Schedule vs. demand

apollonia10 · February 2013

At my mommy's group this week, all the ladies detailed their perfect daily schedules. Their babies get up at a certain time (the moms wake them up), get fed at a certain time, nap at a certain time, etc. They stress that "it doesn't matter if they're hungry/tired/whatever," they follow the schedule.

Ever since LO was a newborn I've just done everything on demand. When he's tired, I put him down for a nap. When he's hungry, I feed him. The only set time we have is bedtime, and even then if he's tired earlier we put him down earlier. Am I the only sucker not on a schedule?

britbratjf · February 2013

No I do everything on demand. I SAH and only have one LO. I could see the benefits of a schedule if I worked or had an older LO but I see no point to one when its just her and I hanging out most days. We have a set bedtime but that's it.

danieliza1127 · February 2013

We're not on a schedule. My LO has sort of made his own routine, so I can sort of predict when he'll be ready for a nap or when he'll be hungry again, but yeah the only set thing we have is a bedtime.

I remember when he was a newborn, I read some of BabyWise which is the whole set schedule eat, play, sleep thing and I just remember it stressing me out. I remember thinking "how do I make him go to sleep just because it's been 2 hours?!" and it made me feel stressed and like I was doing something wrong so I just said forget that and followed the baby's cues instead.

apollonia10 · February 2013

I think my issue with a super rigid schedule is that it's really hard to be flexible. Sometimes we're home all day, but sometimes we're hardly home at all, and it's really hard to stick to a schedule when you're out. Some of my friends can't go out at all during certain times of the day because it's naptime, whereas LO will nap whenever he's tired, even if we're out. It works better for us.

APendola · February 2013

majorwife:
mom2JBMS:
I have never had any of my children on a schedule....I would never have considered myself an APer but I actually now know that in several respects I am.
this is me too. i didnt even know what AP was until after i had LO1. It all just seemed like common sense 

What is AP?

lh80 · February 2013

No schedule here. Hayden wouldn't even nap during the day until a month ago! I just take my cues from her. Like others have said, I think this only really works if you are at home. I am lucky enough still to be on maternity leave so this works for us.

RR081906 · February 2013

We have a general pattern/routine, but it's definitely not consistent on time.

APendola · February 2013

majorwife:
APendola:
majorwife:
mom2JBMS:
I have never had any of my children on a schedule....I would never have considered myself an APer but I actually now know that in several respects I am.
this is me too. i didnt even know what AP was until after i had LO1. It all just seemed like common sense
What is AP?
Attachment Parenting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting

Ohhh, okay. Sometimes there are too many abbreviations on this board.

So, now that I know what everyone is talking about. I'm follow AP too and have no schedule. Baby is still getting it her way. lol

pinkangelmoon · February 2013

I have twins and do not have them on a schedule. The only time I wake up a sleeping baby is if it's a workday and I have to drop them off. But they usually wake up on their own. During the weekends they wake up around the same time, mostly because they wake each other up. They eat around every 3 hours but if they get fussy at 2.5 and nothing else works then we feed them at that time. And if they take a nap and it goes over the 3 hours then we let them sleep. However, they usually stick to the same schedule every day, sometimes with a 30 min difference of each other. They both go down to bed by 7pm, but that is a time they set themselves.

The only thing I wish we did was scheduled nap times on the weekends but having at least one baby asleep allows for a little break.

michaela080 · February 2013

We have just started doing more of a feeding schedule because I had to figure out how to fit in 3 meals a day, and we have a bed time. For naps, I just put him down when he seems tired or if he has already fallen asleep.

lkamenko · February 2013

We are not on schedule too, though I am not considering myself an AP. A lot of times I change the routine because I have some change of plans like going out with the baby, vacation, doctor visits etc...so its not on baby demand. We do have a routine though of two naps a day and 5 or six feedings.