Does Eat-Wake-Sleep Work?

I am sure you have heard of the common phrase “eat-play-sleep” or “eat-wake-sleep”. This blog post will cover what it is, when it works, and when it doesn’t.

What is eat-wake-sleep?

An eat-wake-sleep cycle (also known as eat-play-sleep) is feeding your baby right when they wake up, giving them some play/awake time, and then putting them down for a nap. The cycle starts over again when the baby wakes up from their nap.

An eat-wake-sleep cycle is meant to encourage full feeds, help you differentiate between your baby being tired and hungry, and prevent an association between feeding and sleeping.

So, does it work?

Yes! I always recommend following an eat-wake-sleep cycle in the first few months of your baby’s life. It can be so nice to get on a predictable routine throughout the day. This does not mean you need to be on a clock-based schedule with your newborn. It is more just a predictable rhythm to follow.

Here is why an eat-wake-sleep cycle works well in the newborn months:

Full Feeds

It is important to prioritize full feeds during the newborn months. Newborns are sleepy. It can take a lot of effort to keep your baby awake during a feed. The goal is to keep them awake for as long as possible so they can take a full feed before falling asleep. If we feed them at the beginning of an awake window, they are less likely to fall asleep as soon as they start feeding.

Differentiate Between Hunger and Tiredness

It can be tricky to figure out why your baby is crying at first. Many parents assume that if their baby is crying they must be hungry and they end up feeding them very frequently. Small frequent feeds all day can lead to short naps and frequent night wake ups.

In reality, many fussy babies are actually overtired. With an eat-play-sleep cycle, you can better differentiate whether your baby is hungry or tired. If they took a nice full feed at the beginning of their wake window and start to get fussy about an hour later they are most likely tired, not hungry.

Eliminate Eating as a Sleep Association

While you don’t need to worry about “spoiling” your newborn with rocking to sleep and contact naps, it is helpful to avoid creating an association between eating and sleeping. Relying on feeding to fall asleep often leads to short naps, more frequent night wake ups, snack feeds rather than full feeds, and a burnt out parent. An eat-wake-sleep allows you to put the feed at the beginning of the wake window. When nap times rolls around, you can use the six s’s rather than feeding to get them down.

But when does it STOP working?

While eat-play-sleep works well in the newborn months, it can actually lead to shorter naps as your baby gets older. Most babies need feeds every 2-3 hours during the day. Newborns are only awake for about an hour at a time. With this cycle, they just had a feed about an hour before they are ready for a nap. They have plenty of time to get in a solid nap before needing another feed.

As your baby gets older and starts staying awake for longer periods of time, eat-play-sleep is no longer helpful. For example, the average 5-month-old is awake for at least 2 hours in between naps. If your baby wakes up, takes a feed, and then goes down for a nap 2 hours later they are most likely going to take a short nap and wake up hungry.

In this case, it can be helpful to move feeds closer to nap time or towards the middle of the wake window. It is still important to keep feeding out of the nap routine if you want to avoid relying on feeding to sleep. But you can move the feed at least 20-30 minutes before nap time so you know your baby isn’t taking short naps because of hunger.

Ready to learn more? Check out my First Four Months Guide.