Having a routine

[mum2b410]

OK, so Ethan is nearly 14 weeks now and I still don't feel like we have a set routine to follow......is this 'normal'?

I am bf and therefore feed on demand. He goes about 3 hours between feeds and longer at night (3-5 hours). At the moment he is struggling with naps in the day (hv thought this could be due to reflux so we are now on gaviscon for that) and cannot get him to sleep very easily. So each day he doesn't nap at the same times.....it all depends on how quickly I can get him off when I see that he is tired (anywhere from 10mins to an hour!). Once he is a sleep it's not always predicatable how long the nap will be either.

The only predictable things are that he will want a nap anytime from 45mins to 1hr 30mins after he wakes in the morning and that he feeds roughly 3 hourly. Everything else I can't predict, I just have to go with the flow.

In the evening we are trying to bath him every night (he isn't keen on bathing so we are trying to get him more relaxed and used to it- he's improving gradually) and feed him to help him off to sleep.

I'm a first time mum and I feel like I should have a routine for him as other people seem to have routines for their babies by this age, but how can I make a routine when everything is so variable?!

Anyone else not have a predictable routine? Am I expecting too much at this stage?.......Do u thinik once he can get to sleep easier his nap times will become more regular and predictable?

Advice would be appreciated!

 

[tinks77]

The only routine I've set is bath & bedtime. All feeds/naps/play etc had been as and when she wants but as of tomorrow I'm starting to set a getting up time & a morning nap time. Then I'll set lunchtime nap & afternoon nap etc

Grace is 16 weeks and I'm only doing it as I go back to work in just over 3 months and don't want all that change in one go so I am working through everything bit by bit so she only has to deal with me not being there rather than everything else at once

I think if your happy going with the flow then stick with it but if you ate going to set a routine just do one thing at a time for a couple of weeks iykwim

 

[tinks77]

Forgot to say Grace is exactly the same with daytime naps which is why I'm only going to set one at a time and just concentrate on that one for a couple of weeks x

 

[Amy_J]

Tbh my lo set his own routine! I didnt even start the set bedtime as early as i wish i had. We were bf and ff on demand every few hours it changed dail tbh..... I think that starting a set time for bed is key, so they lo gets used to that. I think he will fall into his own routine with naps and feeds etc etc thats what my lo did!! He loves his routine now!

 

[Sarah13]

We have no real routine either mainly cos Kynon don't like sleep but likes the boobie! He's really unpredictable too, day and night. I always bath him and try to get him to bed by 9ish and do the same evening routine every night but it doesn't always work! I just go with the flow during the day tho and he seems happy long as he's fed when he wants!

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[LaurenMM]

We dont have a real routine for Angel either hun. I did try to do set naptimes throughout the day but she hardly ever plays ball lol. Like I tried to put her to sleep for 30 mins in morning about 2.5 hours at lunch and another 30mins in afternoon but it doesnt always go like that lol. Plus we never know how she's gonna be at night lol sometimes she goes her usual 4 hours and sometimes she'll sleep for 6/7 hours straight and it throws everything out of sync lol and I dont like waking her for a feed as she gets so ratty and I believe that if she wants feeding she will wake herself as she usually does. She's good with her feeds she nearly always goes 4 hours if not its 3.5. I do have a bedtime routine for her which is usually 6pm bath, feed at 6.30 and bed at 7 (give or take 30 mins here and there). So I try to feed her at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6.30pm but when she goes at 7pm she could wake up at 12 or 2 or 3 or till 5am lol so its really hard sometimes. xx.

 

[Hollipops]

We have had a routine since Elyssa was about 10 weeks and started sleeping through the night, so getting up and going to bed are always the same, as are feed times. Lunch nap is always 1.5-2 hours but the morning and afternoon naps are less predictable, especially if we are out. I found it too difficult to have a proper routine when the nights were unpredictable but would always do the same bedtime routine if nothing else.

 

[Alexandra84]

Our LO is the same age as yours and we just have a rough bed time and that pretty much it. I breastfeed too btw. I think routines are something much more suited to ff mums as then they have a set feeding time and everything else will slot in around that. As long as the only reason you're thinking about it is that you think you ought to have a routine because it's the 'done thing' rather than because you feel it's really something that you need in your day then I wouldnt worry too much

 

[mum2b410]

Thanx ladies! Think I just wanted to know I'm not the only one without a set routine and that 'going wiv the flow' is ok! I'm happy to do whatever keeps ethan happy and hope a pattern of more predictable sleep, awake and feed time emerges on its own x

 

[Roo3]

We still don't have a set daytime routine here either. LO just sleeps when he likes. He does tend to nap for 30mins to an hour in the morning and the same in the afternoon, but the times he naps changes from day to day.
His night time routine has been the same since he was about 3 months old. He has bath at 7pm, followed by a massage, then bottle and is in bed by 7.30pm. He'll sleep through most nights but will wake up anytime between 6.30am and 9am so his daytime naps depend on what time he has woken that day.