Routine for newborn

Kataratarina

Hey guys, seeking some advice. My wee woman is nearly 3 weeks old and today has starting drinking 5ozs, so im hoping she only wakes once through the night.

My partner is starting back to work just after the new year and so i'll be on my own for the night feed. Just wondering if its too early to start trying to get her into a routine? and if not where do i start?

We never put her down in her moses basket unless we're going to sleep and she never really goes down til about 1/2 (she comes alive at 11pm every night from she was born. I dont want to put her down too early yet maybe about 10/11.

Can anyone help me?

ethelsmum

Just wanted to say congratulations on your new baby daughter. I can't offer any advice has I never tried to get my lo in a routine - she just kind of fell in to a routine herself (she's 13 wks old).

Slowly over the weeks her bedtime has come forward and she now has her last feed at 7-7.30pm and goes down for the night around 8.30pm.

[Deleted User]

My own blury memories of putting our baby into routine all remind me that it's just about stretching out the gap between the last feed of the day and the first.. sometimes not feeding them when they immediately want it to get them use to it.

We also put him into a routine for everything.. a good strong nightime routine means he rarely ever wakes in the night, and goes to bed like a good little lad (he's 18 months now)

Failing that.. buy the baby whisperer book, it's ace. Learning the little cues babies give you is really useful

BTW, i went back to work after 4 weeks, and my wife went back after a year.. i was still helping out in the night right until he got sleeping through the night, even if it was just warming the bottle up then going back to sleep while my wife fed him.

Edit: Oh yes, and congratulations!

sir_monster

hi katarina sounds similar to our little one as wouldn't settle at that time, I think if I had my time again I would do a routine. Depend how strict you want to be gina ford book is very very strict with times or what we do is during the day have a feed, have some playtime (can be nappy change/chat with baby/on playgym/outing etc), then a sleep and repeat this during the day. This may stop baby being up late as they know day is for playing night is for sleeping. You could also try a bedtime routine of bath then feed which may settle them?? We have only just got our son settled that will sleep better at night in last few weeks he has even slept through a few times and is mainly bfed. It may be worth reading a few books and choosing one that suits you?

janeawej

congratulations, I a, a mum of 4 and a trained nursery nurse, just remember that over time babies change and even if she goes through a difficult phase it will pass. a good routine is usefull to get into as soon as possible and it sounds like you are doing a good job already. If you want to get her settled by about 10-11pm I would do something like this, depending on when you want to have your evening meal, lets say you like to eat at 6.30 - 7.30-8pm baby bathtime, bring down and dress in her bedclothes and cuddles with you and OH till say 9pm then (depending on time it takes her to feed) her last feed of the night, wind and change, then cuddles again, no playing! keep it low key and keep the lights lowish, not giving her too much stimulation or attention, then 10ish probably by now, take her to bed and pop her down, a musical toy or whatever she likes to sleep with is good, leave her and hopefully she will go to sleep, you can then go to sleep and with any luck she wont wake till 2-3 for her night feed, feed in as dark a room as possible with just a low light on, so she dosent wake up too much, dont play, just be calm and comforting, change and put back into bed again, hopefully she will sleep till 6 ish and you will get a few hours sleep! Remember that sleepless time dosent go on for ever, it does pass, and good routine will help that

Amanda65

I gave all three of mine a bit of a free for all until they were 8 weeks at which point they were bathed and put into night time babygro (same as daytime ones really but I knew the difference :rotfl:). I then fed them in the bedroom in the dark, put them to bed and went downstairs. If they stirred I went back up and settled them but in the dark and didn't speak / make a fuss. The longest to go through the night (by which time I mean down by 9 and not awake until 6am was DD1 and she was 12 weeks !

I'm not saying it would work for everyone but it certainly helped us - good luck and congratulations

PerfectPeaches

Firstly congratulations!

My daughter is now 8 weeks old and has been in her routine since she was a month old. She gets bathed or topped and tailed (nice and calming for her) at around 6pm then a last feed at 6.30/7pm and goes up in her moses basket into her own room (I know some people won't agree!). She has been in her own room since about 1 week old partly because she is far too noisy (like a little pig with all her little grunts!) and I was put into my own room at a few days and it never did me any harm.

She then has a feed at around 11/11.30pm and this is done in the darkness (a dim lamp) and in total silence. She soon settles back to sleep and she won't stir till about 6am if I am lucky about 6.30/7am. She very rarely stirs from the moment she goes up at 8pm but if she does I or my OH go up and settle her back down again in darkness and total silence. I wanted her to learn the difference between day and night.

My health visitor has told me I am doing everything right and the fact that she is silent in her own room from about 8pm to 6am means she obviously feels settled and secure which for me is great.

Just remember you know your baby better than anyone and you will know when the routine is working or not.

Hope this helps

Peaches x

Kataratarina

Thanks for the advice and congrats. It so hard to know what to do at such a young age. I fed her at 11.15 and changed her and put her up in our room in her moses basket (first time shes went on her own) shes been crying but not constant just wee bursts, along with grunting. My OH went up there and put her dummy back in her mouth but we cant be running up and down doing that all night. ill give her 20mins then ill go to bed.

my OH put a wee lamp on and shes settled compared to being in the dark-hope thats ok :S

PerfectPeaches

It will take a while for her to adjust to the darkness and being on her own. But once she knows that, that is her routine then she will more than likely just settle. My daughter has been on her own since 1 week old and as she slept so much she didn't realise she was on her own.

Everytime you go in to the room just be silent and put a lamp on to give a little light she will soon learn that it isn't playtime! As for the crying, patience is a virtue and if she quickly settles after having a little outburst then there is no need to check her. My daughter has little outburts during the day but she quickly gets back to sleep.

Peaches x

LilacPixie

It may sound weird but I found getting me an OH into a routine helped. DD1 and 2 used to feed about midnight and again at 5 ish then 9 ish. We found a slumber bear or a cot mobile that projects pretty pictures onto the ceiling useful for settling the girning oo i want to play stage.

What we did was OH went to bed at 9ish an left me to do the final feed and change. I did that midnightish and took DD to bed and settled her while OH continued to sleep I then went to bed myself OH got up to do the 4-5 feed after having 8 hours sleep then settles and got ready for work, I got to sleep until 8 ish and felt i had a full night sleep as did he.