do/did you have a routine??

[Kimbo]

at 4 week old??

i am feeding leah on demand, but after some family opinions today, i should be waking leah every 4 hours to feed her, and if she wants feeding in between then i should be leaving her to cry so she makes it up to four hours????

tbh i couldnt sit there and hear her crying and not feed her
i know im making it harder for myself feeding on demand, but surely she's too young to be getting into a routine as strict as that????

 

[emma28]

at family opinions. She's your baby. Do what you want Kim. Both my babies made 4 hours their routine anyway through the day, I think most do.

I don't know why people say such rubbish. Surely nobody can let their tiny baby cry cos it's hungry??

 

[Snuggle]

Do what you think is best, you know what your baby wants/needs. Just take other peoples opinions with a pinch of salt. I personally fed Maddison whenver she was hungry and got her into a routine at around 2 months old

 

[Krystal]

Bleeding heck No way, a 4 week old baby can't be in a routine. I couldn't see my baby cry in hunger and not feed him. I just fed on demand and found after around 6 weeks Jack got himself into his own routine of feeding every 4 hours or so then at 9 weeks he slept through the night.

The only type of routine I kept at 4 weeks was at 7pm he was bathed, bottle bed. If he woke between then and 8am he was fed, burped and put back into his cot even if he was still awake. I didn't stimulate him at all during the night which helped with him sleeping through I think.

But definately go with feeding on demand, families always like to give their opinions on how to do it but she's your baby and if you don't want to leave her crying don't

 

[happy-chick]

I was told at the hospital when i asked about if i couldnt bf and wanted to bottle feed what should i do and they told me to feed every 4hrs, they said if u want u can do it less but then baby would get used to feeding more often and you'd end up having to do that all the time and basically setting a rod for your own back... maybe thats what the person who said it means?

I agree with the others, shes your daughter and there is no right or wrong way to do things as every baby is different. You know Leah and you will make the right decisions for her im sure, dont listen to other people if they tell you that you 'should' do it a certain way cos there are no rules at all.

You should trust your own judgement hun cos at the end of the day you are the one who knows whats best for Leah and nobody else has the right to judge you for your decisions

 

[NIE]

I went through a stage like this.

In the end I gave up trying and Adam found his own routine. At 11 weeks he started taking 4 x 8oz a day and slept on his own from 8.30pm - 2am then in with us until 6am.

Do what you feel is right for both of you and don't feel pressured into doing something your not happy with. After all you are mum and you don't need to explain yourself to anyone. xxx

 

[kellie80]

None of mine were in any sort of routine till they were about 3 months. They usually woke every 3-4 hours anyway and if they didn't then great.

 

[rachie29]

the only routine we have set is the bedtime one which we started when Holly quite early on to be honest, and she kind of fell into it herself. Feed wise i feed on demand and again she has settled herself into her own little routine although some times she'll want a feed as little as an hr after the last. I would never leave her to cry if she was hungry.

You do what you feel is right for you and Leah.....

 

[Gem & Leland]

leland went into 3 hour routine straight away now his on 4 , when i was still in hossy they wouldnt let me feed him till the 3 hours was up !

 

[Beatlesfan]

No I just fed Imogen on demand - she has developed her own routine and we have sort of tried to work around that but encourage some regularity, but that's recent, so she was almost 3 months old.

Before then she would want feeding every 3-4 hours. Usually 3. She feeds less in the evening/night.

Do what you think is best. I know someone who was also told this (keep them going to make 4 hours before feeding) and it was hard for them, but they managed it and now their baby is so rigid with 4 hours, there is NO flexibility (e.g. if travelling and getting home a bit later, if routine is just put out slightly).

you know your baby x

 

[pilkers]

I feed on demand and always have done since Evie was born... at the beginning she needed it every 2-3 hours, now she has settled into her own little routine of every four hours...although she does like a little "top up" occasionally in between feeds.

She usually feeds every four hours or so during the day and by night time she is well stocked up and can go 6 hours to her next feed...this doesn't happen every night though!

