Let's talk routines and schedules!

[aprilz81]

Faith is 11 weeks old today and we really don't have a routine or monitor sleep.  We feed on demand and let her sleep as much as she wants when she naps.  She has slept through the night twice and when she doesn't sleep through the night she only wakes up 1-2 times.

Should she be on a more regimented schedule?  I don't want her to be miserable when she starts day care and it would be nice to have a routine to know what to expect and when it is "safe" for us to make plans because we know how the day will go.

A somewhat typical day for us:

Up for the day around 8-9 - nurse, diaper change and play mat for as long as she will tolerate it (sometimes up to an hour)

10-11ish - nurse and/or formula, loose swaddle and try to get her to nap (sometimes takes awhile to get her to sleep) Her nap and next meal time varies widely, sometimes she will sleep 30 minutes to an hour, sometimes 3-4 hours.  I don't usually wake her up to feed her during this nap.

Sometimes after she wakes up (even with a longer nap) she will want to go right back to sleep with little to no awake time between naps.  So we let her sleep.

Sometime between 6-8 she will usually cry for a good 30 minutes to an hour before finally passing out.  She then sleeps downstairs in the swing or PnP in the living room while we watch tv until right before we go to bed.  I have been waking her up to nurse then (kind of a dream feed but not really) but the last few nights I haven't been.

On a good night she will wake up once (between 4-5), on an average night twice (2ish and again 4-5ish). 

Rinse and repeat.

Side note:  She has been sleeping in her crib, in her nursery since Friday.  Only one night did we take her out and put her back in the RnP.  A few more good nights and we will start putting her to bed in her crib at "bedtime" whatever time that ends up being.  One thing at a time...

[marygracerich]

I have a good night time sleeper but he is a shitty daytime sleeper so sometimes his day sleep times vary.
I get up at 6 to shower.
He wakes up between 6 and 7am. I change him and feed him. I sit him up for a bit to burp. Then I put him in the sit me up.
At 7 I wake G for school.
Between 7 and 8:25 we eat and get ready for the day. I get G out the door for school.
Baby falls asleep around 8 and will sleep until around 9.
He eats around 9:30ish.
G comes home around 11:20.
12 is lunch for her then nap. Baby eats sometime between 12 and 12:30 and then I put him down for a nap in rnp. This nap varies from an hour to 2 1/2 hours. I need to move this nap to the crib.
G wakes up between 2 and 3 if she naps. I don’t let her sleep later than that.
He eats again around 3:30ish.
He sometimes takes a quick nap around 4.
I make dinner to be done around 5.
I start bedtime routine whenever he starts fussing after 6. I put on his pjs, I give him his last bottle. He screams for a bit. Then he is usually asleep by 7 and I attempt to transfer to the crib then.
I then put G to bed for 7:30.
During his awake times he is either on his play mat, in the sit me up, in my arms, on the boppy or hanging out on the couch.

[aprilz81]

marygracerich, how much of your routine is dictated (for lack of a better word) by G's schedule? Has it been easier to get the baby on a schedule because you "had to" with G's schedule?

[sarahh]

I think I've read that you don't need to worry about a schedule for babies until 4-6mo, just follow their cues.

That being said, B is up for the day when we get her up at 7:30am then she goes to school. There she is on the mat or watching other kids most of the time with a bottle or two (she usually eats every 3-4 hours when not in a growth spurt) and some quick cat naps thrown in until I pick her up at 1pm.

For the nanny, she normally has a bottle then takes about a 2 hour nap either on a blanket or in her swing in the room that the nanny is watching my oldest.

Bottles every 3-4 hours continue in the afternoon for the nanny and naps intermittently between playing and being outdoors with DD1 and the nanny.

When I get home at 5:30 she normally has a bottle and we play until around 7 and she falls asleep for about 4 hours. She normally takes this "nap" on the boppy lounger while we watch tv in bed with her.

Next bottle is at 11/11:30 then she sleeps in her bassinet until around 2, bottle, bassinet until 5:30/6 and back in bassinet until we wake her up at 7:30.

