When did your LOs get a routine?

morgy23

My son is soon 7 weeks old but I cannot say he has a schedule yet. Well kind of but he has been eating a lot and frequently from the beginning. I haven't experienced yet what I hear from other mums that they feed their LOs every 3 hours. My boy wants to eat sometimes every 45 mins. I understand that they are like that in the beginning and they need all the food they can get to grow and well mine is a big boy .
When did your babies start getting a routine?

loverofnaps

At 8 weeks with DS1, he started sleeping 8 hour stretches and was pretty consistent after that. He would wake sometimes for other reasons, but stopped eating overnight at that point

morgy23

Oh that's nice. I can only hope it will be the same for us

jasmineluke

I'm having the same problem - she's 6 weeks and few days ... Still can't understanding her evening and night time routine. During the day she eats 2.5 ounces (mixed BM and forumula) every 2-3 hours. In between she will nap and be awake. She's really fussy from 7pm until about 10/11. She still doesn't have a set bedtime but on good nights she will sleep at a 3 hour stretches interrupted by feeds and fussing. I wish at this point she would have a more set schedule as well especially bedtime and night time. There are frequently nights where she only sleep 3 hours! She's 10lbs so a big girl weight wise ... Wish she would sleep slightly longer stretches.
I know they are young and will have their own shedule eventually ... Just hopeful I guess ...

Bigboobsmcgee

loverofnaps said:

At 8 weeks with DS1, he started sleeping 8 hour stretches and was pretty consistent after that. He would wake sometimes for other reasons, but stopped eating overnight at that point

This is great for this mom but OP please don't get your hopes up. This is very, very uncommon.

I'd say around 3 months is when things started falling into place with each of my kids. The become a tad bit more predictable but they were still waking in the night to eat.

Bigboobsmcgee

jasmineluke said:

I'm having the same problem - she's 6 weeks and few days ... Still can't understanding her evening and night time routine. During the day she eats 2.5 ounces (mixed BM and forumula) every 2-3 hours. In between she will nap and be awake. She's really fussy from 7pm until about 10/11. She still doesn't have a set bedtime but on good nights she will sleep at a 3 hour stretches interrupted by feeds and fussing. I wish at this point she would have a more set schedule as well especially bedtime and night time. There are frequently nights where she only sleep 3 hours! She's 10lbs so a big girl weight wise ... Wish she would sleep slightly longer stretches. I know they are young and will have their own shedule eventually ... Just hopeful I guess ...

The late evening hours are known as "the witching hour" and it's very common for babies to be super fussy during this time. Try to keep things quiet and calm in order to help baby stay stress free and to help your LO unwind from the stimulating day.

Could you increase the amount you are feeding during the day? Does your LO need more than 2.5 ounces?

Are you swaddling? I swaddled my second kid during naps and at night until she was 4 months old and that helped tremendously.

morgy23

Bigboobsmcgee said:

Are you swaddling? I swaddled my second kid during naps and at night until she was 4 months old and that helped tremendously.

I read somewhere that swaddling works only for 1 month old babies. No? I'm willing give it a try though

KateLouise

morgy23 said:

Are you swaddling? I swaddled my second kid during naps and at night until she was 4 months old and that helped tremendously.

I read somewhere that swaddling works only for 1 month old babies. No? I'm willing give it a try though

I swaddled both my girls to about 5 mths then began weaning the swaddle, as they started fighting it. Swaddling helps them stay snug when they startle in their sleep, rather than disturbing themselves with flailing arms.

jasmineluke

The late evening hours are known as "the witching hour" and it's very common for babies to be super fussy during this time. Try to keep things quiet and calm in order to help baby stay stress free and to help your LO unwind from the stimulating day.

Could you increase the amount you are feeding during the day? Does your LO need more than 2.5 ounces?

Are you swaddling? I swaddled my second kid during naps and at night until she was 4 months old and that helped tremendously.

I'm feeding 2.5 ounces every 2-3 hours and she weighs 10.5 lbs. I definitely think she can handle more but in afraid I'm feeding too much as according to her weight she only needs about 26 ounces in a day I think. When I up it to 3ounces she tolerates it just fine but I'm worried she's gaining so much weight. She's 6 weeks and in the 75th percentile for weight!

SmrBrd2012

morgy23 said:

Are you swaddling? I swaddled my second kid during naps and at night until she was 4 months old and that helped tremendously.

I read somewhere that swaddling works only for 1 month old babies. No? I'm willing give it a try though

I swaddled until 4 months. Basically you can do it until LO starts rolling and then it becomes a hazard. Swaddling is awesome!

Sarcasm101

jasmineluke said:

The late evening hours are known as "the witching hour" and it's very common for babies to be super fussy during this time. Try to keep things quiet and calm in order to help baby stay stress free and to help your LO unwind from the stimulating day.

Could you increase the amount you are feeding during the day? Does your LO need more than 2.5 ounces?

Are you swaddling? I swaddled my second kid during naps and at night until she was 4 months old and that helped tremendously.

I'm feeding 2.5 ounces every 2-3 hours and she weighs 10.5 lbs. I definitely think she can handle more but in afraid I'm feeding too much as according to her weight she only needs about 26 ounces in a day I think. When I up it to 3ounces she tolerates it just fine but I'm worried she's gaining so much weight. She's 6 weeks and in the 75th percentile for weight!

-------

Stop trying to go by the numbers. babies don't work that way. Feed her until she is full. Babies don't know how to over eat. And there is nothing wrong with being in the 75% for weight. As long as you LO is maintain a growth curve then you are fine.

