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Eat, play, sleep. Eating right before bed can become a prop later one.

all the experts say eat, play , sleep, like ddt said- I do eat, sleep play because its more natural. I b___stfeed and everyone knows when babies nurse they get sleepy. So I nurse her- she usually falls alseep- then I birp her and she wakes up but is still drowsy and then I put her in her crib and she goes to sleep- It can become a prop if you let it but it jsut seems more natural to me. Do what works for you and your lo.

I always BF before sleep. Ds is almost 9 months old now, and I still nurse him right before his 2 naps, and right before bed. I was going to use the same word as excited2bemama, that it's natural for babies to get sleepy on the b___b. I tried the eat, play, sleep method for awhile and got really upset when it wouldn't work for us. I agree that it CAN become a crutch to BF right before bed, but I'm at home with ds, so I'm always around him. Dh has had to put ds down for naps and bedtime a few times, and I was always worried that ds would cry forever wanting the b___b, but it's never been a problem. Maybe I always think ds needs me more than he really does :). Sometimes ds falls asleep while nursing, and other times he's still awake. I put him in his crib when he's done with the b___b, whether he's awake or asleep.

Aloha Jess I am in the middle of reading The Baby Whisperer...she says exactly what DDT says....eat play sleep....they say not too feed baby right before bed because when he she gets older it will be a need in order to fall asleep...BUT with that said I am in the same boat as you....my LO is a much happier baby to eat sleep play. I have been trying this whole week to get him on the eat play sleep schedule and he is a GRUMP. Common sense tells me to follow your baby's lead. So I plan on going back to eat sleep play. But one thing I do like about the book is the time constraints she uses. about feeding every three hours ect. Granted I wouldn't wake up baby to feed...but give a take a few minutes i do like her time table. Ok I am completely rambling...you can tell I stay home all day with the little one huh! Ahh I love my little man but I am not a very good stay at home person! My house is immaculate and I have the next three weeks worth of meals planned and ingradients at the ready! I need to get out more I think.....anyway point is follow what is right for you!!

excited2bemama: FYI bottle-fed babies also get sleepy when they nurse. And I don't know why but in some ways your comments can seem to come across as slightly condescending. Am I doing the UNNATURAL thing by trying to prevent my baby from using the bottle (or b___b) as a prop or signal to go to sleep? Don't you want them to learn to go to sleep by themselves without your intervention? To each his own of course. I DO NOT want to start a debate of some kind, but just wanted to get my point across.

This isn't my business but please don't start an argument! Its not nice to call anyone condescending and its just going to start a disagreement! This was a GREAT question that I also was curious about. No matter how you schedule your day everyone is bound to be very very different. And if my b___b becomes a prop...oh well!! :) I will have to deal with it in the furture but it is what is working for my LO and me at this moment...and it is helping me get some extra Zzz's and we ALL know how rare that is! Anyway just please don't argue about this!!!

I don't want to start an argument. For some reason (don't know why) I just took offence. I apologize if the word "condescending" came across as too harsh. I repeat: I don't want to argue. I will keep my thoughts to myself from now on. Sorry!!

DDT your awesome! Seriously some other woman would have taken my post and gotten mad at that....after I posted I thought...d__n I probably just made it worse....Just want you to know that I have ready ALOT of your posts and you have helped me out MANY times! Thanks!!!!

I do eat sleep play as everyone else said it is NATURAL for us to do this and for our babies. Personally I FIND EXPERTS that go against our natural instincts as mothers to be crocks...example DR SPOCK fifty years ago everyone said do it his way...well HIS CHILDREN COMMITTED SUICIDE and HE DIED ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS FOR GIVING SUCH BAD ADVICE. I think GOD gave us natural instincts to take care of our babies and for the most part I think we should follow them. I dont think my baby uses my b___b as a crutch I think because he is so secure with me he is a more easy going baby. I personally would do what YOU feel would work best for you and screw the experts...

LOL- I am not easily offended- No harsh feelings- DDT I don't mean to offend- I just said babies get sleepy when they nurse b/c I nurse- but yes its common knowledge that all babies get sleepy when they eat- and I did say- YOU ARE right- all the experts say to eat, play, sleep- However I didn't feel like that worked for me....We are write what works for us and it worked better for me to do it eat, sleep,play- NO hard feelings- This is a perfect example of why we all love getting everyon'es opnions on this forum- everything is so different for everyone.

my dd sleeps after she eats (sometimes during ha), if i just let her get tired on her own after playing, she'd never sleep! :) at night, before bed, i go into her room with the lights out and feed her, that's her cue to go to sleep and she always does. and my 2 cents - i dont think excited2be sounded condescending at all! she was just giving her opinion to JessC

Just to toss in my 2 cents....my ds eats, plays and sleeps. We used to play, eat, sleep but changed. When he gets up in the am he gets changed, has a bottle, then plays. He'll goof off for an hour or so and then get tired, so then he has a nap. Our day kind of goes like that from there on and yes we do loosely follow a 3 hour schedule. Whatever works for you and your lo I'd go with though.

I read Babywise and follow the eat, play, sleep routine. It can be a little rough in the beginning but it is soooo worth it. It teaches them to be independent sleepers which works better for me. I can put my dd down for the night and she rolls over and goes to sleep. Also, l like keeping my dd up for a bit before I put her down so she has a chance to burp. Sometimes she'll be playing a 1/2 hour after she eats and a little burp will come out...I would hate for her to be laying down and not be able to get it out or spit up. Just my thoughts...everyone has their own way. :)

I read the Baby Whisperer but that routine didn't work for us. We eat, sleep, play like Excited. In the beginning, during the afternoons I would eat, play, sleep but found it hard for ds to nap after being stimulated w/ play. So, I switched and now he naps in his crib in the afternoon much better. He is always awake and happy when I put him in his crib but, it's just part of our routine (kind of like the eating/nursing is down time before he goes in his bed). I talk to him and pet him while he nurses then when I put him down he is much more relaxed. Sometimes he will play in his crib for a while....but then falls asleep on his own. I started doing it bc the routine worked so well for us at nite. Ds is 15wks and has been sleeping thru the nite for a while.

Haha...when I said "pet" I realized it sounded funny;-)

Hi there I have an 8 week old baby girl. And she really fights naps when we try wake eat sleep. So I wanted to try eat sleep play but I am wondering how to start that schedule since when she wakes first thing in the morning she will be hungry from sleeping all night. For those of you that find eat sleep play to work can you post a typical schedule?