Anyone else a "routine" mum??

[k4th]

I am not looking for a debate about baby led vs routines.

I jut wondered if anyone else out there is following a routine for their baby and how it is going? What does your routine look like?

Ours is...
7am up & bottle (dd is up for school anyway & wakes the whole house lol so it's an easy place to start)
9am nap for 30mins to an hour
11am bottle
12-2 nap
2.30 bottle
4.30 catnap
6.30 upstairs, bottle & bedtime
10pm dream feed

With #2 this routine works so well with the school run, dd's after school activities etc. I organise baby groups around the naps, so I mostly go to morning groups between 10-12am. Afternoon groups are tricky anyway as dd needs picking up from school at 3pm. Sometimes I stray from the routine to go out for lunch, but we always manage to fiddle it so ds still gets about 3ish hours of sleep a day. He is always well rested & everyone comments that he's a very happy little guy.

Pros & cons of your routines?

 

[Taurus8484]

Yes with both boys.

Cons - im a bit anal when it comes to when to sleep and when to fed so plan trips out around routine.

Pros - both self settled early on. Just pop them down and leave the room. Both slept 12 hours at night from early on. DS1 at 10 weeks. DS2 at 15 weeks. Same bed routine every night at same time. Both happy babies.

 

[k4th]

Taurus - thanks for replying Nice to know I'm not the only one! I'm a bit anal about sleep too - but only because my kids have both needed lots of sleep and have been really miserable if they get OT. I just want them to be the happy, smiley children I know they can be when they've slept enough

What does your 9 month old do now routine wise??

 

[Taurus8484]

7am bottle
8am breakfast
10am nap
Bottle when he wakes
Lunch 1 hour after
Nap 3 hours after up from nap
Bottle when he wakes
5.15 dinner
6.15 bath
Bottle
Bed at 7.00pm

 

[Aliop]

I discovered the value of a routine with my first when he was 6 months old and have had a good solid routine in place with babies no. 2 & 3. This baby I am working towards getting us into a routine but we are not there yet. He is different to my others, doesn't self settle and cannot re-settle through a sleep cycle so at the moment we are trapped in cat nap hell I can't handle crying so I'm very gentle with getting a routine established, we will get there and do have quite a flow happening, I can't wait until he starts sleeping better though. We are co-sleeping at night but I'd really rather not, just taking the easy way out for now!

 

[Rainbow82]

We have a loose routine
6-7am bottle
7:30-9 breakfast porridge and toast and yoghurt
9-10/10:30 playtime
10:39-12:30 nap
1:00 lunch
1:30/3:15 play time
3:15 bottle
3:30/4-4:30/5 nap (1hr)
5-6 play time
6 dinner followed by playtime
7 bath
7:30 story and bed.
10pm dream feed

DS is 7 months and if he gets overtired he's a nightmare lol. We do go out a lot and so it's not set in stone and if we are out he doesn't like napping till he's overtired but overall it suits us.

 

[LittleLala]

We have a routine, but the time of it changes daily according to when he wakes up.

He feeds every 4 hours, and then plays, and he naps an hour and a half after food. His naps last about half an hour. But after his second feed for the day he sleeps straight away and has his long nap which lasts for about 2 hours. If he doesn't have his long nap the he is cranky for the rest of the day!
He created this routine and we have stuck to it. His bedtime is between 7.30 or 8.30 (depending on feed times for the day) and he sleeps through until anywhere from 5.30 to 7.
I have just stopped doing his 10pm dream feed and we will see how he goes without it. Wish me luck

I totally understand what you mean about sleep. My little one is so happy and easy going, but if I mess with his nap routines then he is miserable!

 

[Button#]

We had a routine. We just fell into one which fitted around taking my DS to preschool. But now she's trying to drop to two naps but is in that awkward limbo while we try and settle into a new routine.

It was
6am wake
7 breakfast
9-9.30 nap
12-2 nap
4.30-5 nap
6 tea
6.30 bath
7 bedtime feed
Asleep between 7.30 and 8

Breastfeeds on demand.

 

[k4th]

Aliop - we discovered a routine when dd was around 6 months too. It massively improved her mood to get enough sleep!! We're very gentle too - I think there's a myth that all routines mean you must do CIO - actually because ds can self settle we've never had to! Sometimes sleeping through those sleep cycles is developmental though - it's so nice when they hit that point of being able to just sleep brilliantly for naps!!

Rainbow - the word "overtired" gives me nightmares lol!

Little Lala - good luck with dropping the dream feed. I think we managed to get rid of dd's when she was about 8 months. But for a while she was on the 91st centile & very hungry so she needed all her meals plus that dream feed lol.

Button - if you push your morning nap back to 9.30 and ten lunch nap at 12.30 do you think sleeping a bit later in the afternoon would help with dropping the third nap? I think that's how we managed dd at around that age.

