Except for the lack of "me" moments. That part is a little hard to get used to.
Nonetheless, it's super fun to watch her develop and do new things almost daily.
And starting today I am going to try to get Peanut on a routine that will benefit her and me. I've been reading up on things that babies her age need and here's what I've come up with.
6.30am - Wake up and feed
Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour. This means mommy can shower and get ready for the day.
9.00am - Wake up and feed
Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour. This is usually when I would have breakfast and get some house work done (like maybe make the bed finally or maybe get the grocery shopping done - online or at the store with her).
11.30am - Wake up and feed
Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour. I sometimes get lunch. Then we go for a walk if it's warm enough outside.
2.30pm - Wake up and feed
Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour. If my friend can walk at this time, I walk with her instead of earlier. Otherwise I might do or finish the house chores and maybe even work out.
5.00pm - Wake up and feed.
Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour. This way daddy can get to play with the baby right when he comes home from work or eventually, both of us will be picking her up from daycare around this time. Then we usually make dinner and finish up any household stuff or get ready for the next day.
7-7.30pm - Wake up and feed.
At this point we spend a few minutes with her if she's awake and then begin the bedtime routine. This might include a bath on "bath days" or just rocking and reading her a couple of books in her room. Then we swaddle her and put her in her crib.
Then we get up about every 2-5 minutes to put the pacifier back in her mouth which she spits out and then wails for. Once she actually falls asleep (if she does), this gives us a little time to ourselves. And this time - for me to actually blog!
10.00pm - Change, feed and make as little noise as possible. Then hopefully go to bed. All of us.
She usually wakes up once or twice during the night as well. We do the super quiet, "do-not-engage" change and feed, then put her right back to bed in the co-sleeper.
What do you guys think? What are your routines or experiences with routines at this age? I'm dying to know!
***Adjustment:
I just wanted to let you guys know that this isn't set in stone. We're pretty flexible, so if we're off by a half hour here or there, or if Peanut sleeps through her play-time, we don't fret too much. This has been primarily set by her and adjusted here and there by me to make sure she gets the full 16 or so hours of sleep, eats every 2-3 hours, and gets some time to play.
We didn't have a routine for Porter at that age--especially because colic hit us hard at 6 weeks and all bets were off! We started a bedtime routine with Porter around 8 weeks.
ReplyDeleteMany folks told me, "As soon as you figure them out, they change on you." Your schedule was similar to the one we had with Nate, although I don't think I could've ever made him stick to it. I can't make him stick to a schedule now, at nearly 10 mths. LOL But knowing what the rough schedule was was a big help to me, mentally. Just know there'll be days that the schedule goes out the window at the speed of light.. and it'll be okay. :)
ReplyDeleteI have no routine with Emma yet. She is a pretty colicy baby come 9 o'clock at night so she goes to bed when she finally gives up on the screaming. During the day she usually eats about every 3 to 4 hours. I never wake her to eat. I use the whole "never wake a sleeping baby" technique. She lets me know when she's hungry by nawing on her cute little hands. I think it's hard to start a schedule when they are little because I think they are still changing so much. One day Emma will sleep all day and the next she will hardly nap at all. I'm just kind of going with the flow. Being a new mom to a 7 week old I really have no good advice! haha
ReplyDeleteUntil Zoe was 5 months old I didn't care what she did during the day as long as she ate every 2 hours. I had no idea what I was doing, but I figured that if she ate all of her ounces during the week she wouldn't have to eat at nighttime {and I needed sleep!!!}. Zoe pretty much put herself to sleep at some point within ever 2 hour interval. And I started counting the 2 hours at the end of the feeding. It worked...by 1 1/2 months Zoe was sleeping 8 hours a night and 11 hours by 3 months. Oh, and for the little while that she was waking up once a night...as soon as she dozed back off I put her in her crib. But I just remember asking a whole bunch of questions and GUESSING at everything. I felt like I was walking blind through a corn maize =)
ReplyDeleteAnd I completely agree with you...there's a day when you wake up and you don't have a newborn anymore..you have an infant. It's weird, and it's really really cool!