The only routine I have is her bathtime...around 7/8pm she has her bath and gets put into her jamas and then has a bottle

 

[poppy160]

I'm trying to stick to a routine when it comes to feeding, and aim to feed Ella every 3 hours, which at first was easy because she was jaundiced and very sleepy, I had to wake her for feeds. Now she's more awake she will cry before the 3 hours are up and to be honest I just feed her, she's only tiny and I don't think introducing a strict routine at this point will benefit her. I was told by the hospital to feed on demand and also by my Midwife. Also, my Midwife said they go through growth spurts around 10 days, 6 and 12 weeks and may want to feed every 1.5 hours (Which she did at around 10 days) The only thing we do as a strict routine is a feed just before we go to bed as she will fall asleep at the breast and go right through to 4:30am.

 

[Squiglet]

"You'll only make it harder on yourself!" "You'll make a rod for your own back" Psssf.... well I apparently did that with Tia, yet she grew into a lovely child and doesn't feed every 2 hours, blah blah blah.... just feed her as you wish. We tried to introduce 2.5 hourly feeds this week, but we are back to two hourly. I just followed lil miss's lead and she needs 2 hourly feeds... As long as you get Leah up at the same time every day, down the same time, and generally do things the same time every day, she will fall into a routine herself.

People did things differently years ago... we did things differently 8 years ago... so do things how you feel you should. Your kid your rules.

 

[xrachx]

she will find her own routine, all mine did, its easier do let them slip into one than trying to force it cos then you get stressed and then she will get stressed cos you are stressed....awww its just not worth it! just keep it relaxed and if you can just make it easier for her to slip into a night time routine such as dim the lights, keep her in the bedroom at night so she will recognise that its quite and time for sleep, she will soon get into the swing of things, your doing a great job kim, just do it the way you think and you cant go wrong, the only person you should be listening to is Leah.x

 

[Redshoes]

Do what YOU feel is right, and honestly ignore those who comment, regardless of what their intention for commenting, they should offer support, not dictate

At 4weeks old Isaac was the same as he is now at 9months, he was telling me what worked for him, and in that he has decided what routine works for him which has meant he's adjusted well.

I could have NEVER let him cry for even 1minute at 4weeks old and I have tried a few times leaving him for 5 mins when he got to 6months but that stopped as it was too hard for me, I believe a crying LO should be held, I don't care what people say about routines, I never had one as an adult, why should a baby have one

People who have LO's ion routines from day1 have LO's who've CHOSE that routine in my honest opinion, and I think its important to listen to baby and Mummy, because they KNOW what works for them and that should be what is heard.

Sorry for the rant, just the word routine has made me ggrrrrrrrr a lot since having Isaac, I believe doing everything on demand is what is best, and I just wish it was the easiest option too

Very best wishes Kim, you are a great Mummy, you will do what's best for Leah

 

[mrs_tommo22]

I agree ith all the other ladies.

Carry on with what your doing as lng as your both happy - I totally agree with demand feeding, and as for a routine she will find her way. Though you could maybe give her some light guidelines so she knows when its time to wind down for bed time.

 

[Kimbo]

I could have NEVER let him cry for even 1minute at 4weeks old
I believe a crying LO should be held,

i agree.. i couldnt imagine leaving her to cry while shes hungry and not feed her

well have a guess which side of the family commented lol

 

[newmum]

Hi Kim,
I found that when you are flexible with a feeding routine you can see more what they need and when they are going through a growth spurt. eg. my LO normally fed every 3 hours at the beginning and then moved it to 4 hours by herself when she got a bit bigger.

But some weeks she would want to be fed every 2 hours etc. Then when I had her weighed and measured she had been going through a growth spurt. After that she settled down again to her 3 - 4 hours.

Sometimes I would worry that she was being 'greedy' or 'over feeding' etc but they are way too young to understand that concept. They just tell you what they need and when so don't worry about all that advice.

I got so mixed up a few times when MIL gave me advice on how I should do things. It never worked and took me another week to get back to normal

When she was small MIL told me that I wasn't feeding her enough. Now she is bigger, I feed her too much

 

[NooNoo]

I used to feed mia every 4 hours...because thats when she was hungry..but if she was hungry id feed her early of course...noe its become every 3 hours we just finish the feed and its time for the next one lol