E.A.S.Y.: The "Eat-Activity-Sleep-You Time" Routine

Sleeping had been a bit of an issue the last few weeks. I think it was because Mila had been a tad bit congested before she caught her cold and that was affecting her sleeping. Also, she's in her 6th month growth spurt and she's also hitting a lot of milestones (sitting, teething, trying solids, grabbing things with her hands) and sleeping is always affected during that time. She'd been waking up more often and her naps were out of whack. But now they've gotten a bit better.

Our routine used to be eat-play and then eat-sleep, because the only way she'd fall asleep was when she was nursing, so she'd nurse ever 2 hours which made that a very long day for mommy! Then I read somewhere online about the EASY routine: "Eat-Activity-Sleep-You Time" routine and I thought I'd give it a shot. But the thing was, since she used to nurse to sleep, what could I do to get her to fall asleep now? So I started rocking her to sleep. I'd rock her on the big birthing ball and it worked! I'd rock her for about 20  minutes (10 minutes to get her to fall alseep and then another 10 minutes after she'd fallen alseep) and then I put her in the crib and then she would roll over and fall asleep. It's been a bit rough on my arms and my back, although I think I'm building muscle and it's starting to get easier, haha. She's quite the work out!! Now I don't have to nurse her down to sleep anymore for every nap. I know rocking her to sleep isn't ideal either, but I think it's progress. Plus, now she's napping in her crib instead of on me, which lets me get a few things done around the house... particularly blog. :)

So now we do the eat-play-sleep routine every 3 hours. It's a much better arrangement. Well, except for the rocking for 20 minutes part... that gets to be a bit exhausting, especially when she wakes up after only being in the crib for 10 minutes and I have to do it all over again. But now I'm so much more in tune with her schedule and we're both happier. I'm starting to cut back on the length of time I rock her after she's fallen asleep, so now I'm down to 10 minutes rocking her to sleep, then 6 minutes rocking her while she's asleep (instead of another 10 minutes). I'm sure that this is far from perfect, but for now, it works for us.

I did purchase the "No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley and I've just started reading it. I'm hoping to find alternatives to rocking her. She'll cry if I just put her in her crib when she's awake, and I am not comfortable with the "cry it out" method. I'd prefer to find something else. I've heard this book is very helpful. I'll let you know what I think when I finish reading it.
Our Eat-Play-Sleep routine for the day kinda looks something like this (see below) if we're home for the day. If we go out, our schedule goes off a bit. This schedule is by no means a typical day, but of what an ideal day looks like.

A lot of times, for her naps, she'll wake up after 10 minutes and I have to rock her again so she takes a nap of at least 30 minutes. This happens for at least one or two of her naps during the day. If she's particularly fussy, I put her in the Ergo Baby Carrier and she'll take a long nap. (However, she's a bit heavy so I prefer she sleeps in her crib, so the Ergo is my last resort.) This is just to give you a rough idea of what our routine kinda looks like. Obviously if she gives hunger cues or tired cues I feed her or put her down for a nap, even if it's earlier than I planned. What's good about this routine though, is if she starts getting fussy I don't have to guess what's wrong, I know what's coming up so I know that's what she wants.

The bedtime routine at the end of the day is particularly difficult. Sometimes it takes 3 hours for her to fall asleep. She seems to think it's just a nap and keeps waking up.
I'm looking forward to what "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" suggests to help make those naps and the bedtime routine a bit easier! For now, this is a rough idea of what  our day looks like.

9:45pm -  Asleep for the night. Sleeps about 5-6 hours straight.
3:00am - Wakes up for feeding only. Diaper change and nurses for 20 minutes and falls asleep right away on the boob. Put her in the crib and stays asleep. Sleeps for another 4 hours or so.
7:00am - Wakes up. Diaper change and nurses for 20 minutes. Awake for less than an hour and then falls asleep.
7:45am -  Rock to sleep for 10-15 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. Naps for 40-60 minutes.
9:00am - Wakes up for the day. Diaper change and plays a little.
10:00am - Nurses for 20 minutes. Then continues playtime. (EAT, ACTIVITY)
11:00pm - Naptime. Rock to sleep for 10-15 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. Naps for 40-60 minutes. (SLEEP)
12:00pm - Wakes up. Diaper change and playtime.
1:00pm - Nurses for 20 minutes. Then continues playtime. (EAT, ACTIVITY)
2:00pm - Naptime. Rock to sleep for 10-15 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. Naps for about 45 minutes. (SLEEP)
3:00pm - Wakes up. Diaper change and playtime.
4:00pm - Nurses for 20 minutes. Then continues playtime. (EAT, ACTIVITY)5:00pm - Short Nap. Rock to sleep for 15 minutes to fall asleep, then 6 minutes while alseep. Naps for about 30 minutes. (SLEEP)
5:30pm - Wakes up. Diaper change and plays with Daddy when he gets home while Mommy makes dinner. Eat dinner. (EAT, ACTIVITY)
7:00pm - Nurses for 15-20 minutes.
7:30pm - Daddy begins night time routine: bath, puts on pjs, story time and dancing with daddy with dim lights to Rockabye Baby CD. Mommy cleans up kitchen, play area, bath tub and prepares bedroom for bedtime.
8:30pm - Bedtime. (Instead of the 3 hour interval for naps, at bedtime we wait 4 hours.)  Last feeding of the night. Nurses for about 30 minutes. This feeding is just to top her off before falling asleep, but she pacifies a lot. She sometimes falls asleep on the boob, but if not, then I rock her to sleep for 10-20 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. This is the time it takes the  longest for her to fall asleep. She usually wakes up and then I have rock her all over again. This could last an hour our more. :(
9:45pm - Asleep for the night. Sleeps about 5-6 hours straight. (SLEEP)