When to start implementing a routine

[caggimedicine79]

Hi everyone

Harry is only 12 days old, and is currently going to bed at about 11pm after having a feed. He then wakes up at about 1am, 3am, 5/6am and then sleeps through til about 9am. Now, whilst I don't think this is bad for a 12 day old baby, my question is - when do you start a "routine"? I notice a lot of you girls have got babies/getting babies into routines at around 2 months old... is this right? Is it just a case of baby needing less feeds/changes during the night? The only thing i've been doing is trying to make Harry's days busier (e.g. visitors, noisy tv etc) and nights quieter in a bid to get him to understand the difference between night and day. He also slept in his nursery last night for the first time - he has been in his moses basket next to our bed since birth, but he's a very grunty baby at night time, so last night we put him in his moses basket, but in the nursery with the monitor on and he seemed to have a more restful night.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Chloe

EDIT: Suppose I should also add that Harry is currently 100% breastfed

 

[Naterjack]

its not so easy to get into a routine with breastfeeding as you feed on demand but he will start to go longer between feeds eventually

 

[Mildly]

I think it depends whether you want to implement a routine. Besides keeping night times dark and quiet and day time the opposite we haven't really bothered with a strict routine. We did introduce a story before bed a month or so ago but other than that he is fed on demand and everything else just happens as and when.

 

[Charlie:-)]

Its completely up to you when to introduce a routine so there is no right and wrong time to do it its just whatever fits in with you and whatever you would prefer to do.

With my daughter I just went with the flow and took her lead on most things. She fed on demand and still is and we somehow seemt to have gotten into our own little routine. In the beginning though I just did whatever I needed to and I didnt actually start to implement a routine until she was about 8 or 9 weeks old. I started with a bedtime routine but apart from that everything else was led by her, so if she wanted to play then we woudl play, if she wanted feeding, if she wanted to sleep or wanted some quiet time or just cuddles for example.

With the bedtime routine then I started at 6pm which was nappy off time with hubby upstairs in her room. She would have a bath usually every other day or every second day. Then a massage and ready for bed. I would feed her and then she would go down into her moses basket. At first she found it hard to settle and I remember having to rock her to sleep in our arms and then sometimes when I tried to put her back into the moses basket she would wake again so back to the rocking and sometimes she would stir only slightly and settle. After a couple of weeks she got used to it and started to settle really well. I always used to put her down for naps in her moses basket in our bedroom where she was sleeping of a night so that she got more used to it, and I always put on the radio fairly quiet for background noise during naps time. Maia's bedtime is now always 7pm and she really knows when she's tired and whne she wants to go to bed, if for whatever reason we do keep her up after 7pm if we are out and theres plenty going on then she's ok but if we're at home she lets us know its her bedtime and very loudly at that!

Our other little routine we seemed to have fallen into during the day is around breakfast and lunchtime. Breakfast was I suppose initiated by me because it fits in with what we do on a morning. With lunch, I have only just noticed this routine has developed in the last month or so. I feed Maia at around 110am - 11:30 am depending on when she woke up and then I have noticed she wants lunch at around 12 noon. She used to be able to go a little longer like if we were out and I lost track of time she will let me know it's dinner time. I have tried her with another breastfeed but she wont take it and wants food at this time rather than milk.

So in honesty if you want to try a routine then there are things you can do, some people thrive on routine and others dont. There are also some books with routines but I found them all a bit too rigid and strict and just not what I wanted to do. Your baby is still so young though so for now I would be tempted to just go with the flow like you have been doing and maybe you will find your own routine in time.

 

[leckershell]

It sounds awful but from day 1, 7pm was bedtime. He was also 100% breastfed until about 7 months, but after 7pm even when he woke, it was dark. So we used light and dark to establish bedtime. If that makes sense. It was good because we had the evenings to ourselves and didnt have to start a whole new return when I went back to work. No offence to you but I never understand keeping the baby up til really late and letting them lie in late, as how does that work when you go back to work etc and when do you get any time together as a couple.. also I find it quite unnatural for a baby to stay up so late and then you'll have a mission on your hands bringing it back in time once they get into the swing of it. That wasn't a criticism by the way, I'd just say pick a routine you are happy with,and stick to it as early as you can. Even since Ryan's got older, he is still in bed by 7pm.

 

[nori]

Well i tried the gina ford routine but gave up as it just wasnt for us. The only thing i did take out of it though is to start the day at around 7am. If we do this Ollie has the amount if feeds he requires before 11pm (he is on bed before this though) We have only just dropped the nightfeed (around 2am).

Ollie is kind of in his own routine now anyway. He has a short sleep in the morning and then a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Claire x