Honestly, it sounds like you are concerned your daughter is going to be fat. I really hope I am wrong

jasmineluke

I'm not concerned she is fat. I just want to be sure I'm doing the healthy thing. I'll prob start upping the ounces or maybe offer 1 ounce bottles here and there when she asks for it. I'm hoping the fuller she is the better she sleeps at night. Again, wishful thinking but here's to hoping that eventually she will fall into a routine sometime soon, lol

Sarcasm101

jasmineluke said:

I'm not concerned she is fat. I just want to be sure I'm doing the healthy thing. I'll prob start upping the ounces or maybe offer 1 ounce bottles here and there when she asks for it. I'm hoping the fuller she is the better she sleeps at night. Again, wishful thinking but here's to hoping that eventually she will fall into a routine sometime soon, lol

She is only 6 weeks old. I would not expect any sort of routine until 3-4 months. And once you get comfortable with that routine, the 4 month sleep regression will start and you will be back to square one. Welcome to motherhood.

delujm0

We'll be 5 months next week, and i wouldn't say we have a "routine."  We have times where LO generally will nap, and we know that she's on a cycle where if she hasn't eaten in 90-120 minutes (during the day), she's likely to be hungry soon; and if she's been awake for 1.5-2 hours, she's likely to be tired soon, but nothing standard.  We have a bedtime routine that we do (book, bath, PJs, feed, bed) as soon as she starts to get fussy any time after 6pm, and she usually wakes up to eat at 4:30am (if at all), but daytime is a free-for-all.  We just try to make sure she never gets so hungry or overtired that she becomes a complete mess.  I'm hoping that by 6 months she'll be ready to be on something of a 2-naps-a-day schedule, with the naps starting around the same time every day.  but she's in daycare during the week, and they let the infants just sleep whenever, so i don't know how realistic that is.

 

Anyway...don't get hung up on establishing a routine, because it's unlikely to happen anytime soon unless your baby just happens to be VERY cooperative.  Everything does get a lot better after the 3 month mark.  hang in there!

EmJ628

Honestly, some of the posters here have been really negative lately and jumping to conclusions.... I am sure the OP came here for support and because maybe, like many of us, she does not have another source of advice to turn to. ANYWAY, OP, yes you are correct that it will take time to get your LO in a routine or schedule- however that doesn't mean you can't do some things now to help your LO- especially bed time. I know your LO isn't sleeping through the night yet but you can decide when "bedtime" is, and make that feeding the time when LO gets pajamas, song, whatever. Make it the same quiet relaxing routine every night. Then it's straight to sleep wherever her night time sleeping takes place. Every feed after bedtime takes place in a very dim room, no playing, just diaper change, eat and back to sleep. Then 'wake up' happens whenever you decide you want to start your day and that feeding is in a bright sunny room, play time, etc. basically even though your LO is eating multiple times throughout the night you can try now to establish a daytime and nighttime routine. I would also suggest making bedtime earlier than 10. Our boys were on a 3 hour eating schedule and our original bedtime was 9pm. Let me tell you my life was hell from 7pm- 9pm every night. So I moved their bedtime up to 7pm and they started sleeping better and the fussing hour was way more tolerable. (They still fussed but it was less intense and shorter). And don't be afraid to break out of the suggested ounces calculation. Mine will go through stages where they eat a ton as they go through a growth spurt then they slow back down again, it goes back and forth. Good luck and congrats!!!!

Bigboobsmcgee

EmJ628 said:

Honestly, some of the posters here have been really negative lately and jumping to conclusions.... I am sure the OP came here for support and because maybe, like many of us, she does not have another source of advice to turn to. ANYWAY, OP, yes you are correct that it will take time to get your LO in a routine or schedule- however that doesn't mean you can't do some things now to help your LO- especially bed time. I know your LO isn't sleeping through the night yet but you can decide when "bedtime" is, and make that feeding the time when LO gets pajamas, song, whatever. Make it the same quiet relaxing routine every night. Then it's straight to sleep wherever her night time sleeping takes place. Every feed after bedtime takes place in a very dim room, no playing, just diaper change, eat and back to sleep. Then 'wake up' happens whenever you decide you want to start your day and that feeding is in a bright sunny room, play time, etc. basically even though your LO is eating multiple times throughout the night you can try now to establish a daytime and nighttime routine. I would also suggest making bedtime earlier than 10. Our boys were on a 3 hour eating schedule and our original bedtime was 9pm. Let me tell you my life was hell from 7pm- 9pm every night. So I moved their bedtime up to 7pm and they started sleeping better and the fussing hour was way more tolerable. (They still fussed but it was less intense and shorter). And don't be afraid to break out of the suggested ounces calculation. Mine will go through stages where they eat a ton as they go through a growth spurt then they slow back down again, it goes back and forth. Good luck and congrats!!!!

I don't agree at all! Discussions on the internet are hard when you only get a small snippet of the whole story and some of the OP's comments were sort of hard to interpret. A lot of the posters are experienced (more than 1 kid) and are giving honest advice. Not everyone is into coddling.

I do think you gave great advice, especially the earlier bedtime part.

IMO OP shouldn't be reading so much and trying to follow what she reads so closely because babies truly don't work that way. Unrealistic expectations lead to frustration and that just makes parenting even harder.

 

jasmineluke

Lol, I was not the originally poster of the question /discussion.
Anyways, obviously nobody follows what they read here to a T. This is. "Forum" for discussion and general questions. Yes, some people do post questions which should be directed to a professional. However this was a more general question.
Thank you for those who posted answers which didn't feel like an "attack" on the original question posed.
Little ones will do what they feel like ultimately and They dictate their own schedule ... We all know and agree on this. It doesn't hurt to try guide them a little I guess.
Thanks for the input everyone