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September 2016 Moms
lilaros
member
Schedule
lilaros
member
The naps thread got me thinking about schedules for babies. My husband and I want to start implementing one because our son doesn't sleep longer than 3 hours at night but are not sure of a good one to follow. I'd love to hear from you ladies about what you are/aren't doing and how it's going.
Re: Schedule
Someone said that one night, they just sleep. And that's exactly what happened.
Edit: Our pediatrician told me the better she sleeps during the day, the better she'll sleep at night. So I just let her nap whenever during the day and don't wake her.
Basically when he wakes up I feed him (if it's been at least 2hours since his last feeding) and then play with him. I watch the clock and try not to go any longer then 1hr and 15 minutes since he last woke up before putting him down for a nap. During the day he naps in his swing, so I'll put him in there and he goes down pretty easy. In the afternoon, instead of going in his swing for a nap, we take a walk and he naps in the baby bjorn. I typically can get one long nap out of him and the rest are 30 minutes. He sleeps fine in the bassinet at night, but for some reason it's a huge struggle to get him to nap in there during the day, so I let him sleep in the swing.
He starts to get fussy in the evenings, so around 5:00/5:30 I dim the lights and turn off the TV so that there is minimal stimulation. Around 6pm
we do bathtime which he LOVES. After that I feed him and put him down between 6:30/7.
My LO is 10 weeks, and even though things have gotten easier, every day is still a struggle because a get very little accomplished. When he isn't napping he requires constant attention. We live in a loft, so even though we have rooms, we don't have walls that go all the way up to the ceiling. So when he is sleeping it makes things like cooking and cleaning nearly impossible because I don't want to wake him. We are stuck in this living situation for another 4 months which really sucks.
Ideally it would go like this: dad gets home at the end of naptime, we feed and play with baby, someone distracts her while the other cooks and cleans, she naps while we watch a show, when she wakes up we bathe her, feed her, and read a story or sing to her to get her to sleep again, and then she sleeps for 4 hours until her middle of the night feed.
In reality it's like this: dad gets home at the end of a feed or the beginning of nap time, which wakes her up. She then refuses to sleep because she wants daddy attention. Dad wants to unwind so he sits down somewhere with her instead of playing with her, which causes her to cry. Then she remembers she's tired, and cries more. Somebody (usually me) holds crying baby while the other tries to make dinner as quickly as possible. By the time dinner is ready it's time for her to eat again, which means my dinner is always cold. Feeding makes her sleepy and she drifts off for a bit, but if I put her down to nap while I spend time with husband, she wakes back up and starts SCREAMING. We eat dinner quickly. If neither of us can calm her, I take her upstairs where it's quieter and darker at the expense of quality time with my husband. If she's still upset, we'll give her a bath, which soothes her as long as she's in the water. Sometimes she's still calm when she gets out, mostly she screams again. We dress and swaddle her and then I feed her in the side lying position until she passes out again. Whether or not she stays asleep for the transfer to the bassinet is seemingly random, but I noticed if I lie next to her with my hand on her tummy until her breathing slows down, she tends to stay asleep for those full four hours.
It's usually almost midnight by the time she gets to sleep. Some days are easier and she's perfect, doesn't fight or fuss, and some days she's screaming until two in the morning.
https://alphamom.com/parenting/baby/the-2-3-4-sleep-routine/
Starting with bedtime, our schedule is
10p down for the night
4a feeding. Back to sleep
7a long feeding. Play time
10a poop, feeding
11a nap
12p play time
1p feeding.
2p cat nap
3p occupy me dammit! High octane play time. Usually take a walk and tummy time
4p feeding
5p play time (try to cook here)
6p feeding. Maybe cat nap
7p TV time (we watch wheel of fortune while she gets held)
9p feeding and then day goes full circle...
10p bedtime
Let me just say that this is her schedule imposed on us, not what I'm trying to get her to do. I've just recently figured out when Victoria likes to cluster her feeds and when she'll let them stretch out. We've consistently been getting 6h of blissful sleep. It's so great. She's 3 months now. Which is what all the baby guides say but I really wondered if that day would ever come.
Day care has helped us figure out the routine. I work Mondays and Fridays right now. Having her take a bottle and seeing how much she needs to get really full was incredibly helpful. Pumping at work I know I can knock out almost 12oz and she only drinks 6 at most helped me too.
Gee this is a really long post. Guess I'm trying to make up for lost time. Sorry
My son had his 2 month appointment and I complained to his doctor about him not sleeping for more than 2-3 hours at night. She suggested trying a very basic schedule 1.5 hours awake - 1.5 hours asleep on repeat until bedtime. We're giving it a shot today and so far it's worked but it's just past noon here. Still half the day left to go!
What I don't understand is how you do anything if your baby is on a schedule like that? I'd have to give up going to any moms groups or baby classes. I don't know if it's worth it.
I've been keeping Sylvia upstairs in our room where her bassinet is, and it's helped her nap during the day time and have a bit more regular of a schedule. If she's downstairs she wants to be awake all day long, and then she goes nuclear by the time evening comes around and she remembers how tired she is. I don't work or go outside very much, so I keep my laptop up here and do schoolwork in bed while she sleeps.
She's started holding her head up and pushing up on her arms for longer and longer periods, and now it's all she ever wants to do. She'll try to skip naps to practice, and gets mad if we don't put her on her tummy. It was the opposite just a few days ago!
@jenkar01 My daughter hates tummy time flat on her belly. I found a toy that is shape liked a mini boppy. It vibrates and plays music. She likes laying on that and does really well holding her head up on it. It is made by Fisher Price.