Showing posts with label newborns. Show all posts

Surviving the Fourth Trimester

How to Survive the Fourth Trimester. How to make it through those newborn months and thrive as a mom, recover from birth, and enjoy your new baby.

The fourth trimester refers to the first 3 months postpartum. During this time, baby is adjusting to life outside the womb, and mom, dad, and big siblings are adjusting to baby being added to the family. And newborns grow and change so much during this time! They are ever changing, which means mom and dad are kept on their toes. Following my fourth trimester rules will help you cope with all the change!

My two rules for the fourth trimester:

Go slow
Take care of yourself and your baby

Here are some ways I abide by those two rules:

The Best Products to Help Your Baby Sleep

The Best Products to Help Your Baby Sleep. Get great naps and have baby sleep through the night.

Having the right tools can help you get a job done easier. This is as true with getting baby to sleep as it is to fix a flat tire. Obviously a baby is not a tire, so using the tools correctly won't guarantee all sleep goes perfectly. Baby is a human and might respond in unpredictable ways, but these products have proven over and over to be helpful to get baby to sleep.

If you want a chance to win ALL of these products in one prize pack, head right over to my Instagram to enter to win! This is an amazing prize pack. The ladies of the BFBN and I teamed up to bring you this amazing prize pack. Collectively, we decided what our favorite items were for helping baby get great sleep. Here they are. This post contains affiliate links.

On Becoming Babywise

We must start with the obvious--On Becoming Babywise! This is my favorite book to get baby sleeping well.

Muslin Swaddle Blankets

Muslin swaddle blankets are great for swaddling the younger babies. It can also be great for wrapping your baby up when you are out and about.

Swaddle Blanket

A swaddle blanket is a great way to help baby sleep well. I love swaddling babies. The Woombie is great because it is convertible and breathable. Read my post on Swaddling for more.

White Noise Machine

A white noise machine is invaluable for getting baby to be able to sleep without being interrupted by random noises. There are a lot of great white noise machines out there. The Homedics is one and the Dohm is another great one. Read all about sleep props here.

Travel Sound Machine

If a sound machine at homes makes sense, then so does one on the go. This can be helpful in the car seat or stroller.

Gripe Water

This is one of my favorite products to help baby sleep well. I used it with my last two babies and it made a world of difference for both of them. Read all about how to help a baby with gas pain here.

Gas Drops

Gas drops are just as helpful as gripe water to help baby sleep if your baby is gassy. Only two of my babies were gassy and needed this, but it was necessary for those two.

Car Seat Canopy

A car seat canopy is a great item to have to help baby sleep on the go. Babies sleep so much that there will be times your baby is out and about during nap time. This helps block out the physical stimulation to give baby a better chance at sleeping on the go. Add in the travel sound machine and you have a winner!

Pacifier

A pacifier can come in handy when you are trying to hold baby off for a feeding or get baby to sleep while out and about. Some people use pacifiers for sleep regularly. Read all about sleep props here.

Baby Sleepers

These are handy just in general but also helpful for sleep to keep baby cozy for sleeping. Read how I recommend to dress baby for sleep.

What You Should Pack in Your Hospital Bag for Delivering a Baby

I was ready. When I research something, I don't turn to one source only. Oh no. I was taught better than that. You need multiple sources to verify your point, and that standard that was drilled in my head over and over again in college has carried on and into my every day life.

My hospital packing list was no different.

I wasn't going to read one person's list and leave it at that.

Nope. I would look at many. I would find out what was common. I would carefully consider things that only made it to one list. I would read books. I would be as prepared as possible, because that is how I roll and there was no way I was rolling into labor with a nagging "what if I forgot something" in the back of my head.

What You Should Pack in Your Hospital Bag for Delivering a Baby

I was over-prepared, and that was okay. I prefer that to the opposite.

But I amended my list over the years and through my deliveries. I want to be prepared, but there is no reason to pack things I would never use just to have to unpack them when I got home. Simplify.

And with any good list comes some caveats.

There are some things that will depend.

Brayden and Kaitlyn both had short labors. I didn't need anything "to do" with me because I didn't have time for it.

