Whether you're loose or strict about the routine in Baby's day, it is helpful to have some idea of what comes next. It helps the new Mommy decipher Baby's cries and gives Baby security to know what comes next. It also gives Baby a foundation into which he can assimilate new discoveries about life. Mom has the ability to plan her errands at a time when Baby will be happy and can look forward to regular naps for her own down time.
Here is our our son's schedule has looked at different ages:
Home from the hospital
We followed a 3 hour schedule from the get-go. That's what they do for babies in the NICU for even the tiny babies with tiny tummies so I felt sure he would get enough to eat. Our son was so sleepy, I woke him up to feed him almost every time.
- 6am-wake, nurse
- 6:40am-nap
- 9am-nurse
- 10am-nap
- 12pm-nurse
- 1pm-nap
- 3pm-nurse
- 4pm-nap
- 6pm-nurse
- 7pm-bedtime
- 9pm-nurse (dreamfeed: low light, no talking, straight back to bed)
- 12am-nurse (low light, no talking, straight back to bed)
- 3am-nurse (low light, no talking, straight back to bed)
The "by the book" way to do this is to simply let baby sleep as long as he will after the 9pm dreamfeed. We found that our son would still wake up twice at night if we did that. Instead, I woke him again at midnight and then he slept until morning (or very close to it).
- 7pm-bedtime
- 9pm-nurse (dreamfeed: low light, no talking, straight back to bed)
- 12am-nurse (low light, no talking, straight back to bed)
- 5-6am-wake, nurse
- 1 hour later-nap until 9am
Once our son began to sleep until 6am solidly from his 12am feeding, I began to move it earlier by 15 minute increments and dropped it over the course of a few weeks.
- 7pm-bedtime
- 10/10:30pm - nurse (dreamfeed: low light, no talking, straight back to bed)
- 6am-wake, nurse
The next goal was a longer time between feedings during the day. When I began consistently having to wake our son from his daytime naps to feed him, I knew it was time to stretch out the day. This overlapped with dropping the one middle-of-the-night feeding from the last phase as well. During this phase, afternoon and evening wake times began to stretch a little as well. 4 months is a time of transition!
- 6am-wake, nurse
- 7am-nap
- 9:30am-nurse
- 10:30am-nap
- 1pm-nurse
- 2:15pm-nap
- 4:30pm-nurse
- 5:45pm-nap
- 7:30pm-nurse
- 8:15-bedtime
- 10:30-dreamfeed
This is another time of great transition. Wake times moved to 2 hours each. The two afternoon feedings (1pm and 4:30pm) were combined for dinner, lunch (9:30am) moved back, and we dropped the dreamfeed. Also, with the three main meals of the day, we began solids. When it was all said and done, a rather more solid schedule was formed:
- 7am-wake, nurse (breakfast)
- 9am-nap
- 11am-nurse (lunch)
- 1pm-nap
- 3pm-nurse
- 5:15pm-catnap
- 6:00pm-dinner (solids only)
- 7:00pm-nurse/bedtime
So now we have only thee naps (sometimes two if the first two are really long) and nighttime sleep is a solid 12 hours. Although every day doesn't got exactly according to plan and there have been issues to work through at every step, I have really appreciated knowing what to work towards. Both my son and I have thrived on our schedule.
RESOURCES
On Becoming Babywise
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment