infant "schedule"

TurtleDove1

DD is starting daycare on Friday when i return to work.  When DS started daycare, he was almost 18 months old, so having an infant in dc is new to me.  Her teachers will feed on demand and basically go with what she needs rather than forcing her into a strict schedule per se.  With that said, however, I do need to provide them a loose schedule of her along with any helpful info.  

I would really appreciate any info about what you did when starting your LO in daycare as an infant.  I don't want to be over the top and put down every little (obvious) detail but I also want to cover everything. KWIM? 

 I work 3 days per week and she is nursing on demand when we are home (about every 2-2 1/2 hrs) and napping is not at all scheduled right now.  She will take a bottle and I have been pumping to have a freezer stash.  When DS is home, naps are few and far between it seems.  

Sorry for the rambling, I am just looking for some input. 

mben1119

DS started DC when he was 10 weeks old. I pretty much handed them my son, bottles of breastmilk and a pack of diapers and told them to have at it. His teachers are amazing, and are very instinctual, but also willing to do things "my" way. That said, we do a baby-led schedule, so they have created their own schedule at DC that works for them, as they have several babies to care for. We keep our routine for the weekends, and things work for us.

aglenn

For both kids, I just gave them loose basics like, eats about every 2.5-3 hours, naps after 2 hours awake time.  Or whatever it was at the time.  They will figure out each kid's "schedule" or rhythm anyway, which is often different from what they do at home in the first place.

katieh1017

L started DC at 16 weeks and they provided us with an info sheet...had her likes, dislikes, how we get her to sleep and it also included a nap and feeding schedule. L is not really on any type of schedule during the day, especially not at DC. She gets fed on demand but her normal is every 3 hours. As far as napping goes ideally she should be napping after 2 hours of awake time but that doesn't happen. They do what they can and I haven't really given any verbal instructions except the length she goes for feeding but it really varies. She will be fine, they know what they are doing and I find out stuff from them about her that I didn't even know about!

MrsWindyCity

I pretty much just told them we tend to follow EASY and that, at the time, he could not be awake for more than 1.5 hours (I don't know if that was the exact amount, but something like that). So, I didn't really tell them set times. Bottles were tough for me because at home DS was a snacker and would nurse all the freaking time, so I started with more bottles that had fewer ounces but he pretty quickly shifted to taking nice, long naps there and having fewer (bigger) bottles.

Izabella22

mabenner1:

I pretty much handed them my son, bottles of breastmilk and a pack of diapers and told them to have at it.

This - DS was 6 months when he started DC and he was a terrible napper, we had no schedule, just did whatever worked. They figured it out. I'd just let them know when I dropped off when he last ate and how he slept, if he seemed cranky that morning but that's it. Honestly I roll my eyes when I see the parents "schedules" they post on the board for their kids - the way I see it I hired them (after careful consideration) to care for my child in the best way they can - I'd way rather they use their experience and instinct and maximize the time with him than reading notes about what he does at home. Home schedule and DC schedule are not necessarily the same.

blueandgray

I'm more Type A and like a little more predictability and routine to feel comfortable, so baby led schedules were not for me.   

I had gotten DD on a routine (eat, play, sleep) every 3 hours before I went back to work at 12 weeks, and she thrived on it.  But that was more for me.  I wanted to get her on a routine so that we'd get some predictable, long sleep stretches at night so I could function at work the next day.  Also, I hated the idea of not knowing what DD was doing at any point in the day after having been with her 24/7 until maternity leave was up.  I felt small comfort in looking at the clock and thinking "oh, she's probably napping about now" - it sounds silly, but helped me feel connected to her still.

jennyelf

aglenn:

For both kids, I just gave them loose basics like, eats about every 2.5-3 hours, naps after 2 hours awake time.  Or whatever it was at the time.  They will figure out each kid's "schedule" or rhythm anyway, which is often different from what they do at home in the first place.

 

This is what I did for my LO too. LO started DC at 13 weeks. 

Angela814

Basically, they'll want to know how often she generally eats and if there are any patterns to her napping.

At DD1's 1st daycare, they had a white board with each baby's name, when they were due for their next diaper change (every 2 hours), when they were due for their next bottle (depended on each baby), and when they last napped. It was more a general guideline, but if a baby started fussing, they could look at the board to see what might be the problem. DD1 was in a room with 8 infants and 2 teachers, and it was amazing to see how well they could take care of so many babies. (I visited on my lunch hour to nurse her.) If there's something that helps her nap (rocking, swing, white noise, swaddling, etc.) tell them. The rest they'll figure out, and a lot of things that work at home won't work at daycare and vice versa.

TurtleDove1

Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it.