[Deleted]

5:30 - I wake up, shower, and throw diaper bag/lunches/pump bag in the van (I pack them the night before)
6:15 - wake J and nurse her. Set her in the swing.
6:45 - wake two older girls, dress them and throw them in the van
7:15 - daycare drop off
During daycare she typically takes one long nap (2-3 hours) and one short nap (1 hour). These can be alternated between morning and afternoon.
4:45 - daycare pick up
5-7 - J naps or plays in carseat or swing while I make dinner
7 - nurse J
7:30 bath
7:45ish bed
She is my first unicorn baby so she sleeps until I wake her between 3 and 4 to feed her.

[tiffrobot]

Ha, we just started a similar thread on my other BMB (the question specifically was what is your morning routine) and my response was “wake up and hope for the best”

[marygracerich]

Apr 11, 2018 12:47:08 GMT -6 aprilz81 said:

marygracerich, how much of your routine is dictated (for lack of a better word) by G's schedule? Has it been easier to get the baby on a schedule because you "had to" with G's schedule?

G has been on a good schedule since she was about his age so it just sort of spilled over onto him. I did what worked for her it and became how we did things. If for some reason he wants to eat earlier than his usual time or something happens and I need to adjust it, I can. G is super adaptable and very chill so I don’t worry about having to change things if the baby needs my attention. But I have also taught myself to make sure I am ok with putting him down, even if he is upset, for a few minutes to attend to her if it’s needed. I also know that if he wakes up while I am still in the shower, he is just going to have to wait until I am dressed before I can care for him. I won’t take my sweet time but I won’t hop out and race to him before I am done either.
It takes time to be comfortable with your parenting to learn this. I am also super breezy so 🤷🏻‍♀️.

[onatrain]

Apr 11, 2018 12:51:05 GMT -6 sarahh said:

I think I've read that you don't need to worry about a schedule for babies until 4-6mo, just follow their cues.

That being said, B is up for the day when we get her up at 7:30am then she goes to school. There she is on the mat or watching other kids most of the time with a bottle or two (she usually eats every 3-4 hours when not in a growth spurt) and some quick cat naps thrown in until I pick her up at 1pm.

For the nanny, she normally has a bottle then takes about a 2 hour nap either on a blanket or in her swing in the room that the nanny is watching my oldest.

Bottles every 3-4 hours continue in the afternoon for the nanny and naps intermittently between playing and being outdoors with DD1 and the nanny.

When I get home at 5:30 she normally has a bottle and we play until around 7 and she falls asleep for about 4 hours. She normally takes this "nap" on the boppy lounger while we watch tv in bed with her.

Next bottle is at 11/11:30 then she sleeps in her bassinet until around 2, bottle, bassinet until 5:30/6 and back in bassinet until we wake her up at 7:30.

I have a 10 week old and your night schedule starting at 7:00 is almost exactly what is going on at my house. My oldest was sleeping through the night by now, so I am "happy" to read another person in this boat. My kiddo was doing that solid stretch at the beginning of the night (sometimes over 4 hours) but recently started waking up and it is sort of frustrating because it isn't going in the direction I was hoping.

Phew, just needed to release that to the universe.

[cake]

We do not have a schedule at all.... the only routine is giving him a bath between 8-8:30 and then a before bed time feeding right after. Even if he’s only eaten an hour before, he’ll still eat at this point. The time he will then actually fall asleep, changes daily. Then he’s up for the day typically around 8am.

The rest of the day is all over the place. My husband is now off with him and I’m sure his day looks different than mine did. But I’m sure we both feed him when he’s hungry, have him nap when he’s tired. I’m suspecting more of a routine to start when he starts daycare in June.

[sarahh]

Apr 11, 2018 13:25:17 GMT -6 onatrain said:

Apr 11, 2018 12:51:05 GMT -6 sarahh said:

I think I've read that you don't need to worry about a schedule for babies until 4-6mo, just follow their cues.