McKenna's was twice as long, and we would have liked some things we had packed with Brayden but since banished from our list. Now, this was waaaayyy back in the day before we carried around computers in our pockets, so "entertainment" probably doesn't even need to be packed like it was then. Never-the-less, the takeaway is that your perfect list will vary based on how long your labor is. And unless you have having a planed cesarean, you don't have much way of knowing how long you will be in that hospital room before the baby arrives.

Another important point is that your list will vary based on what your hospital offers. What my hospital automatically provides won't necessarily be true of your hospital. So ask around, crowd-source, with people who have recently delivered at your hospital.

On to the list!

KEEPING A СLЕАN HОUЅЕ WITH A NЕW BABY {Guest Post}

by Margaret Latham

Hаvіng a nеw bаbу means mоѕt (if not аll) уоur time аnd аttеntіоn goes tо hіm/hеr. Thuѕ, your hоuѕе mау fall іntо a ѕtаtе of mild dіѕаrrау. Aftеr a while, you'll ѕtаrt wоndеrіng іf you wіll еvеr get уоur hоuѕе cleaned uр аgаіn. Frеt not; it іѕ possible tо kеер уоur hоmе ѕріс аnd span еvеn wіth a nеw bаbу. Simply fоllоw the ѕtерѕ below to gеt уоur сlеаn house back.

How to keep your house clean when you have a newborn

Use Quісk Clеаn-Uр Tооlѕ

Static or lambs' wool duѕtеr - fоr ԛuісk duѕt uрѕ of surfaces and nooks аnd crannies оf уоur home.
Flооr sweepers - (ѕuсh аѕ thоѕе used in rеѕtаurаntѕ) are ideal for ԛuісk-сlеаnuрѕ. They hаvе dіrt саtсhеrѕ that еlіmіnаtе the nееd to uѕе a brооm аnd duѕtраn.
Erаѕеr Pаdѕ - are реrfесt for ѕроt сlеаnіng. Yоu саn use tо wipe furniture scuff marks on wаllѕ, clean аrоund dооr knоbѕ аnd wіре dоwn bаthrооm fixtures, ѕtоvеѕ аnd rеfrіgеrаtоrѕ.
Disinfectant wipes - use саn use this tо quickly clean vіrtuаllу any ѕurfасе while gеttіng rid оf dіѕеаѕе-саuѕіng gеrmѕ and dіѕіnfесtіng. It еlіmіnаtеѕ thе nееd tо use sponges and сlеаnѕеrѕ. Go fоr nаturаl household cleaning рrоduсtѕ. It соntаіnѕ рlаntbased Cleaning аgеntѕ (coconut, раlm kernel, corn аnd sugar bаѕеd ѕurfасtаntѕ), ѕоу ester (ѕоу bаѕеd), fіltеrеd water, wаtеr conditioning аgеnt, рrеѕеrvаtіvе (less thаn 0.05%). It іѕ tоugh оn dіrt but safe аrоund babies.

Use a Baby Cаrrіеr

Whеn thеrе are chores to dо, mаkе use of your bаbу саrrіеr оr bаbу sling and gеt in some cuddle tіmе whіlе pulling оff ѕоmе lіght hоuѕеwоrk. Juѕt be sure tо аvоіd ѕрrауіng chemicals аrоund your nеwbоrn аnd engaging іn аnу mоvеmеntѕ that wіll рut уоur lіttlе оnе in harm's wау. It'ѕ аlѕо a gооd trісk whеn getting a bаbу tо ѕlеер іѕ challenging, tоо!

Wоrk Smart, Nоt Hаrd

Use уоur tіmе wisely. Inѕtеаd of сlеаnіng аll dау lоng, designate a bаѕkеt tо рut everything іn its proper рlасе аt thе еnd оf the day. And, leave sweeping оr mорріng untіl thе end оf thе dау, ѕо you wоn't hаvе tо dо thіѕ сhоrе mоrе thаn оnсе.

Lоwеr Your Expectations

Dоn’t еxресt your hоuѕе tо bе ѕроtlеѕѕlу сlеаn аnd tidy аll thе time.

