Routine?????

[futuremum]

Hi!!!

I was wondering when did you start a routine with your baby?

Thomas is a very sleepy baby and I cannot wake him up during the day, even if the lights are on, if i undress him he cries but will go back to sleep afterwards. He sleeps when feeding but he wakes up at 10.00 pm and won't sleep until 2/3 am. He will ask for loads of food and most of all attention.

Then, he will sleep until 5/6 am but I am so tired I only get up to feed him, put him back in his moses basket and sleep until 8/9 am. I feel so guilty about not getting up but I am so tired it is unbelievable. I do not get any rest during the day, it is feeding, washing, cleaning, stressing... so only ends up with a few hours sleep a day.

Any suggestions to help me having a routine that will make him fall asleep before 2/3 am and keep him awake more during the day?

Thanks.

 

[Hypnorm]

at this age they will sleep alot of the time, Ewan found his own routine after afew weeks, babies have no concept of day or night.
If you cab i really would sleep when he is asleep during the day - Don't bother with cleaning look after your self and baby.
ALways make things dark at night.
Ewan had a bedtime routine from about 2 months of bath/wash around 7.30 change in to bed clothes, put into sleeping bag, feed and the put down for the night - some nights he will go down no fuss around 8. but others i will still be trying to settled him around 10pm!
just rest as much as you can - eat well, and keep your fluids up.
he will get in to a routine - after all he os only 2 weeks old

 

[lulu]

Routine!!!! whats that?????

Finding it really hard........people say Im expecting too much too soon!!!!

 

[Rosebay]

Hi,

I know everyone says it's too early to expect routines to work but sometimes it does with us. We've been feeding him on a rough schedule since the beginning which kind of helps I guess. Also with bottle feeding I can tell how much he's had at various times of the day. Elliott only sleeps between 10-13 hours a day anyway so we just have to hope that some of those are at night! In case they're not I go to bed at 7pm while my DH looks after him and then we swap over at about 11. It means that I get some uninterrupted sleep at least and makes me feel better when I'm up all night!

Anyway, like your baby he sometimes sleeps too much during the day but also sometimes he doesn't sleep and he gets so tired that he then doesn't sleep at night- I know it doesn't make sense but it's true! If he hasn't slept much in the afternoon by the time it gets to 9pm he's all grizzly and can't settle. Yesterday we tried amusing him after feeds but then settling him down for a nap as soon as he started looking uninterested. I was worried that he wouldn't sleep last night but in fact he managed from 11.30 until 6am without a night feed- hoorah! (Mind you he's 11lbs now and we've just changed to SMA white which has really made him able to go longer between feeds).

Gina Ford (I know I know!) recommends that they get more food during the day so that they don't wake so much for food in the night and we've been trying this too- feeding more in the morning than later on at night. I'm ignoring her routines but trying to work out what he tends towards naturally and building a routine around that. (For example he's often sleepy between 11am-3pm so I go out then as he always sleeps when we're out regardless of when it is, sometimes he doesn't wake for food until 4pm which is fine because when it comes to the 7pmish feed and the 11ish one he often wants them earlier- say 3- 3 1/2 hours between those feeds whereas he seems happy to go 5 hours in the middle of the day).

I've been keeping a notebook where I put down what he's been doing, when he sleeps, when he feeds etc and then you can sit down at look at a couple of days and see if there are any trends there that you can work with rather than against. It doesn't always work but there are more trends now than there were and much less crying (though I think for us that was food related).

Hope that helps
+++

 

[Urchin]

I feel so guilty about not getting up but I am so tired it is unbelievable.

Don't feel guilty!!!!

OMG sometimes I stay in bed with Brody till past 11am if hubby is home to look after Mason!!
It's important you get what rest you can so you are at your best when you and baby are up and about so take whatever you can. The other day I took Mason to school and went staright back to bed with Brody when we got in cos he was asleep anyway!

As for routine, the only thing I can recommmend in the evening is cutting down on the attention. Brody's "routine" is still all over the place, but when we get tired we put him in his gro-bag and dim the lights and he'll start to get tired too. (sometimes anyway!)

 

[Skidoo]

I haven't got there yet, but was actually quite relieved when the lady running my ante natal class said 'don't bother' with routine until around 12 weeks. Just sleep when they sleep, let the housework go, and look after yourself.

I've also heard, from quite a few people on here, that people find that a routine does start to develop earlier than 12 weeks. To begin with your baby doesn't know day from night and only knows that it is hungry and wants you; it'll take a while for the little mite to get used to being out in the world.

 

[Kerry]

They normally say that between 8 and 12 weeks you should start to notice that your baby has developed some kind of routine without you even trying so give it time.

 

[beanie]

Seen will not settle in her crib before 1am, no matter what time I start getting her ready for bed etc. She just has about 5 hours of constant grizzling, feeding and wants to be cuddled. Just spoken to my midwife and she says that this is normal (she is 2 weeks old) and that I shouldn't be worrying about a routine too soon as she will start to develop one herself. I was told that I should sleep when she does, so I don't getout of bed before 10am. It is getting easier as she will go to sleep aboput 1-1.30am, wake at about 5-6am for a feed, then again at 10am so I am able to get blocks of sleep. You need to put yourself first and get rest when you can- don't feel guilty about sleeping past a certain time, you have been up at night looking after your baby.

 

[BubbleOne]

Seren is doing exactly what Phoebe does. Although now she is 6 weeks old I am going to try and get her into her cot, asleep by 9pm. Managed to get her down by 10pm yesterday and that was Day 1 of the new plan so there is hope out there!!!!

 

[beanie]

BubbleOne, I'm hoping to start with a routine at 6 weeks as everyone I have spoken to says this is when they start to go longer between feeds etc. Good luck with it, hope Phoebe gets into it quickly and can I ask for advice in 4 weeks time? x