How do you keep your lo's routine when out and about?

[Babybushie28]

Hi girls,

As the title says really, Trey is only 11 weeks so we are only just trying to get into a routine, but I'm struggling to find a pattern as he sleeps a lot when we are out, and we sometimes are out until 5/6pm on most days. It means his feeding times during the day are always different and as we are formula feeding it's hard to predict when he'll wake up for a feed resulting in lots of screams for food!!

Short of staying in all the time I'm not sure how I can try and see a pattern?

Any tips to share??

Thanks!!

 

[Emamay]

From two weeks on, we did bath/bottle/bed routine.
Cay would be ready for bed by 8pm, so we allowed half hour for massage/dressed for bed, 15 minutes for final bit of bottle, 15 for bath. So, he'd have his bath at 7pm. We started making an extra big bottle, which he'd have 3/4 at 6pm, then play for a bit, then bath, rest of bottle etc.

He also always woke for a bottle at 6am, but would feed anywhere in between.
So, once he'd had his 6am bottle, he'd eat around 8am. Instead of feeding him, we'd distract him. Lift him and take a walk around the house, sing to him, whatever. Once he was unstoppable-crying, we fed him. Then started the whole process again in two hours time. Two days of this, and he was eating at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm, and 2am. (This was after about a week of bath/bottle/bed, so he was used to that already).

Then he stopped waking at 10pm, and woke at midnight instead, then 4am, and still 6am. This went on for about a week, until I clicked "hang on, if he can go from 7pm-midnight, he can go from midnight until 5am". The next few nights when he woke at 4am, I popped his dummy in instead. He went to 4:30 the first night, then started crying, so I fed him. The next night he woke at 4am, but dummy-popping got us to 5:30am. The night after that he didn't even wake until 5:45am.

Then he started dropping his after-bath top-up, so he'd have a bottle 6pm, midnight, 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm again.
He did this from about a month, up to 4.5 months when we started weaning.

It made going out so easy as I always knew how many bottles he'd take while we were out (and I always just kept a small sterile bottle and unopened ready-made in his bag, just in case). Sometimes he'd start screaming half-hour early for a feed, if he did, I fed him (say 9:30), then went to 1:45, then 6pm as normal, so always got him back on track.

I have been blessed with a super-easy baby though.

The trick is to know the difference between them whining and crying. If they're whining, and can be distracted, even for five minutes longer than last time, great. As soon as the crying starts, feed them and bugger the routine.

Find a feed that falls at the same sort of time each day, and work from that. If you get them to feed every three hours, great! Then, get them to four hourly the same way.
The real thing for me was once he'd done a few four-hour gaps, I knew he could do it when he wanted, which made it easier.
If he was napping at a feed time, I'd just wait and feed him when he woke, then feed the next time as normal, then the feed after that as normal.

That was what worked for us, anyway xx

 

[Emamay]

Edit: Double-post, sorry... Dunno what happened there xx

 

[diane]

My lo always feeds every 3 hours through the day. When she was little and we were out and about, she would usually sleep the whole time and I would just feed her when she woke.

Then she'd just go back to her usual 3 hour pattern once we got home.

 

[twinkles]

I've never had a routine as B was bf to begin, now at 10 months she will have food, naps and milk at all different times depending what time she wakes and what we are doing, this makes life easier as it means we are flexible, do u have to stick to a routine?? X

 

[babybee]

To be honest I tried so hard to keep a routine and work my life around it. I got unnecessarily stressed! In the end I just made E fit around my life. I found that the days I was out and about she slept and fed well. Days where we stayed in, she developed a pattern of 2 sleeps in the morning and a big sleep in the afternoon.

Somehow she just managed to sleep when she needed it.

I'm sure someone more capable than me can give you better advice though.

The only routine I've been strict with is the bath book boob bed routine.

Xxx

 

[missyeovil]

We have only ever had a very loose routine for A as she is breastfed and there have been various changing factors over the months. A has always taken her naps in her pushchair when we've gone out and about so I've always timed going out to coincide with this where possible. Is this something you could think about? It meant I would sometimes go out a couple of times to do something I could have done in one trip but I didn't mind as it kept some sort of routine during the day.xx

 

[Chezza]

To begin with I let JJ lead me as I wanted to see how often he wanted to feed. From about 8 weeks, when he started sleeping through the night and waking at the same time, I introduced a routine...he now feeds every day at pretty much the same times: 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm - and then had his bedtime bottle at 9am. The times may deviate slightly sometimes, but never more than 15 mins.

If we are due to go out, I make sure I arrange times around his feeds, so we leave the house on a full stomach.

If he does start crying way before a feed time, I do the same as Emamay...distraction techniques!! And I don't let him sleep through his feed time either, I always wake him up. I know they say "dont wake a sleeping baby" but this process works well for us xxx

 

[pandabear]

Ava feeds every 4 hours 8am 12pm 4pm and bedtime bottle at 8pm. She just sorta fell into that that rountiune Which works perfectly for us when I go out I time it around her feeds and naps. Xx

 

[Emamay]

People say routine makes getting out and about harder?

