When did you put your baby on a schedule?

grazy · October 2011

DS will be three months at the end of this month. I am wondering when I should get him on more of a schedule. Right now, he eats about every three hours (6 ozs) and he goes to sleep around 8:00-8:30. He usually sleeps through the night. I let him nap whenever- usually in the swing or if we are out then he naps in the carseat.?

Please help! Thanks!?

skoorbnibor · October 2011

well, it sounds like he has already established his routine!

Schedule is a loaded word, but the routine you are doing sounds just right for 3 months. The only thing I would change is when you are home, let him nap in his crib.

tnkrbl21 · October 2011

I agree with Skoorb - it's not about schedule it's about routine. I never "forced" (for lack of a better word) a schedule on my kids. Instead, I let their routine become the schedule. I didn't really struggle all that much with anything either. The less rigid you are and the more flexible things are the easier it is for everyone to make adjustments.

dana316 · October 2011

I'm with skoorb on this one! It sounds like you are doing great!!

ladychicago · October 2011

Agreed. We let Anna take the lead on her routine, and it didn't turn into much of a "schedule" with predictable nap times until 5-6 months. So it sounds like you guys are right on track!

ohiostategal · October 2011

At that point we had a similar routine. DS is almost 6 months now and he has changed it up a little and I have just gone with it. he still eats about every 3 hours because that is when he is hungry. He also take a bigger morning nap and later afternoon nap with one power nap in the middle. He started needing this and I follow his cues. He don't have a schedule though because he still doesn't sleep through the night so our wake up time varies often. I SAH though so that isn't as big of a deal.

perry7285 · October 2011

honestly, sounds like you've already got a great schedule. my baby is 13 months and is harder to keep on a schedule than that!

i agree with PP--just keep doing what you're doing and maybe try to get him to nap in the crib.

also, i would keep in mind that it is okay to BREAK the schedule sometimes. our dietician recommends feeding on demand for the first year. so i say if he gets hungry before the three hour mark, it's okay to wing it a little and feed him early--he may be having a growth spurt and need the more frequent feedings.

grazy · October 2011

Thanks for the reassurance. It is all so new to me! It seems like DS is doing well! I pretty much go with what he likes...when he likes to sleep and when he likes to eat. Eating ends up being pretty much every three hours. So I guess we are on the right track! Thanks, girls!

Dr.Loretta · October 2011

I never did; she established her own.

His schedule sounds fine. What changes are you looking for, exactly? Especially in a 3mo?

roselln2 · October 2011

We have a similar "schedule". Now that I'm back to work, the schedule has solidified a little bit because of needing to wake up by a certain point. Lilian eats approximately every three hours. When we're at home, I like to follow a loose eat/play/sleep schedule. She eats when she's hungry, which tends to be every three hours. Then we play until she gets cranky. Nap time, which tends to be 30-45 minutes, but could go longer or shorter depending on her. All that continues until somewhere around 7:45 or 8:30 when she lets us know she wants to go to bed by getting chatty. When she gets chatty, we know we have a very short window of time to get her ready for bed before she melts down.

grazy · October 2011

Dr.Loretta:
I never did; she established her own.
His schedule sounds fine. What changes are you looking for, exactly? Especially in a 3mo?

I'm just making sure we are on the right track! I trust you girls and I wanted your opinions. It sounds like I am doing pretty much what you all did. DS makes his schedule, and we follow his cues of when he is hungry (usually every 3 hours while awake) and when he is sleepy or cranky, he naps. I guess I am doing it right!

CandT · October 2011

Have you tracked times he naps during the day? He may already be on a schedule. Start writing down awake/sleep times all day for a week and see if there is a pattern. THen if you wish to start getting him more on a schedule you'll know where to start.

DD is about the same age and we do bedtime every night at 7:30 and she usually wakes up once to eat and then wakes for the day at 7ish. We have no nap schedule yet, I just try to keep her engaged after meals and then put her down when she's sleepy. I love the EASY scheduling (eat, activity, sleep, you).

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