Although our societal expectations say otherwise, most babies need to eat more than every 3 hours. Many babies need to eat as often as every 1-2 hours, and sometimes more when they are cluster feeding due to a developmental leap, illness, or teething. Following the EASY schedule could cause a breastfeeding mother’s supply to drop. If you follow this schedule, your baby (depending on age) may eat, play for an hour, and sleep for 2-3 hours. By the time they’ve gone through one cycle of this routine, it may have been 3+ hours, when this baby may have needed to eat long before this.
Any type of strict feeding schedule can cause supply issues and compromise the breastfeeding relationship. Babies need to be fed on demand.
Catnaps and contact naps are also very normal for newborns. Many babies will not sleep in the crib these first few months (and often longer), and take very short naps. This is not a problem. It is normal. Babies under the age of 1 attach through the senses and want to be close to their caregiver. It’s inconvenient and difficult at times, but it is just reality, and it’s the reason many babies will not sleep alone.
The EASY routine is just not appropriate for these contact, catnapping babies, and it often just will not work for them.
What does a more realistic and biologically-informed routine look like for a newborn? Probably more like eat, sleep, play, eat, play, eat, sleep. Follow your baby’s lead. Snuggle your baby. Don’t be afraid to nurse to sleep. Nap with them (in your safe sleep space)! Forget about the schedule if it is not working for you, and do what comes naturally.
Taylor Kulik is an occupational therapist and a Certified Baby-Led Sleep & Well-being Specialist. After her own struggles to adapt to motherhood and discovering how little support and information there is for families who do not want to sleep train, Taylor shifted her career focus to supporting new parents in a way that validates their intuition. Taylor also has specialised training in perinatal mood & anxiety disorders from Postpartum Support International, as well as additional training in child development, postpartum care, and breastfeeding. She combines this training and her background as an occupational therapist to comprehensively and holistically help the entire family thrive and get more sleep through relationships and connection, without any sleep training. She also has self-paced eCourses which provide holistic and empowering information about postpartum recovery and infant sleep. You can find more information about the services & eCourses she offers at taylorkulik.com, or through her Facebook and Instagram pages.
