Monday, 14 July 2008
-
On Baby Schedules and Routines... When to Start?
by Mama Hippo
So far in parenting I have tried to follow the philosophy of letting D tell me what he needs, and giving him the time to develop at his own timeline. Thus I have fed him on demand, only recently trying to intervene a bit so I could get him eating every 3 hours during the day instead of every 2. I have also been letting him lead with nighttime sleep and feedings. If he wakes and it's been over 3 hours, I feed him, and usually he seems eager to eat.I wonder sometimes if I may have "trained" him to continue with night feedings, but then he also has these random nights of sleeping through all or most of his night feeds. I don't want to deny him food if he's hungry, but I also would love to be able to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep at a time... and I think it would benefit him, too, to get more continuous sleep.
His first three months or so he was pretty consistent with his nighttime patterns. He'd go 1-2 weeks or more waking up at about the same times, and then he'd change but keep that new pattern for another few weeks. We had a few cycles of him sleeping through the night for a week or 2, then waking more often again for a while. Since then (between 3-5 months in age), he's been ALL over the place with his sleep... He might wake 5 times one night and only once the next, averaging about 2-3 wake-ups most nights. I'm not sure what to make of this unpredictability, since every book tells me that by about 4 months he should have fairly set eating and day/night sleeping routines (which he, um, does not), and that a baby of D's age should easily be sleeping at least 6-7 hours in a row, consistently, at night (again, not happening).
So I'm starting to wonder, is it time for me to step in here? Should I continue waiting for him to regulate his own body functions on his own, or do I need to be making some sort of a schedule for him? At what point am I supposed to try to limit his nighttime eating? Should I try to put him on a nap schedule, or keep waiting till he seems tired before putting him down for naps (even if sometimes that's after only 1 hour, other times 2-3)?
I know it's up to us, and all babies are different, and what works for one doesn't always work for another. But I always like hearing advice from other moms about this stuff
.
-
recommend
- recs 0
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to momaroo's Momaroo Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in momaroo's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
Comments (7)
I am a foster parent and most of my babies come from lengthy stays in the NICU being formula fed on strict schedules. I let them lead in scheduling when they come to my house. However, I would continue letting your child lead the schedule since you are nursing. If he tends to stay at the same schedule for a few weeks, then I would encourage him to continue that schedule. That what I do with my babies...when it seems they are in a routine, I continue it always assuring that their daytime routine is eating, then playing, then sleeping. That's just me! Good Luck and I am sure whatever you choose for your family will be perfect!
I let my children set their own schedule and worked around them. They all have been a lot more consistent then your little guy though. It's been throwing me off now that my youngest is cutting a nap out of the day. Before that though, I would feed him then rock him to sleep at 9:30 every morning then again at 1pm. If he seemed tired before those times, I would go with him but mostly I got my timing right.
As for at night, after 6 months they don't have to eat at night so you can always try another comfort measure to see if he'll go back to sleep without eating. If it works, you may just find yourself getting a full night's sleep.
i let baby koala sleep as long as she wants during her afternoon nap (she went from two naps to one pretty early, soon after her 1st birthday - her choice, not mine ), but if she doesn't seem "tired" by 3pm, i usually take her to her room for a nap anyway. i don't remember what it was like when she was an infant anymore (oh how quickly i forget!), but these days, she doesn't always "seem tired" during the day - however, if she doesn't get her afternoon nap, it'll show in her behavior by evening... when she's overtired, she doesn't sleep well at night either, so i try my best to schedule in a decent nap during the day.
If it's a question of philosphy, (whether you ought to train him) well, you're going to teach him everything else in life, so I can't see what's wrong with teaching him when to eat and sleep.
If it's a question of what works, my nephew had similar eating-and-sleeping problems until about four months when my sis-in-law got exhausted and put him on a strict eat-play-sleep schedule. He slept thru the night the first night, and was actually less fussy and more content from day one, too. If you are worn out, it is probably worth a try!
Jeremiah started getting a consistent routine at about 3 months. Mind y ou, his schedule is not set in stone but the times when he eats/sleeps/bathes/bedtime is ROUGHLY the same time every day/night. It works great and he knows that as soon as his bath is over that it is bedtime!! He is now 7 1/2 months old
Just as an FYI: SLeeping through the night for an infant is 5 hours. So if you're getting 3 or 4 you're not doing too badly.
For the nights, you can always try getting hm back to sleep a different way and see how it goes. It could just be that he needs some comfort, not neccesarily food.
It must be frustrating to have such an crazy day. I kind of set my kids up with a schedule - a flexible one as it has to be with young kids - around 6-8 months maybe. But they were also more 'regular' than your little one sounds to be. I don't think it would hurt to try, and if it means a less stressed, more rested moma - then it is good for baby in my opinion. :) Good luck!