when should i start "worrying" about a schedule?

kimarino13

The girls are 6 weeks old and I am starting to think about a schedule I would like them to be on when I go back to work in the beginning of May when they are 3 months old.  Of course I hope they are STTN (or close to it) by then, and my goal will be to work towards that over the next 6 weeks.

I am guessing it'll go something like get home from work then bath, bottle, book and bed by 7 pm or so in May.  Right now, though, they are still all over the place.  I try to give them their last bottle by around 7 pm, but they don't always go to sleep right after.  Some days they nap a lot during the day and others they don't.  Some days they want to eat every 2 hours and some days it's 3.

When should I start trying to implement a schedule?  I just don't see how I can move away from demand feeding just yet.  When they are hungry, they are hungry.  There's no stalling.  Is it still too early to be thinking about this?

Thanks for any advice!

finallyreilly

I started it at 10 weeks because I knew that I was going back to work after 12 weeks.  It took a few days to get it down, but they were good by the time I went back to work.  

janjag

i think we started with the hard sell bath routine at night around 12wks (6wks adjusted).  they still woke and ate whenever they wanted, but once they started to "get it", within 2wks, they started sleeping longer (4 or 5hrs) for that first stretch of sleep after bath/bottle. 

you are already trying for early bedtime at 7pm?  what time do they wake for next feeding?   do they seem to get nights and days yet?  are you reading any sleep books?

their tummies are really small, so eating that often sounds totally fine.  but now sounds like a really good time to start a bedtime routine

lgurian

it's never too soon to start. we did babywise from day one so they were (and are) always on a schedule. and just like the book said they were STTN around 10 weeks and they dont cry in the morning when they wake up and are super happy, easy babies. i love babywise!

kimarino13

janjag:

i think we started with the hard sell bath routine at night around 12wks (6wks adjusted).  they still woke and ate whenever they wanted, but once they started to "get it", within 2wks, they started sleeping longer (4 or 5hrs) for that first stretch of sleep after bath/bottle. 

you are already trying for early bedtime at 7pm?  what time do they wake for next feeding?   do they seem to get nights and days yet?  are you reading any sleep books?

their tummies are really small, so eating that often sounds totally fine.  but now sounds like a really good time to start a bedtime routine

Yes, we are trying to get them down at 7 or 7:30.  Before this 6-week growth spurt or whatever is happening, they would go from 7 or 7:30 and then wake up again at 1:30.  Not too bad for month-old babies!  It seems like they are starting to get days and nights, because during the day they eat every 2 hours.  3 hours max.  They can go longer at night.  Not reading any sleep books yet.

I am hoping this 6 week thing passes so we can start working on laying them down when they're drowsy.  But this week, if I try doing that, they scream their heads off.  Ugh.  I hope this ends soon.

macchiatto

At this age you can do a flexible routine. (We've always had more a routine than a schedule; it was more predictable timewise by 4m or so.) Are you doing EASY or anything like that? They're definitely old enough to at least attempt that. And it's nice to know when to expect naps. I also think it's never too early for a bedtime routine, but things like routines are really personal preference at this stage; whatever's easier for you and seems to work better for your LOs.

janjag

kimarino13:

janjag:

i think we started with the hard sell bath routine at night around 12wks (6wks adjusted).  they still woke and ate whenever they wanted, but once they started to "get it", within 2wks, they started sleeping longer (4 or 5hrs) for that first stretch of sleep after bath/bottle. 

you are already trying for early bedtime at 7pm?  what time do they wake for next feeding?   do they seem to get nights and days yet?  are you reading any sleep books?

their tummies are really small, so eating that often sounds totally fine.  but now sounds like a really good time to start a bedtime routine

Yes, we are trying to get them down at 7 or 7:30.  Before this 6-week growth spurt or whatever is happening, they would go from 7 or 7:30 and then wake up again at 1:30.  Not too bad for month-old babies!  It seems like they are starting to get days and nights, because during the day they eat every 2 hours.  3 hours max.  They can go longer at night.  Not reading any sleep books yet.

I am hoping this 6 week thing passes so we can start working on laying them down when they're drowsy.  But this week, if I try doing that, they scream their heads off.  Ugh.  I hope this ends soon.

oh my goodness.  you are certainly doing something right!  it is totally normal for babies (mine at least) to go back and forth with sttn early on.  growth spurts, developmental advances, teething, and who knows what...  mine waffled on sttn, and then took turns sttn.  but i did find establishing a bedtime routine helped us move in the right direction. 

 

kimarino13

macchiatto:

At this age you can do a flexible routine. (We've always had more a routine than a schedule; it was more predictable timewise by 4m or so.) Are you doing EASY or anything like that? They're definitely old enough to at least attempt that. And it's nice to know when to expect naps. I also think it's never too early for a bedtime routine, but things like routines are really personal preference at this stage; whatever's easier for you and seems to work better for your LOs.

I don't even know what EASY is.  

Off to google!

MrsBee10

We started a bedtime "routine" as soon as they could take real baths. It helped signal the end of day, and start of night. After the bath and bottle, it was time to sleep. Even when they were up every 3 hours, any wakings after the bath were treated like middle of the night. (No playing, no stimulation, low lights, etc. Eat and straight back to bed.)

The routine started out late (like baths at 8:30 before the 9pm bottle). 

At 3 months, I would start the routine based on their last nap. They could only stay awake for about 2 hours, so the bath would move based on their last sleep. This was the same time we stated a "schedule" rather than just a routine.

At 4 months we were on a pretty consistent schedule, and still follow it now. Our night goes like this: I get home at 5. Solids from 5-5:30. Bath from 5:30-6. Quiet play from 6-6:30. Bottle from 6:30-7. 7:00 BED!