EASY Baby Schedule for Baby’s First Year

Learn how you can implement an EASY baby schedule and get sample schedules for your baby following the EASY routine set forth in Tracy Hogg’s The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems book.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I read Babywise and learned all about following an eat play sleep routine.

Babywise didn’t explain things enough though, so I went searching for other books and found Tracy Hogg’s The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems.

Hogg’s book was much more empathetic to new parents and explained a lot more about the different temperaments babies have and how that can impact their sleep habits.

It also introduced the EASY baby schedule—a simple routine for parents to structure their baby’s day to make sure everyone’s needs are met.

Learn how you can implement an easy baby schedule to structure your days and optimize sleep for your baby!

To help you better, start by downloading my free baby sleep calculator to see when nap time and bed time should be based on your baby’s age. Click here to grab that, it’ll be super helpful.

What is the EASY Schedule for Baby?

The EASY schedule for baby is a basic routine you can follow throughout your day.

EASY is an acronym you can follow to structure your day to ensure your baby gets adequate feedings, playtime with his caregiver, the sleep he needs, and finally—you get a little time to rest when your baby rests!

E.A.S.Y follows an eat play sleep routine and stands for:

E—Eat

A—Activity

S—Sleep

Y—You

Most humans thrive under some routine and babies are no different.

Following a routine helps babies know when their needs are going to be met and helps them know what’s coming next.

For example, my daughter learned to expect her bottle after she woke up from her nap, because we followed EASY so routinely. I would often see her looking at my hands for the bottle when she woke up and she’d be very disappointed if it wasn’t there.

Simple enough, right? As a new mom I liked things really spelled out for me, so I’ll break down the EASY baby schedule even further.

Eat

This is the time spent feeding your baby. Notice that there is a separation between feeding and sleeping.

This is so you don’t develop the habit of feeding to sleep, which is one of the harder sleep habits to break and often requires sleep training down the line.

Keep in mind that the eating part of EASY can take up most of your baby’s awake time in the beginning.

Activity

After your baby eats, spend some time doing an activity with him. Play peek-a-boo, sit on a blanket outside, practice tummy time, etc. Interact with your baby during this activity time.

The activity time will vary based on your baby’s age and Hogg gives guidelines in her book. I also have all the baby wake windows broken down by age so you can see how long this activity time should be for your baby.

Sleep

Now it’s time for your baby to take a nap! This is often easier said than done.

As your baby grows naps will start to become more and more predictable.

You

Here’s the best part of EASY!

When your baby is sleeping. take that time for yourself!

It’s hard work caring for a baby and you deserve to veg out, take a quick nap, or binge watch Netflix for the next 30 to 90 minutes if you so please.

Hogg is the first to admit that the EASY baby schedule isn’t always so easy to implement, but that it works really well. After all, when it comes to caring for babies nothing is really easy!

What Age Should You Start an EASY Routine?

Hogg recommends starting an EASY routine when new parents get home from the hospital.

She stresses that it is not a rigid schedule, but more of a routine as you consistently follow the same set of activities throughout your day.

I advise parents to give themselves about 2 to 3 weeks after birth to adjust to life with a baby before starting to setup those foundational sleep habits like the EASY routine.

Those first few weeks can be full of hormones, emotions, and sleeplessness and I want to make sure parents give themselves grace before feeling like they need to start a predictable routine.

At first, your newborn’s wake window will be almost non-existent. Your baby will be awake to take a quick feed and that’s about it.

It is also really common for newborns to fall asleep at the breast or bottle in those early days.

The feeding part will take up most of the eating and activity time in the beginning if you’re following an EASY baby schedule.

Easy Baby Sample Schedules

Here are sample baby schedules using E.A.S.Y. If you want printable versions of more detailed schedules, make sure to grab my Baby Sleep Schedule Binder.

If your baby takes short naps, remember that is common and developmentally appropriate up until about 6 months old.

EASY Newborn Schedule

Here’s a sample newborn sleep schedule:

Easy Baby Schedule 2 Months

Here’s a 2 month old sample sleep schedule:

Easy Baby Schedule 3 Months Old

Here’s a sample three month old sleep schedule:

EASY Baby Schedule 4 Months

Here’s a sample four month old sleep schedule:

EASY Baby Schedule 5 Months

Here’s a sample five month old sleep schedule:

EASY Baby Schedule 6 Months

Here’s a sample 6 month old sleep schedule:

Easy Baby Schedule 7/8 Months

Around 7 to 8 months, most babies drop the third nap and transition from 3 naps to 2. Here’s a sample of what that might look like:

Easy Baby Schedule 9–11 Months Old

Here’s a sample 9 month old sleep schedule / 10 month old sleep schedule and 11 month old sleep schedule:

7:00 am — Wake up + nurse or bottle

8:00 am — Solids/Breakfast

10:00 to 11:15 am — Nap

11:15 am — Nurse or bottle

12:15 pm — Lunch

2:15 pm — Small nurse or bottle (if needed)

2:45 to 4:00 pm — Nap

4:00 pm — Nurse or bottle

5:30 pm — Solids/Dinner

6:30 pm — Start bedtime routine + nurse or bottle

7:30 pm — Bedtime

When your baby is closer to one year old, you’ll transition to one nap and follow a 1 year old schedule.

How Do You Get A Baby Into A Routine?

You can get your baby on the EASY baby schedule by following it consistently throughout the day. Your baby will come to expect the order of events and you’ll become a pro at your routine.

One of the best parts about EASY is you avoid feeding to sleep from the beginning so that is never a sleep association for your baby. Your baby can learn independent sleep and start sleeping longer stretches at night!

Keep in mind that EASY does not apply to night feeds. If your baby needs a feed in the middle of the night, feed him and get him back to sleep ASAP. Don’t have activity time in there during the night time!

Let me know if you have any questions getting started on the EASY baby schedule and I hope you enjoy your routine with your baby!