 

[Button#]

She's already pushed back to those times but if she wakes at 2.30 she'll never make it until bedtime and I would struggle to bring tea and her bedtime forward as I have DS and OH to work around as well. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[winterbabies3]

I had a pretty strick routine when son was younger but now that he is 2 and doesn't always nap it's harder. Love having a routine tho. I think kids need it!

 

[k4th]

Button - it's so hard when they're dropping that nap!! I remember dd kept it until at least 7 months. She loved her sleep!! Good luck with it!!

Winterbabies - I missed nap time so much when dd stopped it altogether. Especially when she fought it but still really needed it! I still miss being able to have a little snooze in the day with her

 

[mummytobe_93]

I am not looking for a debate about baby led vs routines.

I jut wondered if anyone else out there is following a routine for their baby and how it is going? What does your routine look like?

Ours is...
7am up & bottle (dd is up for school anyway & wakes the whole house lol so it's an easy place to start)
9am nap for 30mins to an hour
11am bottle
12-2 nap
2.30 bottle
4.30 catnap
6.30 upstairs, bottle & bedtime
10pm dream feed

With #2 this routine works so well with the school run, dd's after school activities etc. I organise baby groups around the naps, so I mostly go to morning groups between 10-12am. Afternoon groups are tricky anyway as dd needs picking up from school at 3pm. Sometimes I stray from the routine to go out for lunch, but we always manage to fiddle it so ds still gets about 3ish hours of sleep a day. He is always well rested & everyone comments that he's a very happy little guy.

Pros & cons of your routines?

I am very routine in terms of when I get up in the morning and the cleaning/ washing I do in the morning in what order. Getting the kids up dressed and fed at a certain time and out of the door. Also tea/bath/book/bed is at the same time each night. However in terms of feeding times for my baby its not always the same just because I'm breastfeeding and he doesn't really have any routine in term of that. However everything else is pretty routine and it does make it easier for me. I can't stand the chaos if I go out of routine! X

 

[weedle]

I have a sort of routine but I refuse to get stuck in a nap time rut this time around. With my first everything revolved around nap times and he wouldn't sleep anywhere but his cot.
This time, we have a wake up and bed time routine as he has to follow my eldest but during the day he just naps wherever, if he's tired I put him down (always awake so he set settles). I try and put him to sleep in his pram a lot as my eldest refused to sleep in there from a few weeks old which made going out a nightmare.
Our routine is roughly:
7am - wake up, nappy and dressed (and dress eldest)
7.30 - bottle for ds2 and breakfast for ds1
8.30 - into car seat for school run (normally naps at this time)
He eats and sleeps whenever from here, I normally put him in his pram at 1 as we pick ds2 up and he usually naps.
5pm - bottle
7pm - bath, pjs (ds2 the same and he's in bed for 7.30)
8pm - bottle, sleeping bag and bed.

He normally wakes for a feed at 11 and then sttn

 

[k4th]

Mummytobe - I love routine for my kids but hate it around the house lol! I like a bit if chaos every now & then - as long as it's happy chaos

Weedle - we stick to nap times but I agree on having them in a variety of places. Ds can have his in his buggy, on me (shorter naps) or in his cot. It makes life so much easier!! Dd loved her lunch nap & I remember lots of days out where she would nap in her buggy & me & oh could have a lovely lunch together

 

[Julesillini8]

I am a definite routine mom! With my third, I still like to have a general routine, but not scheduled to the exact time as I have to be a bit more flexible with my older two kids activities, school runs etc. but we all do well with routine and it works for us!

 

[MrsPear]

We had a routine with number one, not specific times but just napping after a certain time awake etc. With number two we haven't. Just different babies who had different needs x

 

[SparklesHeart]

We have a wake up and bed routine but through the day its whatever goes, only 3months and breastfeeding on demand though, once we've weaned and got proper meals things will follow more of a pattern throughout the day. Got 3 older ones as well so before/after school have to be reasonably routine!

 

[winterbabies3]

I am a definite routine mom! With my third, I still like to have a general routine, but not scheduled to the exact time as I have to be a bit more flexible with my older two kids activities, school runs etc. but we all do well with routine and it works for us!

Awww!!! My sons name is Rylan too!!

 

[Indi84]

I'm a routine mum, ds1 thrives on it and was unsettled very early on when it was disturbed.

Worked brilliantly for us, he is a great sleeper, still is at three.

Cons, I got flack of friends for not being able to go anywhere at anytime, I was the first to have a baby and felt very unsupported at times. Since then some have babies, the routine ones get it, but the free and rest ones still make the odd remark. Ds is so happy like this I don't regret it at all!

Ds2 is a month so not in one yet but around three months will start trying bedtime routine and putting him down at the same time every night. We do tend to get up 7.30 though, then three times a week is preschool pick up and drop off, so he has to fit in with that!