I don't find it a problem at all, maybe because Cay is still only six months?

He now has bottle at 6am, and breakfast at 9am. Two days a week nursery give him his breakfast, the rest of the week, if I'm out before 9am it's because I'm at the pub, so I just give him his porridge there.

He has either a little (90ml) bottle or a teeny yogurt pot at 11, both of which are easy to stop wherever I am for 5 minutes and give him.

120 is lunch. Again, I just stop wherever I am and give him that, if we're in somewhere I put him in his little foldaway backpack chair, or in his pushchair if we're out-out.

2:30 he has a big bottle. If he's in his pushchair I just lay him flat and he feeds himself, if we're at a park or somewhere I lay him on a blanket on the grass or wherever.

4pm is tea... Same as lunch.

Things can take longer now, like, if I'm going round Tesco I've obviously gotta haul him in and outta the car, get a trolley with a seat, etc, but it's never like, a hassle.

 

[Emamay]

O.O

I just realised how bad that sounds...

OH and I manage a pub, so when I'm in work on Cays two nursery days, I take him in with me at 6am, and drop him at nursery at 7:30. Xx

 

[Babybushie28]

Wow emamay, thanks for such a detailed reply - twice!!

I defo might steal some of ur techniques, especially the distraction to feeding during the day, I can sometimes do it at night when he wakes up, he'll take the dummy and go back to sleep for up to an hour but other times it won't work and he'll wake up full blown crying, while in heating his bottle!! I might look into planning my days out and try and wake him for a feed at a certain time, so he starts to expect it, he'll usually wake up once he's taken out the buggy.

I know he's still very little so there isn't a rush but I want to help guide him, so I can be more organised!

Xxxxxxxx

 

[Babybushie28]

I've never had a routine as B was bf to begin, now at 10 months she will have food, naps and milk at all different times depending what time she wakes and what we are doing, this makes life easier as it means we are flexible, do u have to stick to a routine?? X

Thx for replying.

I want to get I to a routine as I like to be organised and try and plan around it days out etc. the main reason is because he is formula fed so I like to have his bottle ready before he wakes up so he doesn't have to scream for it while I make it!

Xxxxxx

 

[Babybushie28]

To begin with I let JJ lead me as I wanted to see how often he wanted to feed. From about 8 weeks, when he started sleeping through the night and waking at the same time, I introduced a routine...he now feeds every day at pretty much the same times: 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm - and then had his bedtime bottle at 9am. The times may deviate slightly sometimes, but never more than 15 mins.

If we are due to go out, I make sure I arrange times around his feeds, so we leave the house on a full stomach.

If he does start crying way before a feed time, I do the same as Emamay...distraction techniques!! And I don't let him sleep through his feed time either, I always wake him up. I know they say "dont wake a sleeping baby" but this process works well for us xxx

Thanks lovely

Sometimes I can tell when he may want a bottle and I'll make it and keep it in the fridge and he'll wake within an hour or so, but when we go out, because of how I organise my mornings, he is usually due a feed within 2 hours of being out so I'll make a fresh bottle and keep it in the warmer, he'll then be asleep for the duration of our outing - as long as he's on the pram- so he'll miss his feed!!Maybe I should wake him for it??

I'll try and feed him before we leave the house?? But it becomes tricky then if he's fed at 8ish and we have to leave the house at 9.30 it's too early for him to have another bottle, but I know he'll be due for one second 12ish. Do I just change my appt times??!!

Xxxxxxxx

 

[Emamay]

I make Cays bottles up the night before and fridge them, if that helps? Xx

 

[Emamay]

Don't change your appointment times.

I'd say for a coupla days just gently wake LO about 5 mins before bottle time, and then he can go back to sleep after if he wants.

After a coupla days, he'll start waking himself at feed times.

Cay now will very rarely (he was ill last week and slept all over the place) sleep longer than 15 minutes past a feed time. Xx

 

[babybee]

O.O

I just realised how bad that sounds...

OH and I manage a pub, so when I'm in work on Cays two nursery days, I take him in with me at 6am, and drop him at nursery at 7:30. Xx

Lol! Made me chuckle.
'Baby hasn't changed my life, I still go on the razzle whenever I please - 6am sometimes!'

 

[Emamay]

BABYBEE!! :O


It's supposed to be secret xx

 

[babybee]

Sorrryyyy, I forget sometimes!

 

[littlemonkey]

O.O

I just realised how bad that sounds...

OH and I manage a pub, so when I'm in work on Cays two nursery days, I take him in with me at 6am, and drop him at nursery at 7:30. Xx

Lol! Made me chuckle.
'Baby hasn't changed my life, I still go on the razzle whenever I please - 6am sometimes!'

I must admit I thought being in tbe boozer at 6am was a bit hardcore!