When did you put your baby on a routine?

[ruby83]

Hi ladies,

My first born DS is only 2 but I can't for the life of me remember when I got him into a sleep/ feed routine! My second born is 8 weeks today and although we have some structure at night and waking, our days are pretty much all over the place.

I am breast feeding during the day, on demand and to be honest I use BF to settle him a lot if he is upset or I feed him off to sleep. At night he sleeps on me on the couch until 10pm when I change his nappy and my DH gives him a formula bottle and I express and we go off to bed. He has been settling well and going off to sleep in his bassinet. He wakes to feed between 2am and 3am and I feed him a formula bottle and express. He will cry when I try put him in the bassinet. I try settle him for a bit but for the most time it doesn't work so I bring him into bed with me and he will sleep under my arm until between 6-7am. If he wakes at 6am I BF him a little then go back to sleep until 7ish. Once we wake at 7ish I will BF again.

I am trying to keep him awake after naps for 1-1.5 hours. I am finding that during the day he will only really sleep in my arms, in the baby bjorn or in the swing (only after I transfer him after he is asleep). He doesn't want to sleep in his bassinet during the day and I am not sure how long to "try" for as I don't want him to get too upset and over tired.

Sorry for the long post but I am wondering if I should try put some more structure in my day and also wondering if I should feed on demand or try lengthen time between feeds. My first son was premature and I never had enough milk so he was mainly formula fed with BF as an "extra" so I don't have much experience with BFing.

I would love my son to have at least one nap in his bassinet just to get used to it and also allow me some freedom and time with my other son, but I think mahybe 8 weeks is too young to push this?

Would love to hear other people's thoughts!

Thanks xx

 

[jessmke]

We started doing a bedtime routine around 6 or 7 weeks, but we are just now at 4 months starting to settle into a bit of a daytime routine. Before now she would just eat and sleep on demand. It was difficult to do a sleep schedule during the day because the lengths of her naps were all over the place, anywhere from 20 min to 3 hrs. We started a predictable 9am morning nap at about 3 months, and now her midday and afternoon naps are starting to become more predictable. I was putting her down for naps in her pack n play in the living room until just this week, I am now puting her down for naps in her crib in her room. Feeding is still on demand and not on a schedule at all. I always put DD down for naps and never fed her to sleep, so I never had much of an issue with having to hold her or nurse her to sleep. I'd say just follow your baby's lead and things will settle into a routine eventually.

 

[ruby83]

Thanks hon! That makes me feel much better. I think I expect too much and part of that is probably due to the fact I also have a toddler so would like something of a routine to keep me sane haha!

 

[lau86]

I'm struggling at 5 months! Dh has taken in a promotion so he's away for a lot of bath and bed time. I really have run out of hands! Dd is starting to have a nap in the morning which is her choice. Other than that she takes it as it comes! Idk whether the formula feeders would say it's easier to get them in a routine? I think it's very hard when breastfeeding anyway!

 

[ruby83]

Wow you would have your hands full with 3! I find 2 hectic!!

Because DS1 was premature and in special care for a few weeks by the time I got him home he was feeding every 3 hours. Wish DS2 being BF during the day, I often find he feeds very frequently but random!

Today DS2 had all his sleeps on me. He was particularly clingy today!

 

[jodilee6]

DS2 is coming up to 9 months and we still wing most days!

He'll tend to be awake for ~3 hours before needing a nap and likes a bottle before a nap, other than that actual times depend on when he wakes up and what we're doing.

I try to have him in bed between 6:30-7:30pm

This works for us tho as we're not a strict routine family, I have friends who like things to be to the second and started with a routine as soon as thier babies were born. I guess it just depends on what works for you

 

[RainbowDrop_x]

At 10 weeks old we still don't have a daytime routine.

Bed time routine is bath at 6, bottle at 6.30, bed by 7.15 (depeding how long it takes her to finish the bottle, she's a slow drinker) then we dream feed at 11 and so far that seems to work for us.

She doesn't STTN, generally she's up at 2 but only for 1 ounce so last night I just gave her her dummy and she settled back down until 4.30.

Day time is pretty much whatever goes as long as she gets a nap in somewhere so she doesn't get overtired our nighttime routine seems to be enough for her!

 

[Calitwins]

We were able to successfully get on a routine at 6 months...when they started solids.

 

[ruby83]

Thanks ladies, I think I was expecting too much. I'll stick with my nighttime routine as its working well with everyone getting good amount of sleep. During the day I'll just try stick with a loose feed, play, sleep so he gets enough awake time.