Baby's First Year

IMHO, a schedule is a must for both baby and yourself.  Again, just my opinion since I'm a FTM but its worked wonders for my daughter and I and she even has reflux to deal with.  She's been on a consistent eat/wake/sleep routine since she was 2 weeks old.  We started with 2.5 hours from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of the next and have been on a 3 hour cycle for the last 6 weeks or so.  Here's what a typical day looks like for her.

5:45 am - wake up, diaper change, eat breakfast, hang out with mommy while I get ready for work

7:30ish - arrive at daycare

9:00ish - bottle

noon - bottle

3:00ish - bottle

6:00ish - bottle

7:30 - bedtime... baby massage, story, swaddle and rock

When she was younger, we had a late evening feeding and then she was put to bed.  She started sleeping thru the night at 9 weeks and has never gone back since then.  When she's home with me, she takes some form of a nap during each 3 hour "cycle" but at daycare, there's just too much going on.  She pretty consistently takes a one hour nap in the mornings and a two hour nap in the afternoons while there.  The only time I was strict about her schedule was when she was less than a month old.  Then, it didn't matter whether she was sleeping or not, she was fed every 2.5 hours on the dot, unless of course she woke up earlier and was hungry.  I never let her go longer than that though without feeding her.  Now that she's older, we're pretty flexible about feeding times but she sticks to her 3 hour routine/schedule pretty consistently on her own.  I personally feel that this is the reason she started sleeping through the night so well at such a young age as well as being really good about going down for naps with no more than 10 minutes of "protesting" before falling asleep on her own.

Again ... just what's worked for me ... hope it helps!

Lucretia

 

I totally have to agree with Hunter's mom. :) Our (now) 8 month old is on a routine that she developed. For a couple of days, when she was around your little one's age, I watched to see what she would do when. I noticed that about 6 or 7 she would get tired. So I started doing her bedtime routine (change, lotion, playtime read, worship, pray, into bed) and that helped all of us know it was bedtime.

She's usually about by 7 or 8 and up around 8 or 9. She does wake through the night to nurse, because she's hungry.

During the day she plays and we have fun. I watch her for her sleepy cues and down she goes for a nap. Last week, she went for 2 days with only one nap, but now she's back to 2 naps. Yay!

I think the main thing to know about schedules is that you don't really, really need them. Routines are great, but having a hard and fast schedule isn't for everyone. Yes, babies like to know what is going on in their world, but no, most of them don't need to have things timed. I have a friend who does everything by the clock (seriously; the babe has x amount of time for eating and x amount of playpen time and x amount of time for nap and they fret over varying by one minute) and a friend who doesn't schedule. Both babies are alive and well. One mom is enjoying her son and the other is too worried to enjoy her son.

Especially this first year, your baby's needs will change so much. You can spend the time fighting and making it a battle of the wills for scheduling purposes or you can choose to follow your baby's cues. I'm sure there's other paths you can take too! :)

I just know that when I stopped worrying about what Iz "should" do and noticing what she did, I stopped being tense at bedtime and knowing that even though she'd changed things up one day, in a day or a week things would be back to normal.

Here's what I mean. When she was about your daughter's age, she started doing 2 naps one day, out of the blue. I hadn't done any sleep training or anything, she just started. Last week she stayed up late (10 or so) for several nights. Where I would have been frustrated before, I just rolled with it and sure enough, she started going to sleep at an earlier time this week. I'm not crying or tense, she's asleep and all is well.

Oh yes, and if you're nursing, don't schedule that either--some will tell you to only nurse every 3-4 hours--, because it will affect your supply. :( That has happened to far too many women I know. The moms I know have had their supply disappear before 1 year, some of them even by 7 months, when they did this type of nursing schedule.

You are the mom. You know your baby. Please don't let anyone (especially me!) pressure you into something that your instincts tell you isn't right for you and/or your baby.

Loral

 

don't forget your purpose...