Anyone following EASY or babywise?

shannoncorrin · October 2013

I know the babywise method has caught a bunch critical feedback from several people, but if you take it for what it's worth, I really like the idea. If your baby is hungry feed it, and try to feed it fully so it's not a snacker, but a good eater. When finished have some awake time with your baby and then let them fall asleep naturally.
I have a 5 day old. We just got bAck from the hospital yesterday. He is a great eater, every 2-3 hours for 20-40 min. He stays awake for that if I work to keep him awake. He falls right to sleep afterwards and there is nothing I can do to keep him awake for even a few min. He is more awake then at night and much more fussy too. I know it's normal for newborns to sleep a bunch, but I was hoping there might be some tricks to get him alert for a bit before putting him down for a nap.

HBirdie · October 2013

Five days old is WAY too early to try to sleep train your baby. If baby falls asleep, let him sleep! I understand the desire to want him to sleep at night, but seriously, you have to let it come naturally. You shouldn't force your poor baby to stay awake.

MommyAmes2 · October 2013

You do realize your 5 day old doesn't know the difference in night/day, right? Let him sleep when he wants.

Dahlia813 · October 2013

When do they say is a good time to start a schedule? I have a 2 month old and she falls asleep while I feed her and shes become a snacker... I want to break these habits but I usually just let her do whatever she wants.

Maybe I should read some of these books?

platypusbaby · October 2013

I started the awake after eating schedule after 2 weeks old. I just sing to her (upbeat songs, not lullabies!) and talk to her, sit her upright facing me so she can look at my face and make happy silly faces at her. It has worked well for us and now at 7 weeks she consistently sleeps 6-7 hours at night.

Erinruns262 · October 2013

I did babywise (minus the crying out until 4.5 months) and it worked great for my 2.5 year old, and my 7 week old is well on her way! I am feeding her every 3 hours, then we play, and she takes a nap. She slept 10-5 last night! Just know that the baby won't always sleep until her next feeding. I never know why people on here get so worked up over babywise, but not EASY. They really are very similar. I am a very scheduled person, which I can't help who I am, and this works great for me! My 2.5 year old is a very healthy, happy, smart little boy who thrives on routine and has been a great sleeper his whole life. I have no doubt my DD will be too. Take all the criticism with a grain of salt and know that it does work.

algalphys · October 2013

EASY didn't work for DS1 and I've decided to be way more relaxed with DS2. I know it has worked for others though...

dimples128 · October 2013

We are loosely following BW. We ff our 6 week old 3 to 4 ounces every 3ish hours. He is sleeping 5-6 hours at a time at night and is growing like a weed! He is going through his 6 week growth spurt right now so he has been showing signs of hunger prior to 3 hours at times. When he does, we change him and feed him. BW isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It's working for us.

Bocatini · October 2013

My LO was born 13 days agi, so we have not started yet, but our plan is to start using "baby wise" book in the next few weeks.m

Slpafford · October 2013

I realized early on that babies sleep when tired and eat when hungry regardless of what time it is or how long it's been since the last feeding/nap. We would open the blinds and turn on lights/make more noise during the day. Dim the lights and have it a little quieter at night. DS is now 11 weeks and the majority of the time sleeps through the night and eats every 3-4 hours or so during the day. Honestly IMO I think trying to "control" your newborn makes life a lot more stressful for everyone.

suv75 · October 2013

Wow, I would hate if all I wanted was a snack and someone forced me to eat a full meal. Also, if someone forced me to be awake when I'm tired and sleepy.

Carnation77 · October 2013

I'm not doing Baby Wise but I read the book and I like the eat/awake/sleep pattern. It was useful for me because while some people have trouble with the "awake" part, I had problems with the "sleep" part. DS naturally fell into a loose 2 hour eat/awake/sleep pattern and at 8 weeks has just started sleeping through the night. But I honestly do everything on demand. I've realized he knows what he needs better than I do!

chiboo9 · October 2013

I'm loosely following Babywise. As other PP mentioned, you will get criticized for following it. But it's currently working for us and my LO. We actually accidentally fell into the schedule right away. LO was jaundiced and was a very sleepy baby so we had to keep her on a 3 hour feeding schedule around the clock until she gained her birth weight back. In the first week, we had to wake her every 3 hours to feed (EFF due to poor latching and not producing enough), even at night. Sometimes she'd stay awake for 5-10 minutes after feeding, sometimes she'd fall asleep before finishing her bottle. Once she was back to her birth weight at 2.5 weeks, we let her sleep at night and feed only when she wakes. We kept the 3 hour feeding schedule during the day though, even if we had to wake her from naps. This way she was getting most of her calories during the day and wasn't sleeping all day and up all night.

She was waking up once, no more than twice at night during the first 9 weeks. She's been STTN since then from 9pm-7am. Would I say this was because of Babywise? Maybe. Or maybe I just got lucky and she's a naturally great night sleeper. Her naps on the other hand are another story. Sometimes she'll nap for 30 mins, sometimes 2 hours. She's a very happy, giggly, and growing baby and that's all that matters.

You really just have to do what works best for you and your LO. For us, a schedule/routine was a must, and we got lucky that LO took to it really well. But who's to say that a future LO will do the same. Your LO is only 5 days old and they are naturally very sleepy at this stage. Don't worry too much about it. You'll find a groove soon enough.

J&Jaggies06 · October 2013

DD got herself on to a EASY type routine when she was ready which was about 4 weeks ago. I didn't force it but as she got a little older she started staying up for activity time after eating then wanting to take a nap about an hour after eating. She rarely sleeps until the next feeding but she gets what she needs. She night time sleep is still inconsistent. Some night so she has a 7+ hour stretch and others we are lucky to get 3 hours stretches. That is just how it goes.

1078 · October 2013

platypusbaby said:
I started the awake after eating schedule after 2 weeks old. I just sing to her (upbeat songs, not lullabies!) and talk to her, sit her upright facing me so she can look at my face and make happy silly faces at her. It has worked well for us and now at 7 weeks she consistently sleeps 6-7 hours at night.

This is exactly what I did too.

TheLittleRedM · October 2013

We used EASY after our LO was about 8 weeks old. It worked sort of but only because that's basically what he was doing to begin with. Now, I just make sure to feed him as soon as he wakes up from his night time sleeping and his naps and, if I have to put him to sleep, I make sure he eats before he sleeps. It works really well for us because he's getting in all his naps now and he has slept through the night for the last 3 or so weeks. And his time sleeping at night has finally increased to 8-10 hours. You know, just in time for that 4 month wakeful >.< Lol

But I agree with PP. Your baby is a newborn. They have no concept of night and day or schedules and unless they want to sleep for long periods of time at night, they aren't going to.

pb&jojo · October 2013

I don't follow either, but naturally, my lo and I fell into the EASY method (sort of). I don't know what the feeding schedule/amounts are with that method, but we do the Eat, Activity, Sleep pattern. When she sleeps sometimes I do the "You" in EASY and have "you time", but most of the time I hold/rock when she sleeps. I can't bare the thought of putting her down, when I know soon, I will be back at work, and unable to hold her all day. I do try to put her in her crib for at least one daytime nap...She is usually awake for 1-2 hours before she is ready for another nap.

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Anyone following EASY or babywise?

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