Is anyone else having trouble following the eat, play, sleep model? I have a one week old and am finding this so hard. I can barely keep her awake during her feedings, let alone afterwards. She has 2ish oz. Every 2-3 hours as recommended. We're working on reversing her days/nights. She's usually fussy in the early morning hours which is why we are trying to stick to eat, play, sleep so we can get her to sleep at night instead of all day.
I've been spiraling by googling this at all hours of the night but it'd be great to hear from moms and not "experts".
Re: Eat, Play, Sleep?
PS- try reading “Becoming Babywise.” It helped me a lot and I still use it!!
On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep
I consider the eating window to be part of awake/play time….. and some awake/play activities include: music/singing, reading, diaper changes, outside/walks, talking, skin to skin, high contrast visuals.
Even though it’s difficult to follow the early weeks, it’s still nice to have a pattern to stick to :)
Day - wake up, eat, change into a onesie or other lighter weight clothing, lights are on or windows are wide open, naps are taken in swing, bouncer, or with me holding her, background noise of some sort on at all times
Night - sleeper goes on, lights are dim or out, no extra noises except for quiet lullabies, baby is swaddled and when not eating she is in her bassinet
So far at 3 weeks old she typically sleeps 3-5 hour stretches at night, but will take shorter naps between more frequent meals and wake time during the day at 1.5-2.5 hours