need a routine!

[prettypenguin]

Do any of you mums have a routine with your LOs that I could steal? eg do you bathe your babies every night at a certain time, put them upstairs at a certain time in the evening to bed? I know my LO is only just reaching 4 weeks but I just feel that since my OH went back to work I can't seem to get anything done around the house or even get a shower without him wanting to be picked up. At the moment he does have colic so is a bit mardy, I've bought a carrier which is to be delivered soon to help me hold him and get housework done but at the moment my days seem to be flying by and we end up just taking each day as it comes abd I'm worried I'll never be able to get things done for a good while...

 

[Sarah13]

I've just started an evening routine this weekend. Been bathing him around 7 then a massage, little story, feed him and then put him into pram as Im not ready to put him in a different room to me. We dim the lights and speak quietly so he knows what is day and night. I'm like you in the day though, get nothing done and no proper routine! Planning to go to some mummy and baby things this week or next week though.

 

[Princess81]

Sarah how are you finding him sleeping in his pram? I was thinking of doing this instead of a crib etc x

 

[littlemiss83]

Kayden gets a bath between 7 & 8pm, afterwards he gets his lotion put on & a wee massage & some tummy time if he's not too grumpy (he loves his baths - hates the lotion!!) then he gets swaddled & taken into the dark bedroom to get fed, then he goes to sleep in his crib & sleeps between 4 & 5 hours, wakes for a feed then back to sleep for another 4/5 hours.

 

[prettypenguin]

Is it ok to bath them every night then? I've just put him on hungry baby milk as well, literally the last bottle he had as he is going through a phase of eating loads and keeping us up at night (from half 1 til 5am this morning!) And I'd love to do a massage on him but he hates being naked....loves his baths but screams the place down before and after when he has his clothes off xxx

 

[littlemiss83]

Is it ok to bath them every night then? I've just put him on hungry baby milk as well, literally the last bottle he had as he is going through a phase of eating loads and keeping us up at night (from half 1 til 5am this morning!) And I'd love to do a massage on him but he hates being naked....loves his baths but screams the place down before and after when he has his clothes off xxx

Yeah its absolutely fine to give them a bath every night, they will start to associate the bath with bed time! & with the cream, I find it helps to wrap Kayden in a towel after his bath cuddle him for a bit & while he's on my knee I take the towel off his top half & put cream on & quick massage & vest on, then same with the bottom, Kayden freaks out if he's totally naked, wee soul.

 

[Binzy]

Ryan hates his clothes being off too. If I want to change his nappy I start undoing everything while I'm feeding him. It's getting better though, he only screams 80% of the nappy changes now!

 

[prettypenguin]

Haha same with Charlie, I have to be like a ninja changing his nappy, sometimes he doesn't mind at all and I'm still trying to find out what it is that makes him ok with it...I might try the massaging tomorrow night then, maybe whack the heating on too and see if that helps with things x

 

[Sarah13]

Sarah how are you finding him sleeping in his pram? I was thinking of doing this instead of a crib etc x

He's fine in it plus I can wheel him about when he doesn't settle! I've just avoided the rain as I don't want him sleeping in a damp pram!

 

[Sarah13]

I found Kynon screamed a lot taking his clothes off when he was cold so now we have an old towel on his change mat so it's not so cold and I make sure the bath is warm and room is warm, much less crying now!

 

[jld123]

our routine is rather simple! Edie has her puree dinner at 5 followed by her puree pudding. then she will play until around half 6-7. then she will have a bath, cuddle on the sofa and a warm bottle of milk then we put her down with her mobile on and a dummy at anytime between 8 - 8.30. if she cries we go in, talk her down put her dummy in and leave. we will only do that twice and if she continues to cry we leave her. Unless she is hysterical. She then manages to sleep until 4am, where we will go in put her dummy in and let her sleep until 7.30 x

 

[ft90]

I feel so guilty, Caleb isn't in any kind of routine! We're late sleepers, don't normally go to bed until about half 11 or 12 because OH is home from offshore for a while so nobody has work in the morning! We give Caleb a bath around 8.00, then he sleeps in his favourite place (the sofa) until half 11, then we feed him, change his nappy and take him up, swaddle him in his moses basket and then we go to bed...

Works well for us but I'd love to have a normal routine xx

 

[Mrs_B1981]

Honestly, don't freak yourself out with a routine. I worried to death that we didn't have one and everyone did but secretly my LO was developing his own routine. We now have bathtime @ half 7 and he will scream the house down if his bottle isn't ready the minute he gets downstairs. He'll nod off whilst having his bottle.
His dad does his post bath stuff, massage etc and that's their bonding time. My LO never used to like being naked but now he loves it! Make sure the room your in is nice and warm and go with the flow.
Just enjoy your LO and don't panic about stuff xx

 

[Belfast girl]

i agree, just go with the flow, emma has developed her own routine of getting up at 8 ish, fed every 3.5 hours during the day then last bottle at 7 and down during that. (random naps during the day, they change everyday depending on what we are doing!) and then down for the night with a dream feed at 11.

we don't bath every day and do our massage time in the morning, she is getting a lot better with the bath and would love to move it to night time - but think right now she would have nightmares!!

just a thought on extended pram sleeps - i made sure that the mattress in my carrycot was breathable - otherwise its not good for there breathing/overheating or something. you can get them from john lewis for about £12 if the one with your pram is not breathable.

 

[clairebear22]

We had no routine with Jack when he was 4 weeks old except that he was bathed every night.

He's just starting to slot himself into his own routine now and he's 5mths on Sunday!

He wakes anytime between 6am-8am. If he wakes at 6 I offer him milk and he snoozes in bed with us for an hour or so. If he wakes between 7 & 8 he has his porridge. Then we get dressed etc and play for about 2hrs and then he gets grizzly so has a nap. Then he has 3 hourly feeds (including lunch between 1 & 2pm and naps every 2-3hrs. Supper is at 7ish (more porridge) followed by a bath & massage. Then we try to keep him awake for as long as possible so that he'll sleep a good while before needing a feed. He's usually asleep between 9-9.30pm, wakes at 3ish for a feed and the wakes between 6-8am and we start the day again! x