That being said, B is up for the day when we get her up at 7:30am then she goes to school. There she is on the mat or watching other kids most of the time with a bottle or two (she usually eats every 3-4 hours when not in a growth spurt) and some quick cat naps thrown in until I pick her up at 1pm.

For the nanny, she normally has a bottle then takes about a 2 hour nap either on a blanket or in her swing in the room that the nanny is watching my oldest.

Bottles every 3-4 hours continue in the afternoon for the nanny and naps intermittently between playing and being outdoors with DD1 and the nanny.

When I get home at 5:30 she normally has a bottle and we play until around 7 and she falls asleep for about 4 hours. She normally takes this "nap" on the boppy lounger while we watch tv in bed with her.

Next bottle is at 11/11:30 then she sleeps in her bassinet until around 2, bottle, bassinet until 5:30/6 and back in bassinet until we wake her up at 7:30.

I have a 10 week old and your night schedule starting at 7:00 is almost exactly what is going on at my house. My oldest was sleeping through the night by now, so I am "happy" to read another person in this boat. My kiddo was doing that solid stretch at the beginning of the night (sometimes over 4 hours) but recently started waking up and it is sort of frustrating because it isn't going in the direction I was hoping.

Phew, just needed to release that to the universe.

My oldest was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks - like 10pm-6 or 7am so this is new territory for me too.  I know her sleep is better than when she was a newborn but it's not that much better.  We do get at least one 4 hour stretch so that's something.

[onatrain]

sarahh I hope it just keeps getting better for you. For two days after Easter she was doing an 8 hour stretch and it was glorious. I keep making excuses to explain the change: we traveled last weekend, maybe it's a growth spurt, etc. Praying it is only temporary.

[jessijean]

What's a schedule??


We are still going off his cues for the most part but it's getting a bit more regular.

- up by 7 to go to daycare
- not sure what happens at daycare but I know a nap and bottle are part of it haha. We pick him up at noon.
- bottle when he gets home followed by nap of various lengths
- nap around 8
- bed around 11-12
- wake up between 4 and 6 depending on the night, nap until wake up for daycare

[tiffrobot]

In all seriousness though, she’s not on a schedule. More at the mercy of DS’s extra curricular, I’ve had to wake her a few times to make sure he gets to where he needs. My big two don’t nap, so I’m kind of starting fresh with a nap routine, and I don’t have times for that yet, I still follow her cues. (When DD1 was a baby and started getting more used to a routine DS was still taking a regular afternoon nap so I often tried to push to time them similar.. this time I’m kind of just back to whenever since the big ones will be awake anyway)

The one routine she does seem to be getting the hang of is bedtime..I’ve started bathing her near daily (still only soap once or twice a week) because the big kids do, and she loves her bath time and DD1 and sometimes DS will bath the same time as her. Big kids usually do stories around 7:30 and in their beds around 8 (DS sometimes takes a little longer to settle but he is older), and N has definitely started getting fussy and wants to nurse herself to sleep almost like clockwork by 7:15. (Luckily it works that H can do stories with the big kids and I can just pit in with N). I still just get my evening snuggles in and sleep with her most of the night. Currently seems to be getting up around 6:45-7 for a stretch which is generally when the big two get up too so I think she’s gotten used to that, for now anyway haha.

[Queen Mamadala]

He has a routine, but I don't do schedules.

- 5:30-6am - bottle upon waking, before taking dd1 to school

- 11:30-12pm - bottle

- 5:30-6pm - bottle

- 11-11:30pm - (dream feed) bottle

He nurses and naps in between those feedings (breastmilk or formula). I nurse to sleep and he sleeps on or near me or H and we co-sleep/bed share. H changes him before giving him his last bottle. He usually stirs or wakes around 5-6am.

[pinkcat]

I like this thread, I always worry I don't have enough of a schedule so it's helpful to see everyone's!

DS normally gets up for the day around 9.

He eats right away, plays for two hours or so, and then usually takes about an hour nap.

I nurse when he wakes up, more play time for an hour, then I nurse again and this time he normally naps for 2 or 3 hours... he's usually awake by 4.

