routines

[trixipaws]

i'v been given the contented little baby book and tbh its a bit of a chore to read. i'v skipped lots and tried to focus on the BF'ing and routines- but its really hard to take in i feel like i'm revising for a really difficult exam!

do most ppl generally find their own routines?

and is it really necessary to express? it goes on about expressing a lot in the routines, but i havent bought any equipment for it as OH doesnt want me to do it.

 

[Jen79]

I read it and it seemed a bit regimented to me but I did and still do use some of the advice from the book. I only really found the info about night feeds to be any use (dont turn lights on, dont speak to LO etc) but then again maybe thats sort of common sense anyway? Some people swear by that book but I believe we all find our way in the end and as long as you and baby are happy thats the main thing.

 

[nicki]

As every baby is different I think following a book & someone elses ideas & routines is difficult. You'll find a routine to suit you & more importantly your baby.
We didn't have a routine for the first 6 weeks then I decided that it was time & we had all adapted (slightly!!) to having a baby. I set a time for his bath, bottle bed etc & adjusted those times as he grew & dropped feeds, was introduced to solids but the basis has been the same all the way through & we found it worked really well, tweeking it when it needed tweeking!

As for expressing, Why doesn't your OH want you to express? At the end of the day its your body (not his) & you may need to express especially if your boobs get painfull or if you want to save milk or if you have a drink etc etc.
Take b/f as it comes & go with the flow (scuse the pun!!) & do what is right for you & do what feels comfortable for you & your baby, no one else.

 

[Emmylou]

We are just kind of doing our own thing, I'm going to try to get anight time routine this week with libby, but thats my only thing really.

I expressed this week for the first time, and tbh I felt for me I wanted to get Libby experienced with a bottle, I'll only give her one bottle of expressed milk every 2/3 days atm, but my friend has a 4 month old who will only take from the breast and she goes back to work in 3 weeks, her LO won't take bottle or beaker so she is at a loss with what to do.

I want the freedom that of I am off out for an hour or two, to the gym or whatever, then at least DH will be able to feed L.

 

[miffy]

I did use the book to establish routines once my baby was on formula at 4 weeks old. I don't think you can follow the book rigidly, it's just not practical, but I found it very useful to know when to drop a feed, and to be honest, my boy adapted to the routine himself. I was really lucky as he fitted the feeding times exactly, you could almost set your watch by it! He would down his feeds in one go with no fuss and then be happy to wait til the next one. This is probably easier when you're using formula as it fills them up more than breastmilk. But I know it doesn't suit all babies, some babies prefer to 'graze' with their milk, taking a little at a time. A friend of mine was told by a mw that if you are the type of person that snacks ('grazes') throughout the day, then it's quite likely that your baby will have similar tendencies.
One thing I ignored in the book was to wake my baby from his nap after the 'allotted' time! Let them sleep if they need it, they'll only be grouchy if you wake them up!!
I also used the Gina Ford Weaning book which I found quite good to introduce all the different veg if you haven't done it before, as I didn't know where to start!

Anyway, there's no set way to do things, do what you feel comfortable with and what suits your lifestyle. I used the book as really I didn't have a clue where to start! I have to say though, I don't know if it's got anything to do with using the book, or just his personality, but my boy is very calm and laid-back - long may it last!!

 

[Sammystar]

I've been losely following the feeding routine for Sam and it does seem to work quite well. However, I do believe that you'll fall into a rythm anyway once you and baby have 'settled in'.
I gave expressed milk from the bottle with all three of mine, almost from the word go. They had no problem switching between breast and bottle, and it gave me much more freedom.
OH can give the odd feed too, which is a bit help when you need some rest!

Believe in yourself and do what you feel is right.

Good luck!