With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

For sleep, feedings, etc. I understand that they pretty much dictate the schedule in the beginning based on their needs but...at what point did you have a schedule? And how was that schedule developed...did your pediatrican help develop or recommend times for your baby or did you feel it out and come up with one on your own?

I am feeling very clueless and nevous about things.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

she fell into her own routine but I used the 2 hr awake time guideline from Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I noticed her routine after writing everything we did for a week or two and looked at the pattern. Her "natural" pattern was as described in the book.

She'd wake, eat, play, show drowsy signs.

Now, we do our errands in the afternoon during her longer awake period unless it's a playdate which we do before lunch and I keep her up a little later.

I think I am one of the few moms who lets their schedule revolve around the babys' instead of dragging her around. DH and I are able to work everything out accordingly so that her wonderful sleep habits are not totally disturbed because babies need their sleep and they thrive on routine.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

I'm not sure if this is what you mean but we do it this way: Liam normally wakes up about 5am, or 6am if we're lucky. (He goes to bed between 8pm and 8:30pm and he's 7 1/2 mos old).
We give one bottle then and he takes it, falls back to sleep soon after for about 1 to 2 hours. We do bottles every 3 hours so if he wakes up at 5am, then it's 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm.

However sometimes he is sleeping when his bottle time comes up so I won't wake him since he isn't a great daytime napper so if he's sleeping I let him. Most of the time the last two bottles get pushed back due to sleeping so they are more like 4pm and 7pm.

As for solids, it's more important for him to get the formula, but I will give some cereal, and 1 or 2 fruits or 1 fruit and 1 veg (of course I started off with less than that when he started eating at 5 months) about 1/2 hour after his 2nd bottle of the day. So that's about 8:30 or 9am. Lunch is around 12pm or so. Dinner (if he's not wiped out by day's end) is around 7:30pm.

ETA: when he is tired he'll cry/moan and rub his eyes. When he's hungry it's a wah wah wah cry. You'll be amazed how you can figure them out after awhile. He is 7 months old now and it's taken me until now to know "the signs" of hunger and tiredness just by hearing the cry. Also he tends to want to nap after a bottle and food, that's why I try not to do food too long after a bottle or he'll get cranky from being tired.

Then if it's bath day (every other day) we do that after dinner, and then pj's and snuggle time and bed.

Like most of us, you'll get into your own routine after awhile. We didn't really hit a "stride" until 5 or 6 months. And of course the schedule can get very disrupted due to things like if I'm in the car with him driving and it's a bottle time, but he's sleeping...then I wait until we are at our destination. I try not to drive when he's going to be due a bottle but sometimes you can't help it.

HTH

Message edited 3/19/2007 2:21:31 PM.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

I wanted my son to be able to adapt to any environment..If we are out and it is time for his nap..he will still take a nap.
He basically set the routine..I paid attention to his sleeping/eating habit and realized that the same time everday is when he would wake, be hungry, get tired..After 1 month is when I got to learn his signs.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

baby will definitely let you know their schedule. The only thing I did to alter that was to never let him nap more than 3 hrs during the day. (on the advice of my ped). This was the only tactic we used to try to get him to sleep longer at night. I *think* it worked as he was sleeping through by 2 months. Before that, he definitely went down for longer stretches at night 4-5 hours as opposed to his normal 3. HTH

eta: we also kept a radio on near his bassinet so he would learn to sleep through any noise...talking, music etc.

Message edited 3/19/2007 2:28:51 PM.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

You don't Your baby will set up YOUR schedule for you, so don't worry I joke, but i'm also very serious about that. What you can do is to have a good bedtime routine from the start.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

I highly recommend "Secrets of the Baby Wisperer." I am reading it now that my son is 4 months old. Turns out I was already following her plan. But, she gives lots of tips on sleeping, feeding, gas, etc.

To answer your question, I started DS on an every 4 hour feeding schedule (I formula feed). Everything else pretty much worked itself out. he still pretty much follows the same schedule, but now he is awake more often. As someone else said, I try to follow the 2 hour awake guideline. That doesn't ALWAYS work, but it's a good start.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

Thank you - everyone for your responses I am printing them out so I can re-read them.

I feel like we are going to walk through the door with our daughter and have that deer-in-headlight look and say "what now?"

I keep thinking - how will I know how often to feed her and how much. How will I know how to get her to follow a schedule for sleep (over time of course). I just started to panic. I need an instruction manual

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

get the book Healthy sleep habits, healthy child--it is great. The feedings were scheduled b/c of the nicu. but it was easy to keep them on it.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

Just know that whatever seems to work for YOU and YOUR baby is what is right in YOUR life.

My dh works nights so it was hard for us to establish a "normal" baby routine. So I worked around her and my dh.

She is a night baby which means she goes down later than most babies probably do. She also sleeps in in the morning. At first I thought I was a bad mother for having her on this type of schedule but when I discussed it with my ped, he said as long as she was eating and sleeping the proper amount of hours, it didnt matter what time she did it.

So now we have a total routine established that she does wonderfully on. She knows when she is going to eat, nap, have a bath, watch einstein.

And at night, she usually does wonderfully (shes been teething lately so that has set us back a bit) but generally she sleeps through the night and it works for us.

Good luck!

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

Well, I am saving this post, I cant wait until Taylor develops a schedule, but at 12 days old, she is the only one setting schedules in our house....and its not a great schedule either......but, we are trying to adjust

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

I used the 2 hour rule for sleep when he was an infant.. i established bedtime at 8 starting at 2 months old. Feedings I have always been flexible with. He calls the shots.

Now, at almost 15 months I do 4 hours after morning wake up for his nap. And he only naps once a day now. Feedings are still up to him.

Re: With your babies...how did you go about setting up a schedule?

Posted by Ang-Rich

Thank you - everyone for your responses I am printing them out so I can re-read them.

I feel like we are going to walk through the door with our daughter and have that deer-in-headlight look and say "what now?"

I keep thinking - how will I know how often to feed her and how much. How will I know how to get her to follow a schedule for sleep (over time of course). I just started to panic. I need an instruction manual