It’s оkау to hаvе ѕоmе clutter here and thеrе. Later оn. Yоu will have mоrе time to tасklе thаt.

It'ѕ оkау tо buу fооd outside when you dоn’t hаvе more еnеrgу to cook your uѕuаl full оf lоvе hоmеmаdе food.

And іt’ѕ perfectly fine tо hаvе wrіnklеѕ оn your hubbу’ѕ сlоthеѕ. Nо оnе wіll nоtісе thаt. Sо don’t ѕреnd a lоt of tіmе іrоnіng еvеrу ѕіnglе сlоthеѕ thаt уоu hаvе washed. Thаt’ѕ nоt nесеѕѕаrу.

I knоw уоu аlwауѕ аіm fоr реrfесtіоn... mауbе nоt іn аll аѕресtѕ оf hоuѕеwоrk. Sоmе оf you mауbе cleaning-freak. Some mау be a hеаlthу fооd ambassador. Sоmе mау bе mіѕѕ tidy.

Hіrе Hеlр — Yоu'vе Earned It

For nеw moms whо аrеn't comfortable ассерtіng help from frіеndѕ аnd fаmіlу, consider hіrіng hеlр. Paying a сlеаnіng ѕеrvісе tо take саrе оf hоuѕеhоld chores wіll lеt уоu focus оn bоndіng with уоur nеwbоrn wіthоut the guіlt оf letting frіеndѕ and family ріtсh in whеn thеrе аrе chores to dо.

Whеn уоur bun іn thе оvеn makes hіѕ арреаrаnсе, ассерtіng thаt your priorities will bе reorganized will help сut dоwn оn stress when wоrrуіng about hоw to gеt housework dоnе wіth a nеwbоrn bаbу. Sо, сuddlе uр wіth уоur nеwbоrn, tаkе a dеер breath аnd knоw that thе hоuѕеwоrk wіll get done — eventually.

Lastly еnlіѕt the help оf уоur раrtnеr оr ѕроuѕе, especially when уоu feel оvеrwhеlmеd wіth сlеаnіng thе house and саrіng fоr your new bаbу аt the same tіmе. Yоur partner оr ѕроuѕе саn hеlр оut after he gets home frоm wоrk аnd on wееkеndѕ. Accept hеlр оffеrеd by уоur rеlаtіvеѕ or friends.

Delegate/Minimize Chores:

Uѕе dіѕроѕаblе рlаtеѕ and сutlеrіеѕ fоr the fіrѕt fеw wееkѕ wіth уоur newborn (you’ll ѕаvе tоnѕ оf time from washing dirty dіѕhеѕ. Oh уеѕ, this іѕ a rеаl tip frоm a mоm оf twin).
Invеѕt in a rоbоt vасuum to сlеаn thе flооr. If уоu are nоt соmfоrtаblе аѕkіng реорlе’ѕ hеlр to come оvеr and сlеаn, perhaps a rоbоt vасuum fіtѕ уоur nееd. Althоugh thіѕ won’t guarantee your hоuѕе frее оf сluttеr, it may hеlр as іt саn bе рrоgrаmmеd tо vасuum уоur flооr daily.
Rаthеr thаn cooking every ѕіnglе dау, mаkе a big batch of meals and freeze ѕоmе оf them fоr lаtеr uѕе.

Mоrе Tірѕ…

Pеrfоrm vаrіоuѕ household chores in short сhunkѕ оf time. You nеvеr know whеn уоur bаbу wіll сrу, wake up, nееd a dіареr сhаngе оr a feeding, so trу tо dо house сlеаnіng tаѕkѕ ԛuісklу іn brіеf реrіоdѕ оf tіmе. Yоu will bе ѕurрrіѕеd by hоw much you саn ассоmрlіѕh wіth 10 tо 15 mіnutеѕ оf frее time. For іnѕtаnсе, уоu саn ѕtаrt a lоаd оf laundry, fоld сlеаn сlоthеѕ, wіре dоwn furnіturе, аррlіаnсеѕ оr fixtures (оnе rооm at a time) оr рut thе dishes іn thе dіѕhwаѕhеr.

