Am I the Only One?

[TigerLady]

Am I the only one with a 5 month old that doesn't attempt to set any sort of routine with him? I see loads of posts about doing things at certain times of the day. I don't... LO eats when he wants, sleeps when he's tired, plays when he wants. I can't imagine making him go to sleep at a certain time -- I don't think it would be possible without a mega fight! I just don't have the energy or stamina to go through that.

Anyone else have a baby 4 months old or older that they haven't put into a rountine yet?

 

[JShaw]

My LO is just over 3 months old, but I don't plan to try any sort of routine with him until I go back to work (1 year). I like that he signals to me what he wants to do for now. I think he's happiest like that.

 

[bana]

mine only 10 weeks but i think ill b doin the same as u in a couple of months, we dont have a routine, we sleep when were tired, eat socialise ect.. so isnt it natural our los do 2! I wont b making my lo sleep if he doesnt want to! x

 

[cleckner04]

I was JUST thinking this when I signed on here today! LOL! My daughter just turned four months on Friday and I have no real set routine with her. I 'try' to give her a bath at 8 every night and be in bed by 8:30 but some nights she is napping at that time and I'm not about to wake her, other nights it just doesn't occur to me to do it. Honestly, she is so young that I think it's a bit too demanding of me to expect her to follow set schedules. I mean I can encourage her to sleep at a certain time but if she doesn't, who cares right now? She's so little still. It's not as if she has to be up for school in the morning or something. And as far as feeding schedule, she eats when she's hungry. I am the type of person that does things spur of the moment so a schedule would just never work for me.

 

[lalaland09]

LO puts up a huge fight when I try to set routines. Right now, he doesn't go to bed until 12:30. I've tried to guide him into setting a nighttime routine (bath, music, dancing), but nothing has worked. I thought setting the clocks back and it getting darker earlier would help, but he didn't even notice.

 

[Kitten]

He's kind of made one by himself which is nice so I can roughly predict the day but he still sleeps on me so isn't put down to nap or anything. The only thing we have is a bedtime routine of massage/feed/sleep but even then he can wake up an hour later and be up for hours.

 

[polaris]

I think some babies just naturally fall into a routine of doing things at the same times each day, they get hungry or tired at similar times each day. But other babies don't follow such a predictable schedule.

I guess it depends what your other commitments are, if you have other children it may be more important for LO to fit in with the family routines rather than everything revolving around them. Whereas for a first child with mum at home on maternity leave, there's not really the same necessity to make the child conform with your schedule.

I think for me, I will do my best to encourage Thomas into a loose sort of routine where he has naps at reasonably predictable times etc. because I think that a lot of babies do like the day to be predictable and to know what's coming next. But I won't be fighting with him to make him fit in with what I think he should be doing if he clearly doesn't want to. At the moment I'm keeping track of the times of day when he's alert and lively and the times of his naps - I'm hoping over time some sort of pattern will emerge and then we will have the beginnings of a little routine that suits him. So far it's not that predictable though.

 

[TigerLady]

Otter has a loose routine that he follows -- but it is very loose and he has set it himself. I am back to work full time and my husband works full time, too. But I still don't try to set anything for Otter. The only thing he HAS to do is get up briefly in the morning so I can dress him and get him to daycare. But I stress to the daycare to let him sleep when he wants and eat when he wants once he gets there. He is usually ready for bed by about 8-9 pm at night. But still wakes 2-4 times per night to eat.

Maybe it would be different if there were other kids. But for now, letting him set his own pace seems to work.

 

[polaris]

Well if it ain't broke, don't fix it! It sounds like it's working out well for you, sometimes I think there is some degree of pressure to 'have the baby in a routine' so it's actually really nice to hear that it can work well the other way too.

 

[mommyof3co]

With all 3 of my boys we did the same as you TigerLady...they set their routine. Eventually it was fairly predictable but it changed alot too with growth spurts and all that. We nursed on demand, they slept when they were tired, played when they wanted, all that....even with Hayden who is the youngest so I had 2 older boys that by that time they were in a routine...we usually start around 1 with a set bedtime, well I guess it's more like 18mo. But my older boys had a routine and my oldest was/is in school but Hayden still really did his own thing, whatever worked for him

 

[TigerLady]

Did you find that setting a bedtime at about 18 months worked well? I have been wondering when was a good time to start something like that.

 

[bloodbinds]

Ohhhh, i like this! It's probably what i'm going to do as well to be honest.
At the moment i note down all the important things she does in the day (when she feeds, sleeps, awake time etc) and i let her do her own thing and think it'll probably turn into a rough kind of routine on it's own. The only thing i make her do is on her day time naps i wake her to change her and give her a feed when i think she's been sleeping long enough, just to try and encourage short naps in the day, so she sleeps longer at night.

But good on you not having a routine! It's nice to let them just do what they want

 

[mommyof3co]

Yeah he did fine with it, by then he was more aware of what his brothers were doing so he followed their routine and went to bed at the same time. But even with Landon when he didn't have older brothers to watch he still did really well with it. By then he was already going to bed within like a 2 hr time span so we just started sticking with one time and doing a bedtime routine so he knew bedtime was coming and he did just fine with it. Now 8pm comes in my house and they are all ready for bed...and I'm ready for them to go to bed haha....but they aren't SO set that if we happen to be out they are falling apart at 8 so we are still kinda flexible with it but bedtime is 8 if we are home and during the week we make sure we are before 8

 

[TigerLady]

That sounds like a good plan, m3c! I like the idea of NOT being so SET that they fall apart at bedtime if out.

 

[Seraphim]

Phew, I'm so glad to read this ;D

I've been sat here infront of the computer with my eyes popping out up until now

 

[dizzyisacow]

i have an 8.5 month old and no routine. he slept thought the night although not at the same times and life was grand until he started teething and now for 2 weeks he doesnt sleep at night

 

[pixie87]

Harry made his own routine 2, if i try to get him to sleep when i want he kicks up a right fuss. But he falls asleep and is hungry at roughly the same time each day.

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

Joshua has a loose routine which he set himself, I have always let him lead me. he used to go bed at 10pm and gradually he brought it forward and now he goes to bed at 6pm every night. Not because I want him to .. I'm happy to play longer but he shows all the tired signs and if he stays up longer he gets grumpy.

We have NO day time rountine tho...he eats and sleeps when he wants!

 

[honey08]

morgan sorta got in to his own routine,think there young u cant not feed a baby when there hungry or not let them sleep when they want, im very lucky with morgan cos his rountine is grt for me

 

[Jkelmum]

Lily as got herself in a routine and i hate it as like now when christmas and i am busy with others she gets stressed cos she is out of routine at the moment she is sleeping in her pram cos she fell asleep after going to the play ...gunna be a long night yet if i had her bathed and fed she would of been in bed 7~7