The next 4 or 5 hours he nurses a ton...usually every hour or two and only 1 short cat nap. He won't sleep much and gets fussy and cries a lot around 8 or 9.

I go to bed around 9, DH gives him a bottle around 930, and then he sleeps downstairs on DH until 11 or so.

Then, he nurses one more time and goes to bed in our room. He normally only wakes around 3 and 7, although we've started to get nights with only 1 wake up between 11 and 9.

I do feel like during the day he is nursing a lot more often then what I see here! Hopefully I'm not feeding him too much.

[ajetter]

Baby is 3 months old today and all regularity seems to have gone out the window in the last three days. She was sleeping 10-11 hours straight at night. Now not so much.

DDs 1-3 are all early risers. They wake up between 6-6:20am. We eat breakfast at 7 and then get dressed and ready for the day. DD1 gets in the bus at 8:10, DD2 & 3 have to be at preschool by 9 three days a week. They get picked up by 11:30, we eat lunch by noon, and DD3 has quiet/nap time from 1-3:30. DD1 gets off the bus at 4, we have a snack and then extra curricular change every night therefore our dinner time does too. Lights out for the older three is at 8pm.

Baby is usually up for the day between 7-8:30am. We follow an eat wale sleep routine. She generally takes a 2.5-3 hour nap in the morning as long as she is in the rock n play or the car seat. She doesn’t last near as long in the crib. The rest of the day is a complete toss up depending on what we have going on and just in general unpredictable naps. We do baths every other night and nurse right before bed. We’ve been trying to get her down for the night between 8:45-9:15. Eventually I’d like to get bedtime to somewhere between 7:30-8:15.

I workout in the mornings, my alarm is set for 4:55am. But in general I’m at the mercy of all the kids throughout the day so my routine is very hit or miss too. Someday it will be regular, I hope anyway!

[benandjerrys]

We don't have a schedule really. I try to do eat, play, sleep because that was a Godsend for DD (as opposed to nursing to sleep) except at night when it's just eat, sleep.

He wakes around 7 and goes to bed around 9:30. He usually wakes between 0-1 time. Occasionally 2. He sleeps better than DD slept at a year old.

Except during the day. With the exception of one long nap he rarely sleeps for more than 20 minutes during the day. But I don't do a whole routine with sleep sack, etc during the day. I need to start crib naps but I am scared.

[rebeccabunch]

Apr 11, 2018 13:23:45 GMT -6 tiffrobot said:

Ha, we just started a similar thread on my other BMB (the question specifically was what is your morning routine) and my response was “wake up and hope for the best”

👏🏻🏆

[rebeccabunch]

No routine yet. Only thing solid is nurse around 7pm, sleep in my arms until 9:30 then final nurse and bedtime. She sleeps until 4-6.

The day is a total shitshow compromised of me constantly forgetting she will not tolerate a nap alone for more than 20 minutes and trying it over and over again as my frustration builds until 5 when I either starting crying or drinking or both.

The anger is brought to you by me being required to do some work tasks this week and something that would normally take 20 minutes eats up all my baby free time.

[sunfrogger]

O is 6w. As baby of the board and the literal last one born here, we just kinda go w the flow. She takes a nap after about an hour 15 if being awake. It ends up being about 4 naps. Bedtime varies a bit. Baths every 2-3 days bc I bathe both girls together. But she’s awake around 7.. she’s asleep between 830-9. She wakes up 2-5 times a night. With trying to treat reflux a lot of my time is spent keeping her upright after nursing. I’m excited for the SMU that should arrive today to delegate some of that time to baby-free activities. Like. Eating. Or pumping.

[tiffbabey]

Apr 12, 2018 6:51:00 GMT -6 sunfrogger said:

O is 6w. As baby of the board and the literal last one born here, we just kinda go w the flow. She takes a nap after about an hour 15 if being awake. It ends up being about 4 naps. Bedtime varies a bit. Baths every 2-3 days bc I bathe both girls together. But she’s awake around 7.. she’s asleep between 830-9. She wakes up 2-5 times a night. With trying to treat reflux a lot of my time is spent keeping her upright after nursing. I’m excited for the SMU that should arrive today to delegate some of that time to baby-free activities. Like. Eating. Or pumping.