If whіtе noise ѕооthеѕ уоur bаbу or lulls him/her tо sleep, you аrе іn luсk. Dо thе vасuumіng bеfоrе уоur baby's naptime. Thіѕ wау, уоu саn help рut уоur bаbу to sleep while kееріng your hоuѕе сlеаn.

Dо оthеr hоuѕе сlеаnіng chores whеn уоur сhіld іѕ tаkіng a nар during the day оr whеn hе/ѕhе іѕ аѕlеер fоr the nіght. Yоu will fіnd that іt іѕ еаѕіеr fоr you tо perform сеrtаіn асtіvіtіеѕ whіlе уоu are not саrrуіng уоur little оnе.

Follow Margaret on Twitter here @Mommy_Margaret

5 Things to Know With a Newborn

Congratulations on your new little baby! Whether you are expecting or recently welcomed your new baby to your home, you probably have some questions about what to expect with a newborn.

Being a new mom is quite overwhelming. Trying to implement Babywise while also trying to figure out how to be a mother presents the parent with a myriad of newness that can lead to the mother to fail to recognize key principles to abide until months have gone by. I know I did it! We can get bogged down in rules and fail to recognize the "why" behind what the rules are. We can miss simple steps that can make life easier for us and our child. In an effort to help new moms avoid missing some key principles, I have created this list of important things for you to know now, before you go any further in your parenting journey.

1-Know the Big Picture

Know what it is you are working toward. What are your goals? What are the goals of Babywise? What can you expect over time? Knowing these things helps you to be willing to be consistent and also allows you to have the courage it can take to be flexible. It helps you through the monotony of it all and can bolster you through the hard times. Part of why a second, third, etc. child can be easier is that moms know that the efforts are worth it, that they pay off, and that stages don't last forever. For your first child, you have to live on faith that those things are all worth it.

Knowing the big picture also helps you to step back and say, "Hey, my baby is supposed to be doing xyz now and is not. What could be the cause?" It can help you to catch problems before they are huge. This is as true of sleeping and eating milestones as it is of gross motor and speech milestones. Early intervention is a powerful thing.

I have some posts to help you in knowing the big picture. They are:

2-Know the Sleep Hierarchy

The sleep hierarchy is something I created in an effort to help prevent parents from driving themselves to the point of insanity during those early months. There are always so many questions of, "Can I pick the baby up if she won't fall asleep? Will it ruin her? Will it ruin all of our effort so far?" Know this hierarchy. Recognize the consistency it encourages as well as the flexibility it allows.

My Sleep Hierarchy For Newborns

3-Know How to Calculate and Evaluate Waketime Length

Understanding waketime length is one of the most powerful tools you can give yourself as a parent. Know what the baseline is for about how long a baby your child's age should be awake. Know the cues to watch for to know when baby is tired. Know the signs for overstimulation--avoid this from happening. Also, know how to keep your baby awake. It can be hard to keep most newborns awake! Understand that waketime length is important enough that it leads to the sleep hierarchy. An overly tired baby will not sleep well and will not eat well and will lead you down a frustrating spiral of no success.

Also know that you are human, you are doing this for the first time, and you will make some mistakes as you figure this out. I made mistakes the fourth time around and believe me, I know this stuff inside and out. You don't write about it, answer questions about it, and apply it for 12 years and not be able to explain it while half asleep. I still made mistakes. You will, too. Guess what? It will be okay. Babies are quite resilient. Give yourself grace, learn from the mistake, and move forward.

4-Know How You Want to Sleep Train

A principle of Babywise is that baby will fall asleep without sleep props. The path you take to get to that goal is not important, however. There are many ways to reach this goal. Know what you are comfortable with and what you will be willing to see through to the end. Follow that path.

5-Know How To Feed Your Baby

There are important things to know when it comes to feeding your baby. Not all of them are inherent. One key thing to know is that you need to keep baby awake and engaged while eating. A baby who naps during a feeding will have a harder time sleeping at nap time (think of yourself if you take a nap at the wrong time--how does that impact your night sleep?). You also want to make sure that you accept and address growth spurts. Growth spurts are normal and are part of a baby's growth--a HUGE part. They are not signs that anything will go wrong. A growth spurt isn't something you fix. It is something you whether, and your baby will go back to "normal" once the growth spurt is over.

