Routine or No Routine?

Kayalana99

The reason I didnt say to much in my first posts is because I realise how lucky I actally am. My baby used to sleep 11pm till 10am in the morning (sometimes even later) and my MIL was always telling me how spoilt I was as when you have kids thier supposed to get you up early... we ended up breaking his routine by keeping him awake as much as possible one day and when he dropped off at 8pm we kept that as his routine...it just meant he woke up at 7-8am instead of 10am + It really did suit us as we'd usally go to bed about 11pm as well and just take him with us.

Its better for him though that way...but I can honestly say he sleeps 11-12hours since he's been around 6months and I have never had a bad night with him apart from the first 6 weeks when I was breast feeding and that was just for feeds... he's such a dream at night.

But I know Im one of the few lucky ones and I can't say I did anything special its just my baby likes to sleep!!!

pesky85

I would wing it! He's still very young. My two boys were good sleepers as infants, but would go through stages of not sleeping properly and this was usually associated with a growth spurt / being hungry in the night.

I also had a "weight issue" with my youngest between the ages of 3-6 months - he dropped right off the centile chart and had to see a paediatrician. I felt awful about it! So worried as the HV's kicked up such a fuss (I was BFing). Anyway he was absolutely fine! He was born on the 50th centile and is now (at just 2 years old) on the 2nd - the paed put it down to "correcting" his natural weight. Apparently newborn weight is often down to the mother's nutrition and isn't always indicative of their size.

The best thing about winging it is that it will allow you to relax a little bit more, and he will react by relaxing too. If you have no expectations you are not setting yourself up for disappointment

Good luck

bylromarha

I'm a Gina mum through and through.

A few things to point out.

1) Well done.

2) No, seriously, well done. This first bit is flipping hard whether you choose to follow a routine or not. Adjusting to life as 3 is a major change.

3) Did I say well done? If not, well done. You're doing great.

4) If you're a person who likes to know what to do and when to do it, then stick with Gina as much as you can. If you're the sort of person who goes with flow and change, then loosen up your days. Can you remember which sort of person you were pre baby?

5) Well done!

6) Are you getting the expressing done as Gina advises? I used to get OH to do the 10pm feed with what I'd expressed during the day. Babies settled better with OH at that time of day than they did with me. Plus, we could see that they were getting a full feed at that time of day - I wasn't sure how much my droopy tired boobs were producing that late at night, so it reassured me that the belly was full.

7) Well done

8) If your friends are bottle feeding, then their baby will more likely sleep longer at nights as bottles take longer to digest than boob milk.

9) Keep going girl, doing a good job.

10) Have you tried dropping the 4.30 sleep? Forgotten what Gina says about the age they drop that nap.

11) Well done. Remember it's not a race to see which baby can sleep through first, more a long haul journey of raising your child the very best you and OH can.

And, keep reminding yourself that you're doing well. You are. Well done chuck.

maddeningly

Your post really reminds me of the early days with my little one. He hated sleep (still does at 6) and would literally only sleep if held, pushed, driven, fed or co slept with. He was an adorable nightmare! I did stick with the same routine as far as eating and bathing were concerned but went with the flow with everything else. I didn't do anything different with my little girl born 2 years later and she was a brilliant sleeper, I guess like everyone else all babies are different

skintchick

Aww it is very hard when they little. And there is a regression at that age, but the centile dropping sounds concerning and I'm glad you are seeking help for that, although baby rice has less calories ounce per ounce than milk, and very little nutrition...

Have a look at this website to help you understand baby sleep and what is normal. http://www.isisonline.org.uk/how_babies_sleep/

And yes, your friends are lying. The official definition of sleeping through is five hours. Five. Reassure yourself with that.

You are doing a great job

sooty&sweep

Hi

You say that your baby has dropped from the 91st to 60th centile. Where is your baby on the height chart ? Both my two were around the 91st centile when they born but both are now around the 5th. Initially everyone concerned that they weren't' maintaining but neither me or my husband are very tall so they aren't' going to be tall. So it was their weight adjusting to their height.
Jen