When to start a routine?

[aliciabubba]

Hi girls. Would like to know when you started a routine with your LO? Ralph will be 2 weeks on Monday... Do you think this is to early to start one? X at moment it's feeding and sleeping when wanting during the day and at night we go to bed at 11pm and he only wakes twice for a feed. X

 

[beckyboo1]

At 6 weeks we have no routine so I wouldn't bother at 2 weeks.

Just keep feeding in demand and go by what Ralph wants. Personally I'd say you're too early to try and set any kind of routine

 

[tillzy69]

Ive been trying for the last couple of weeks to get in some sort of routine but you can't really be strict with it our baby's are still very young and are still a bit too demanding to expect to much from them. I think 2 weeks is early too

 

[Laura82]

I started routine at 2 weeks, lo is now 8 weeks and doing well, went to waking once at 4 weeks and now can go through the night, but this week due to the weather and his blocked nose he has been waking-,poor little soul. I think if you feel comfortable starting a routine, go for it!

 

[wannabmummy]

We started a night time routine at 6 weeks but apart from that he does what he wants in the day, 2 weeks is still so little x

 

[aliciabubba]

Thanks girls. I'm still new to being a mother and you read so many things in books and I get so confused. So it's nice to hear what real mothers think xx

 

[x_larlybelle_x]

I started a night time routine at 4 weeks, & worked with whatever happened during the day. Henry has, in the past 2 weeks, naturally stretched to 2-3 hourly feeding. Sometimes he will go 4 hours, it depends where we r & what we're doing. I think it would be hard trying to get a routine goin at 2 weeks as they r so little & the best thing for him is to be bf fed on demand, which makes a routine hard as u never know how long he will go inbetween feeds xxx

 

[Mrs N]

You can do a routine at any age but dont be surprised if it changes regularly!! We laugh about how as soon as we get things sussed he changes and we need to work it all out again!! At that age their sleeping and feeding are all over the place so I think it would be hard to impliment but I dont think it does any harm to have a few basic things you do, we used to change him into him pjs and put him in his grow bag at a certain time so he knew he was going to have a long sleep, we started a proper bath, bottle bed routine at about 3 months but only coz he started sleeping really badly and we wondered if it would make a difference (it didnt)
xxxx

 

[tillzy69]

Thanks girls. I'm still new to being a mother and you read so many things in books and I get so confused. So it's nice to hear what real mothers think xx

I don't think you can go by what a book says every child is different. I think you should just go with instincts. Mother's know best

 

[hesty14]

At about 8 weeks we started a nighttime routine of bath, bottle, bed as to get her used to this means long sleep but during the day we go with the flow.

You LO is very young so I would not worry too much yet. You could try doing the same thing every night to get them used to it but don't worry if they don't respond for a few weeks.

My LO out herself in a routine with times as at about 8 she started to get grumpy and tired but we were still not putting to bed until 10 as she was having a law feed.

 

[LaurenMM]

I started a night routine at about 10 weeks just bath, bottle bed sort of thing. She fell into a 4 hourly feeding routine when I started her on formula. As for naps and things like that I don't really have a routine, even now lol I just put her down when she's tired really. It would've been pointless for us to start a routine because we live away from home and we've gone and visited several times which has thrown her out of sync anyway. We go back home this week and as she's older I'm gonna try and start implementing a routine a bit more xx

 

[Nic36]

We started a bedtime routine at about six weeks, but in the day we just go with the flow. Only in the last week or so have I managed to stretch feed intervals to 2-3 hours, and Emily now usually has a morning nap approx. 1.5 hours after waking - apart from that we have no routine as such. I would say 2 weeks is a little young to have a routine, unless your LO naturally falls int their own little routine. X

 

[Susanne]

Personally, I think 2 weeks is a bit young for implementing a routine, but you have to do what works best for you and your baby. Samira will be 5 months tomorrow, and so far all my attempts at establishing some sort of routine have failed abysmally (apart from bedtime), she's got a mind of her own that one!

 

[My1stBaby]

As the other ladies have said 2 weeks is prob too early as they'll jusy do what they want at such a young age. I do a bath bottle bed 'routine' (I use the term loosely) at 8 weeks and max is starting to play ball now

Don't pressure yourself at this early stage, it won't do any harm to just let him sleep and eat when he wants! But if you want to do/try a routine then go for it xxxx

 

[Mrs. KM]

We don't have a schedule, but we have done the 'eat, play, sleep' routne since she started having enough wake time to play. It all goes based on when she is hungry and tired so no set times. Our bedtime routine has been really simple since day one. Put on pajamas, put on a sleeping bag, eat and go to bed. We started that routime not even realizing we were doing it, but it works. I would say don't worry about a scedule so much, and your baby will decide the routine lol. Xx

 

[BabyBrain]

Albert sorted out his own routine. Good job one of us knows what they are doing lol

 

[Bee7]

Start implementing your routine when you feel ready. I didn't do anything until Jack was about 6 weeks, i was still getting to grips with being a mum and giving him what he needed. Worrying about doing it in any particular schedule didn't even cross my mind!

I must admit that now we have a routine i find life a lot easier. He has his bottles at pretty much the same times everyday and after his bath and bedtime bottle he usually sleeps for at least 5/6 hours (usually it's only 3/4 hours during the day) so he clearly understands his little routine as well.

As the other girls said, 2 weeks is probably too early for this but just slowly start it when you're both ready. Good luck xx