These five things to know can help you to have success with your newborn. Keep them in mind and you will fare well!

Other Helpful Posts:

Sample Babywise Schedules: The Second Month

Sample schedules are always popular and helpful for parents implementing a schedule for their newborn. These are sample Babywise schedules for your 1 month old baby--the second month of life. This post contains affiliate links.

12 Sample Babywise schedules for a 1 month old that were actually used by Babywise moms.

As you enter the second month of life with your Babywise baby, you will be focused on adding more of a schedule. The days of ignoring the clock are over. Time to focus on having some consistency and getting baby to be more awake during the day. Do not be mistaken; babies this age will still have very, very short awake times, but they should be able to stay up a little longer than they did last month.

Before you go further, please be sure you have read My Sleep Hierarchy For Newborns. You need to know what your primary and secondary goals should be for a newborn so you keep priorities straight. It will make your newborn life much less frustrating! Also, if you are working on sleep training, you must read my post Sleep Training: The Four S's.

Month Overview

During this second month, aim for the following:

8-10 feedings per 24 hour period.
Feedings should be 2.5-3.5 hours apart typically (but always Feed Baby When Hungry, even if that is early). The time intervals can vary. For example, your first interval can be 3 hours and your second interval 2.5 hours.
6-8 naps per day. The last nap might be very short (30-45 minutes long).
Naps are 1.5-2.5 hours long.
The first Growth Spurt happens around 3-4 weeks old. Expect baby to eat more often during this time.
Start simple Independent Playtime at 5 weeks old.
Baby can be allowed to sleep longer stretches at night around 6 weeks old. 7-8 hours is okay.
Baby might start sleeping 7-8 hours at 7 weeks old. Many babies do not do this until older, though.

For a full year overview, see this post: Your Babywise Baby: First Year Overview.

Sample Schedules

Here are our schedules we used as a one month old:

Schedule 1

Around four weeks, the schedule I had created for Kaitlyn started to change. She had different plans :). At four weeks, we were still working on waketimes, but had all but one or two down.

7:30--nurse
8:30--nap
10:00--nurse
11:00--nap
1:00--nurse
2:00--nap
4:00--nurse
5:00--nap
6:30--nurse
7:30--nap
8:30--nurse then bed

She continued with the two night nursings. This schedule continued for a while. Some days, the 10 AM nursing would be 10:30. Also, some days the 4 PM nursing would be 3:30. Around 8 weeks, she dropped one night nursing. Around 9 weeks, I tried to force a dreamfeed at 10:30, but she would not wake up.

Schedule 2

For McKenna, her schedule stayed pretty much the same. I had noticed by then that McKenna didn't eat well if it was sooner than 3 hours:

7:45--nurse
10:30--nurse
1:30--nurse
4:30--nurse
7:00--nurse
10:00--nurse

I still woke her twice in the night.

Schedule 3

6 Weeks
Kaitlyn's schedule stayed pretty much the same. Here is McKenna's six week schedule:

7:15-7:45--nurse. I changed our 30 minute window to this.
10:30--nurse
1:30--nurse
4:30--nurse
7:00--nurse
10:00--nurse

She woke twice in the night for the first half of 6 weeks old, then went down to once a night.

Schedule 4

This is our daily schedule that we shoot for.

4 weeks old

7:30--feed

8:20--nap

10:30--feed

11:20--nap

1:30--feed

2:20--nap

4:30--feed

5:20--nap

7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime

10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed(s). Typically, this happens between 2-3 AM and then she wakes close to 7-7:30 AM. Sometimes she wakes as early as 1:30 AM. Sometimes, she will wake another time at 6:00 AM. When this happens, I try to do the one side feeding and then get her up at 7:30, but if she wants two sides, we just do two and I let her go a little more than three hours for her feeds during the day so she can be on normal schedule.

Schedule 5

5 weeks old

This is our daily schedule that we shoot for. Our first feeding varies the most. It typically ranges between 6:30 and 7:30 AM.

