a prop. ?However, the routine needs to be tweaked according to the individual needs of each child because every baby is different. ?Do you have secrets of the baby whisperer and baby whisperer solves all your problems?? ?I have both and the "solves all your problems" book goes much more in depth on feeding, sleeping tweaking routines etc...there was no way I had all my questions answered just by reading "secrets of the baby whisperer" ?i highly recommend getting both books.

I'll try to answer some of your questions (there is also a baby whisperer website with message boards that are quite helpful as well)

If your baby is truly hungry after going only 2 hours (since your baby is over 4 months, you should try to follow the 4-hour EASY plan for older baby - their stomachs are larger by now and can hold more food so they can go longer between feeds) of course you feed your baby whenever they are hungry such as going through ?growth spurt, sick, etc....this routine allows you to truly differentiate between the cries of your baby (I always thought my baby was hungry every two hours, it turns out his cries and fussiness were because he was TIRED, not hungry! ?So I was essentially giving him more milk than he actually needs, not that this is a bad thing but he was snacking instead of taking full feeds, therefore at night he was waking more frequently since he never really had a full tummy to hold him over). ?

You always feed a hungry baby, she makes that clear but the first few days you can follow her routine in "solves all your problems" book from stretching your baby from a 3-hour routine, to a 4-hour routine by stretching feeds by 15 minutes or so....I switched from 3 - 4 hour routine all in one day with no problem whatsoever....it took my baby a few days to adjust to taking in more at each meal (we now feed from both sides every 4 hours) with no issues.

Her BF section is truly awful, no question there she is def biased towards FF - just ignore it and the time constraints she puts on baby's eating - you don't need to put a time limit or worry if your baby isn't eating long enough according to her, as long as the pattern is the same, EASY, ?then you know your baby is on a predictable routine and is no longer using nursing as a prop to go to sleep...(which makes it much easier at night for them to learn to put themselves back to sleep instead of waking!)

Also her other book goes into pick up/put down and shhh/pat which are great tools to extend nighttime and naptime sleep....

Okay sorry to go off on a rant, hope to answer some of your questions!?

LaLO929 · February 2009

JessMil10:
I follow the EASY routine but fixed to meet my own baby's needs. Right now we do feed (which takes her 10 minutes), play for an hour and a half, nap, repeat. Her naps vary in time but she is usually ready to feed again once she is awake, also sometimes she only plays for an hour before a nap. We do the general idea and what works best for us.

This is what we do too.

iris427 · February 2009

Skipperg82:

I do this routine and it has been wonderful getting DS to STTN and not to rely on nursing as a prop. However, the routine needs to be tweaked according to the individual needs of each child because every baby is different. Do you have secrets of the baby whisperer and baby whisperer solves all your problems?? I have both and the "solves all your problems" book goes much more in depth on feeding, sleeping tweaking routines etc...there was no way I had all my questions answered just by reading "secrets of the baby whisperer" i highly recommend getting both books.

I'll try to answer some of your questions (there is also a baby whisperer website with message boards that are quite helpful as well)

If your baby is truly hungry after going only 2 hours (since your baby is over 4 months, you should try to follow the 4-hour EASY plan for older baby - their stomachs are larger by now and can hold more food so they can go longer between feeds) of course you feed your baby whenever they are hungry such as going through growth spurt, sick, etc....this routine allows you to truly differentiate between the cries of your baby (I always thought my baby was hungry every two hours, it turns out his cries and fussiness were because he was TIRED, not hungry! So I was essentially giving him more milk than he actually needs, not that this is a bad thing but he was snacking instead of taking full feeds, therefore at night he was waking more frequently since he never really had a full tummy to hold him over).

You always feed a hungry baby, she makes that clear but the first few days you can follow her routine in "solves all your problems" book from stretching your baby from a 3-hour routine, to a 4-hour routine by stretching feeds by 15 minutes or so....I switched from 3 - 4 hour routine all in one day with no problem whatsoever....it took my baby a few days to adjust to taking in more at each meal (we now feed from both sides every 4 hours) with no issues.

Her BF section is truly awful, no question there she is def biased towards FF - just ignore it and the time constraints she puts on baby's eating - you don't need to put a time limit or worry if your baby isn't eating long enough according to her, as long as the pattern is the same, EASY, then you know your baby is on a predictable routine and is no longer using nursing as a prop to go to sleep...(which makes it much easier at night for them to learn to put themselves back to sleep instead of waking!)

Also her other book goes into pick up/put down and shhh/pat which are great tools to extend nighttime and naptime sleep....

Okay sorry to go off on a rant, hope to answer some of your questions!

I can see how EASY would work better on a baby 3 months +, I just have trouble imagining it with a newborn, especially a breastfed newborn.

Thanks for your answer.

Skipperg82 · February 2009

Yeah, if it were me I wouldn't use it on a NB - I think it's still important to feed on demand to establish a good supply. ?For my next baby I will probably start around 6 weeks!?

autumn423 · February 2009

it helped to have some sort of routine. I agree it would be easier to follow if i was giving formula. I started when DD was almost 5 months. she was in a bad habit of snacking. the book also helped with nap time. and helping me read DD cues for hunger and tiredness.

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