we are on a loose 3 hour schedule around here. wake up, eat, play for 1.5 hours, nap for 30 min to an hour, wake up and ready to eat again...repeat all day long. some days she is hungry at 2 hours instead of 3 and i feed her then. if i am going out and its not been 3 hours yet, i will feed her a bit earlier to ensure that we dont have a hunger meltdown while out. at 8 weeks AM started sleeping through the night (or only waking once) prior to that, we would let her sleep in her swing or i would nurse her to sleep if it helped...i didnt want to get in any bad habits but they say that habit forming doesnt really happen until 3 months. for us that has been very true! its also true that as soon as you get in a routine, it will change. ours is fairly similar (eat, play, sleep, eat, play, sleep) but once we got that down pat, now we are doing solid foods - so meal times that we do oatmeal cereal take a bit longer. i know once we get in the hang of this, we will be going to solid foods! it seems like every few months we are rocking and rolling with something new, but as long as the basic structure is there, we are good to go. last thing...we dont put AM to bed til 10. she is wide awake til then and we just let her play. that said, usually I have to wake her at 8:30 so I can leave for work. i know some people cant sleep that late, but for us, the later evening and later rise is preferred!!
ReplyDeleteI can't speak to the trials and tribulations of having a child, but I can state, for the record, that your baby is SUPER cute.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have a routine for Ez until he was about six months. Not that there wasn't a *rhythm*, just no routine. I'm a big believer in paying attention to your child and what they're asking for.
ReplyDeleteI think it takes about three months to get your feet back underneath you and until then, it's just a matter of figuring your daughter out. She's so young, still, even if it seems she's been there forever. And it's so true that the second you get a routine going they change something. Drop a feeding, drop a nap, want to interact, or go through a growth spurt - and all of a sudden all bets are off.
Even now at 20 months we have a definite rhythm but no routine. He wakes up anywhere from 7-8 and is put down for a nap anywhere from 11 to 1, depending on what we're doing that day. His only set thing is bedtime, which is usually around dinner, 6:30.
Routines can be stressful, or they can provide a rhythm. It can also make you a slave to your child's schedule. Sure, there are times you can't leave the house because you have to let your older baby nap, but don't let it be too constricting. She's at a wonderful age where you can take her anywhere you want with minimal restrictions (she's not walking yet!). Enjoy it while you can!
Just make sure you leave flexibility if something goes "wrong" and she's suddenly not napping when you think she should and don't stress out when things change.
My Chicken is 8 weeks old and last week we began the quest for routine at bedtime. Until then she was happy to sleep on us downstairs but she has begun screaming in an overtired way so we've got to get this sorted, for her and our ears! We're starting bath at 6:30pm/7 but its hard cause my husband isn't always home from work then, and then he misses out, but if I keep her awake, she's in a right grump! Anyway the plan is bath, baby massage/book when older, feed and sleep. So far, pretty unsuccessful, she loves bath, massage and feed but not sleep, oh well :)
ReplyDeleteI think that is around the age we started the same type of "routine" with Joshua. It was tough at first, but he eventually led us into what worked best for him and we adjusted the routine to that. By the time he was a couple months old he had a pretty regular eating and napping schedule and was sleeping through the night... Also. where do you do grocery shopping online?? Do you like it? I've always been curious :-P
ReplyDeletePeanut is growing so fast! What a sweetheart. Sounds like a good routine to me ... of course, I'm no expert :)
ReplyDeletelove your routine. i have also been trying to get isaac on an eat-wake-sleep routine and it's been going pretty good for a few days now. our challenge has been getting him to nap, how do you get peanut to actually NAP when it's nap time? i find he is a nasty man when he doesn't but sometimes he fights it!!
ReplyDeleteI have no routine with Emma yet. She is a pretty colicy baby come 9 o'clock at night so she goes to bed when she finally gives up on the screaming. During the day she usually eats about every 3 to 4 hours. I never wake her to eat. I use the whole "never wake a sleeping baby" technique. She lets me know when she's hungry by nawing on her cute little hands. I think it's hard to start a schedule when they are little because I think they are still changing so much. One day Emma will sleep all day and the next she will hardly nap at all. I'm just kind of going with the flow. Being a new mom to a 7 week old I really have no good advice! haha
ReplyDelete