7:30--feed

8:20--nap

10:30--feed

11:20--nap

1:30--feed

2:20--nap

4:30--feed

5:20--nap

7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime

10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed(s). Typically, this happens between 2:30-3:30 AM.

Schedule 6

6 weeks old

This is our daily schedule that we shoot for. Our first feeding varies the most. It typically ranges between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. She is now old enough to do 2.5 to 3.5 hour intervals between feedings, so if she is sleeping when the time comes up, I let her go up to 30 minutes longer. She will eat better if she wakes on her own, and if not, those extra thirty minutes can often be enough to get her interested in eating.

7:30--feed

8:20--nap

10:30--feed

11:20--nap

1:30--feed

2:20--nap

4:30--feed

5:20--nap

7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime

10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed(s). Typically, this happens between 2:30-3:30 AM.

Schedule 7

7 weeks old

7:30--feed

8:20--nap

10:30-11:00--feed

11:20--nap

1:30-2:00--feed

2:20--nap

4:30-5:00--feed

5:20--nap

7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime

10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed(s). Typically, this happens between 2:30-3:30 AM.

Below are some sample schedules from readers:

Schedule 1

8am - wake up & eat (4 oz)
10:30 - bottle
11:30/12 - nap, if I can get him to go down
1:30 - bottle
2:30 - nap
4:30 - bottle
7:30 - bottle
9 - bottle, then in bed by 10
3 AM- wakes up and eats 6 oz. This isn't "scheduled," but he is waking up at the same time every night for this last bottle.

We're still working on our schedule. Especially naps. Sometimes he just won't go down, and CIO isn't an option.

Schedule 2

7:30 am - eat
8:30 am - nap
10:30 am - eat
11:30 am - nap
1:30 pm - eat
2:30 pm - nap
4:30 pm - eat
5:30 pm - will take a catnap usually wakes up a little fussy - will usually have to hold - may feed early
6:45 to 7:30 pm - eat
Bed by 8 (if eats at 7:30pm)
10pm - Dreamfeed
wakes at 5am for "night" feed - start day at 7

Schedule 3

7:00am – eat
8:00am – nap
10:10am – eat
11:10am – nap
1:20pm – eat
2:30pm – nap
4:30pm – eat
5:40pm – nap
7:00pm – eat, bed
10:00pm – dreamfeed
(MOTN feeding ~4am?)

Schedule 4

7:00 wake & nurse
8:00 nap
9:45 wake & nurse
10:40 nap
12:45 wake & nurse
1:40 nap
4:00 wake & nurse
5:10 nap
7:00 wake & nurse
7:45/8 bedtime
10:00 dream feed
Then usually wakes around 3:00am to eat.

Schedule 5

6:00 Wake/nurse/diaper change/wake time
7:00 Nap
9:00 Nurse/diaper change/wake time
10:00 Nap
11:30 Nurse/diaper change/wake time
12:30 Nap
2:00 Nurse/diaper change/wake time
3:00 Nap
4:30 Nurse/diaper change/wake time
5:30 Nap
7:00 Nurse/diaper change/bedtime routine
8:00 Down for bed
10:00 Dreamfeed/diaper change
Middle of the night - will usually wake up at 2-3:30am

Total wake times 50-75 minutes per cycle. We put her down for a nap when she starts to show signs of being tired (yawning, not engaging with us or toys, bringing hands to month/eyes).

Helpful Posts:

Sample Babywise Schedules for the first month

Babywise Sample Schedules: The First Month

Inside: Sample Babywise Schedules for your baby's first month. Newborn Babywise schedules to help you get baby sleeping and eating well. Starting early creates a great routine for your newborn.

The first month of baby's life is the least scheduled overall in your Babywise journey. You "take the clock and turn it around" as the book says. In other words, you don't worry so much about times as you do getting the whole family more acclimated to life with a new baby. There will never be a return to "normal." There is a finding of a new normal. Here are some sample schedules from the first month of life. These are from me and you blog readers. Please feel free to add your own schedules in the comments.

You want to just enjoy those early days or weeks with your baby, but you don't want to enjoy them so long that your baby has a hard time adapting to a routine later on. Oh when oh when should you start to worry about the newborn schedule/routine? Do you start to implement things right away, or do you wait before you worry about it? And if you wait, how long do you wait? How do you know when it is time to start a routine?

