Need to get baby into a routine - please help

bonty44

strawberrypud wrote: »

Last night after the bath I let my baby finish a 9 oz bottle and she fell asleep straight away! That has been unheard of with her at that time of day!

She takes 6 7oz bottles in 24 hours so I assumed that it couldn't be hunger. I've also been told so many times that because she has reflux NOT to give her big feeds. Her reflux is well controlled now so I thought I'd just try that and last night, at least, it worked! She's definitely happy after taking 7oz at every other feed but I'll try giving her that massive feed at the evening feed. When he saw that it had worked my husband said that I over think baby care and don't have the normal instincts other women have boo hoo!

No, you do have normal instincts, it's just everyone else tries to stick their twopenneth' in and all logical thinking then goes out of the window!

By the time it gets to baby number 3, you just do what your instinct tells you instinctively! And don't listen to anyone else!!:T on a better night last night!!!

liney

Strawberrypud - is the baby drinking the normal formula or the hungry baby kind? I only mention this, because my son wanted to eat and eat and eat but I was told to move him onto hungry baby formula as he shouldn't have more then 35oz of milk in 24 hours.

strawberrypud

Thanks for all the fantastic advise so taking bits and pieces from everyone this is the routine....

8am up, go downstairs
8.30am feed
9am nap
11.30am feed
12pm nap
3pm feed
4pm nap
6pm bath
6.30 BIG feed
7pm bed
10pm dream feed
Feed if wakes in night (usually around 5am)

what do you think?

mumslave

esio_trot wrote: »

Miracle blanket? I bought my 8 week old one about a week ago and the improvement in his sleeping was instant - he loves it and is swaddled every time I put him down.

And as for it being horrific - the health visitors, around here anyway, recommend it if a baby has difficulty sleeping because their limbs scare them and wake them up. I can't see it being cruel to stop, what my son thinks is happening to him, some strange person belting him about the face with a strange pair of arms! He also doesn't overheat or any of that stuff because he sleeps in a vest, and just in a nappy if it is still too warm.

OP - can't really help on the routine, my baby is only 8 weeks and very much rules in terms of what we do with him and when! I also don't really see the point in following any set routine from a book - my son hasn't read it! I do try to do the same things around the same time every night though. Some time between 7-9pm (that's as narrow a timescale as we get just now!) he has some play time, a bath, some nappy free/massage/drying time, a bottle, a cuddle then sleep. I hope in time that he'll recognise this as bedtime. Maybe you could try some variation on this, or let MIL do it when she's around - it's a lovely time to spend with a baby I think, very calm and affectionate - I'm sure she'd love the opportunity (my mum certainly would!)

Yup, I love the miracle blanket, and so have my babies! That and:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Years-Nature-Sensations-Lullaby/dp/B000056HMY

They all loved the rain sound. By the time they reached 6 months, I changed it to the lullaby. :money:

strawberrypud

liney wrote: »

Strawberrypud - is the baby drinking the normal formula or the hungry baby kind? I only mention this, because my son wanted to eat and eat and eat but I was told to move him onto hungry baby formula as he shouldn't have more then 35oz of milk in 24 hours.

She's on cow and gate comfort and gaviscon because she has reflux and a bit of lactose intolerance otherwise she'd definitely be on hungry milk. My first was on hungry milk.

mumslave

strawberrypud wrote: »

Thanks for all the fantastic advise so taking bits and pieces from everyone this is the routine....

8am up, go downstairs
8.30am feed
9am nap
11.30am feed
12pm nap
3pm feed
4pm nap
6pm bath
6.30 BIG feed
7pm bed
10pm dream feed
Feed if wakes in night (usually around 5am)

what do you think?

As long as you are flexible and dont get fixated on it. I think if baby is up at 8am, she may not be ready to sleep again within an hour. Probably more likely to be an hour and half to two hours, so perhaps 9.30am or 10am, which would mean a nap around 12.30pm in the afternoon rather than 12pm. All you can do is give it a go, because as has been said that i DO agree with, you cant force a baby to do anything, she will either be quite happy with the routine or it will need tweaked to suit her a bit better. :money:

mumslave

strawberrypud wrote: »

She's on cow and gate comfort and gaviscon because she has reflux and a bit of lactose intolerance otherwise she'd definitely be on hungry milk. My first was on hungry milk.

Do you get the cow and gate omneo on prescription? You can, just so you know if you arent already. :money:

pinkclouds

strawberrypud wrote: »

Thanks for all the fantastic advise so taking bits and pieces from everyone this is the routine....

8am up, go downstairs
8.30am feed
9am nap
11.30am feed
12pm nap
3pm feed
4pm nap
6pm bath
6.30 BIG feed
7pm bed
10pm dream feed
Feed if wakes in night (usually around 5am)

what do you think?

Personally, I'd expect her to wake up a bit earlier in the morning and have the second night feed a bit earlier but otherwise looks familiar. (Actually, I seem to remember mine having more than just a couple of night feeds at that age but all kids are different.)

pukkamum

Thank god there re some sensible people left in the world, not sure why being wrapped up snugly and put in a dark tanatamounts to child abuse in some peoples eyes!!!!

It's actually the moro refelx that causes the startleness and it is when the arms fling back and it instantly awakens them, bit like our falling reflex when sleeping.

It astounds me the amount of people who think that babies will be scared of the dark, why would they be? They have no concept of fear and the dark as said before produces sleep inducing hormones.

I think the leaving them alone to cry in the dark was aimed at me but what i actually said is that baby may need just putting down and soothing, after all can you imagine being very very tired and having someone mauling you? It would drive you potty!!!!!!

atrixblue.-MFR-.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/133857/1-in-4-cot-deaths-linked-to-swaddling-of-babies

http://fsid.org.uk/Page.aspx?pid=779

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/10October/Pages/Cot-death-and-shared-beds.aspx


you run a small risk if you swaddle!! research it first, considder other methods, and only use swaddling as a last resort if all else fails IMHO.