Yesterday Ele came over to visit. We spent some time chatting on the couch while the babies slept, then took a nice walk through the neighborhood.
I complained that I felt Henry was “snacking” too much, not eating enough at a sitting and therefore eating more often. She talked to me about Baby Wise and the Baby Whisperer. The basic premise of the theory is to put your infant on a loose schedule and to prevent them from drifting from nursing into sleep. She summed it up with the mnemonic E.A.S.Y.: Eat, have some Activity, and go to Sleep, which leaves a bit of time for You (the mom).
So I started to try the basic principles yesterday evening by keeping Henry awake for 30 minutes after he ate, then putting him down for a nap. He did great and had a three hour eating cycle and then a two hour eating cycle. He started his last feeding at 11 PM, which took an hour, and went to bed at midnight. He woke me up at 4.30 AM for his next feeding. That’s four and a half hours of sleep! and technically is a 5 1/2 hour feeding cycle! How lovely!
Of course, this morning he’s been a snacker and very, very fussy. Baby steps.
🙂 Glad he took to it. He’s a fast learner so he’ll get it down pat.
Comment by Cristin — April 10, 2008 @ 10:12 am
Ian ate every 2-3 hours for the first few months… and still eats every 3 hours during the day. Which is normal for b-feeding because they digest it so quickly compared to formula (which you probably already know ;o)
Gotta love “growth spurts” and the seemingly non-stop feeding cycle! It shall pass though…
Comment by Lindsay — April 10, 2008 @ 11:11 am
We LOVED the E.A.S.Y. cycle … the Babywise model really worked for Becca. I nursed her for 8 1/2 months (it got a LOT harder when I dropped my pump and it broke… spare parts took forever… suffice to say – that was the death-knell of breastmilk in her life).
She started sleeping through the night (6-7 hours) at 10 wks. Hmph – that seemed like “through the night” then … Now I would probably throttle her if she made me give up sleep like that!! Funny how your perspective changes.
He is just so danged cute!!!
Comment by Stephanie — April 13, 2008 @ 9:52 pm