The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems (By Teaching You How to Ask the Right Questions): Sleeping, Feeding and Behaviour – Beyond the Basics Through Infancy and Toddlerdom

E.A.S.Y. doesn’t work if
people don’t stick to it

Say your baby awoke one night and you calmed her by giving her your breast or a bottle. It worked
like a charm, and so now you think, Mmmm, this is a good strategy. Your baby liked it, too. But
you’re inadvertently teaching her that she needs to suckle in order to get back to sleep. Believe me,
when she is six months old, much heavier, and still wants to feed several times a night, you’re going
to regret that quick fix. (You’re lucky if you catch it by then

they also know what a hungry cry sounds like—a slight cough-like noise in the back of the throat,
short to begin with and then as a more steady waa, waa, waa rhythm—compared to an overtired cry,
which begins with three short wails, followed by a hard cry, then two short breaths and a longer, even

Is it time for a feed? (hunger)
Is her diaper wet or soiled? (discomfort or cold)
Has she been sitting in the same place or position without a change of scene? (boredom)
Has she been up for more than 30 minutes? (overtired)
Has she had lots of company or has there been a lot of activity in your household?
(overstimulated)
Is she grimacing and pulling her legs up? (gas)
Is she crying inconsolably during or as much as an hour after feeds? (reflux)
Is she spitting up? (reflux)
Is her room too hot or cold, or is she under-or overdressed

The most important aspect of E.A.S.Y. is to read your child’s signs—of hunger, of fatigue, of
overstimulation

E.A.S.Y. does not apply in the night. When you bathe your baby and put him to bed, make sure he
has lots of diaper cream on his bottom. Don’t wake your baby up to do an activity. If he wakes
from hunger, you feed him, but send him right back to sleep. Don’t even change his diaper unless
you’ve heard him poop or (in bottle-fed babies) smelled it

A structured routine is not the same thing as a schedule

Parents who actually chart their baby’s day by writing everything down have less trouble sticking to
a routine or establishing it for the first time

babies and toddlers, thrive on predictability

just when you think you’ve got it, everything changes