With all of this routine talk

When did everyone start to get there babies on a routine? My ds doesn't really have a routine during the day but at bedtime we do and he sleeps anywhere from 10-7or 8 am.
Somedays he will take a good nap other days no real naps just little catnaps.
He usually sleeps when we go for a walk. I am scared to dictate daytime naps since he is so great at night.

Any suggestions

Thanks

Re: With all of this routine talk

Mmm, I think I tried around 5 months for sleep, though I can't say I noticed any difference until 6 months or so. Before that he was colicky, and I really didn't have much luck with routines. The bedtime routine was easier to establish-naps are still tricky.

Meals didn't fall into a pattern until 6 months when he started getting solid food. He liked to graze with his bottles, and I really couldn't get him to drink large amounts until 6 months.

Expect their sleep needs to change also. DS was horrible to put to sleep around 7 months--he was going to bed at 9 which was the same time he had gone for awhile. We didn't realize he needed to go sooner right away, so watch for yawning and eye rubbing, etc.

Re: With all of this routine talk

I really started a "routine" at 6 weeks. Granted it took a while to get him used to it but that's when I started. He's 7 months old and still wakes up but now I think it's just to see me. But, he knows that a bath means that bed is coming and he goes down no problem. I really felt that it took about four months for me to see a real pattern.

Re: With all of this routine talk

I'd say around 6-7 mos everything was routine (most of the time)...naps/feedings/etc.

Re: With all of this routine talk

Never. I still don't 2 1/2 yrs later. We just wing it everyday. I am lucky to have a child that is just like us

Re: With all of this routine talk

We don't really have one. She's always been a good sleeper so I never had to do anything special. Sometimes I bathe her in the morning, sometimes at night, sometimes after lunch. Sometimes she naps in the morning, sometimes the afternoon, sometimes never. Sometimes she eats lunch at 11:30, sometimes at 1:30. She goes to be around 8pm every night though. I'm fortunate to have an easy going toddler

Re: With all of this routine talk

As far as naps, I would say about 6-7 months she was in a pretty good routine of up for 3 hours or so and then taking a nap.

Re: With all of this routine talk

Bedtime routine I started at about 6 weeks. Daytime naps have gotten really consistent only in the last few weeks or so...DD is 4.5 months.

Re: With all of this routine talk

For bedtime we started at 3 months but emphasis on the word started - it took him longer to get on board but we stayed consistent.

My son is a pretty easy child (thankfully) and by 6 months he was following the bedtime routine and also showing us signs of hunger and sleep that we were able to build a routine around.

I have never been firm on any time schedule other than bedtime. And that's because as a family we all needed to have that in place.

We've floated with naps with my only requirement being that he got one or two (depending on age) as often as possible. So he did ditch them once in a while.

Re: With all of this routine talk

We started doing our bedtime routine at 12 weeks, it was partly for our own sanity and starting to get some sort of evening back. We are big sticklers to the bedtime routine, and bedtime for us is a pure joy! its the best part of the day!

Re: With all of this routine talk

I forgot to say also, I think routines depend a lot upon your child and what works for him/her. My DS definitely needs some routine and structure as far as sleep goes (and most babies need some I think), but with meals he is more of a grazer. So I let him eat when he's hungry, unless we are going out and I need to try and get some food in him.

Re: With all of this routine talk

I think we started at around 7 months or so, and seeing how great it worked and how much better everything is (especially sleep) with a routine, I wish we had done it sooner.

I cannot say enough aboot having a routine, its a life saver

Re: With all of this routine talk

From day 1 I wrote everything down, eating times, amounts, sleeping times. Around 8 weeks I noticed a trend, and that’s when I focused on getting him into a routine. It changes from time to time, but generally his routine is pretty similar to what it was at 10 weeks (shorter naps but he always only took 2). I used his cues to develop a routine.

Re: With all of this routine talk

I think DS was around 7 months.

Re: With all of this routine talk

Posted by Summerrluvv

We don't really have one. She's always been a good sleeper so I never had to do anything special. Sometimes I bathe her in the morning, sometimes at night, sometimes after lunch. Sometimes she naps in the morning, sometimes the afternoon, sometimes never. Sometimes she eats lunch at 11:30, sometimes at 1:30. She goes to be around 8pm every night though. I'm fortunate to have an easy going toddler

Re: With all of this routine talk

DD wasn't on a set routine until about 4 months.

Re: With all of this routine talk

We just recently put a bed time routine into place where we try to put her in at the same time every night and have a whole bedtime & bath routine.

Meals we are starting to get more into a routine now that she is sleeping better. She finally started sleeping between 10-11 hours at night whereas just a month ago she was waking up anywhere from 5am-8am. She gets breakfast usually an hour after she wakes (usually around 11:30am), gets lunch around 3:30pm and dinner around 7:30pm.

Bottles are sporadic throughout the day because she likes to graze.

Naps are almost nonexistent in our house and will happen only when she is being held. If we try to put her in the crib she scream bloody murder. We're not too upset by it b/c she is sleeping so well at night now.

DD will be 9 months in about a week.

Message edited 10/15/2008 12:58:52 PM.

Re: With all of this routine talk

Um, 10 MONTHS HOnestly, it wasn't until we did Ferber/CIO that DS took consistent naps (or, naps at all for that matter) and slept at consistent times every night I won't wait that long with #2!

Re: With all of this routine talk

I started a bedtime routine (bath, bottle, bed) as early as around 8 weeks, even though she may not have been sleeping through the night yet. Naps she still doesnt have them scheduled. She takes them when she wants. She is 7 months.