Did your DD get officially diagnosed with reflux? I am thinking my DD might have it as well but I am not positive. What are her symptoms?

[yellow711]

We don't have a routine for the whole day yet. I am waiting for daycare to start because I know that will impact everything.

As of now, J does have a "night routine", which he set himself. Between 7P and 8P, he is ready for his last bottle before "bedtime". He is swaddled and goes to bed easy in his crib (most nights it is is pretty easy). Then he gets up anywhere from 1am to 5a for his first wake up.

[amesie]

No real schedule here. She wakes up around 730-8ish for the day, eats and plays for about an hour, then goes down for nap #1. This typically is about an hour if it’s in her bed. If we go out (which is what we usually do) it’ll be about half an hour at best in the car seat. Then for the rest of the day, she naps throughout, with being awake for an hour in between naps. She usually has 1 long nap around 1, wakes up after like an hour to eat and goes right back down for another hour or 2. A few times it was 4 hour nap. Then she goes down for bed at 730-8ish, wakes up once around 6 to eat then up for the day around 730-8. Rinse and repeat.

[sunfrogger]

Apr 12, 2018 7:16:37 GMT -6 tiffbabey said:

Apr 12, 2018 6:51:00 GMT -6 sunfrogger said:

O is 6w. As baby of the board and the literal last one born here, we just kinda go w the flow. She takes a nap after about an hour 15 if being awake. It ends up being about 4 naps. Bedtime varies a bit. Baths every 2-3 days bc I bathe both girls together. But she’s awake around 7.. she’s asleep between 830-9. She wakes up 2-5 times a night. With trying to treat reflux a lot of my time is spent keeping her upright after nursing. I’m excited for the SMU that should arrive today to delegate some of that time to baby-free activities. Like. Eating. Or pumping.

Did your DD get officially diagnosed with reflux? I am thinking my DD might have it as well but I am not positive. What are her symptoms?

No, but the more I carefully observe the more I think we have it. She is really uncomfortable a lot of the time, lots of actual reflux activity in the 30 min after eating as observed while holding her upright. We had those couple vomit episodes. She arches her back a LOT.

I am currently trying gas drops. If we go a week and no improvement, I'll try to cut dairy. If that doesn't work I'll talk to her ped. So far, there is mild improvement between gas drops and holding her upright for about 30min after each feeding (which is annoying AF if I can be totally honest, so I can't wait for this sit me up to get here today). The actual amount of spit up has been reduced as well.

[benandjerrys]

How do you bathe them both together sunfrogger? Teach me your ways. Both my kids are dirty dirty.

[tiffrobot]

Apr 12, 2018 13:55:14 GMT -6 benandjerrys said:

How do you bathe them both together sunfrogger? Teach me your ways. Both my kids are dirty dirty.

Not sunfrogger, but any excuse to show off my children 😉

DS doesn’t always jump in with DD1 anymore as of recently, but H was gone Tuesday so he didn’t have him to hang out with while I bathed the girls so he came in too haha. Sometimes he showers after or just baths after.

I take care of baby first, get her cleaned up dried off and in her PJs, and she’ll usually just sit on my lap or lay on a blanket beside me while I do the big kids.

[sarahh]

tiffrobot, I love the baby's expression!

[flippinchica]

I've been bathing the baby on the floor of the master shower and after a big spit up I got in the shower too. DS1 jumped in as well and now he loves showers. It is great. I can wash my face and brush my teeth while he chills in the shower.

[sunfrogger]

Apr 12, 2018 13:55:14 GMT -6 benandjerrys said:

How do you bathe them both together sunfrogger? Teach me your ways. Both my kids are dirty dirty.

:-)

[sunfrogger]

O usually likes her tub so I get the big out and set up with her toothbrush and in her robe. Then she brushes her teeth and I change Liv. Then I redo her teeth (lol) and dress her. Usually H will jump in and get her dressed but I did them both a couple times.