I go back to work next thursday, and while i have a ROUTINE with baby, its by no means a SCHEDULE. Sometimes she wants to eat every 2hrs, other times, every 4. She is formula fed. Which is fine I suppose, BUT I NEED to get her evening routine into a time slotted schedule. By 5wks old I swear I had DD#1 on a schedule but I don't even remember how I did it!! She just kind of did it on her own. But Peyton just can't seem to get on the train right now....I need her to be in bed asleep by 7-7:30pm. But she consistently wants to stay awake until 9pm and that infringes upon what I need to do to get ready for, and be in bed by 9pm; I have to be up at 4am for work!!! I can't be messin around with her for hours in the evening and I need more than 4-5hrs of sleep a night. Any tips on how I can do this?
Re: Getting baby on a schedule, Help!
It's awesome that you have a good routine down already- that should really help. That being said, I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect a newborn to fit into a schedule with "time slots." Routine is probably about as good as it gets with such a young one.
Since you have to get up so early do you have a partner or spouse who can take over baby duties in the for a couple of hours in the evening while you get some rest?
Congratulations on your new one!
At 5 weeks, neither of my kids would go to bed before 11pm. Usually later.
I'll have to agree with the other posters-- you're just going to have to suck it up or get some help until she's a little more regular. Mine didn't have a "schedule" until 3-4 months, which is about average for the babies on this board.
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008