Parents often worry about these questions--even parents who are not having their first baby. We want to get it right, but we don't want to over-stress. We want to enjoy our newborn baby time, but we don't want to encourage bad habits that will make life hard for baby down the road.

This is the topic of our most recent poll. Here are the results.

What age did you start to implement a routine/schedule with your newborn?
At birth: 12
4 Weeks: 3
Was this a good age, or do you think you went too early or too late?
Good Age: 13
Too Early:
Too Late: 2
What drove you to start the routine/schedule at this age?
Heard that age was good from others: 1
It was natural: 5
We had twins: 4
Worried about starting too early: 1
Wanted to improve on previous experience: 1
Perfect age with previous babies: 2
What did you early days of implementing routine/schedule look like?
Amy said: "The early days, babies are so sleepy anyway, so the key was watching for sleepy signs and really getting her to sleep on time, as well as not killing yourself over sometimes when it didn't go perfectly."

Scott and Whitney said: "I would nurse baby when she woke up. There was no set schedule but within a couple of weeks they were easily eating every 2.5 to 3 hours around the clock. After feeding I would change diaper and try to have some wake time (although in the beginning they were usually ready for bed after the diaper change). I would do a simple bedtime routine...swaddle, song, prayer and then lay down. If they woke "early' (within 2 hours of previous feeding) I would attempt to get them back to sleep either by rubbing their forehead, or holding them."

Kate said: "We ate A LOT. I kept thinking that it was going to be nice when they started eating every 3 hours instead of every 2 hours. It also took a while to get the hang of breastfeeding so eating took a long time. I'd say at about 8 weeks old, feeding became easier and faster."

Jessie said: "Mostly just nursing every 3 hours during the day and putting down to sleep when drowsy. I let all three children sleep as long as they like overnight."

PESTAG said: "waking to feed, diaper change,nap, and do it all over again. There's not much waketime at the beginning, and it's not very exciting. We had to wake to feed at night up to 6 weeks which isn't the case for most people. "
How did following a routine/schedule evolve over the newborn weeks?
We got better at following baby: 1
It got more consistent: 6
It got easier: 4
Actually had real wake times: 3
Would you do it differently next time?
Yes: 2
No: 11
Some Tweaks: 2
Any words of advice?

Amy said: "Really watch the child, work together to get the routine started. Also, the husband needs to be on board. That way, if things go awry, you can encourage each other rationally, move on together and keep getting better at managing LO's sleep."

Scott and Whitney said: Start as you mean to go on. Try not to create habits you will later have to break. But also be flexible and enjoy your baby. My 3rd and (most likely) final baby is a perfect babywise baby but she was also held a ton. There were always a couple of times during the day in the very beginning where she did not sleep well on her own. It worked out the older ones were usually sleeping so I would hold her and enjoy the sweet newborn snuggles. I knew she would eventually outgrow the phase and she did.

Kate said: "Now my girls are 15 months old and they tell me when it's time to eat/sleep/play. I'm so grateful I helped them benefit from the structure that comes with the schedule! They are happy and well adjusted!"

Jessie said: "As you grow out of the newborn stage, don't stress so much about getting "perfect" naps. Yes, it's nice, but just take it one day at a time."

PESTAG said: "Just do your best. Keep to an EWS and work on naps, but if they don't work out, it's ok. Talk to the doctor if you're concerned, even if it's "silly". They get paid for it. Keep the environment low key. Overstimulation is so easy for babies."

Surviving the Fourth Trimester

The Best Products to Help Your Baby Sleep

Related Baby Sleep Posts:

What You Should Pack in Your Hospital Bag for Delivering a Baby

KEEPING A СLЕАN HОUЅЕ WITH A NЕW BABY {Guest Post}

5 Things to Know With a Newborn

When Sleep Props Are Okay (And When to Avoid Them)

Sample Babywise Schedules: The Second Month

Babywise Sample Schedules: The First Month

Starting a Newborn Schedule/Routine {Poll Results}

My Latest Videos

Popular Posts

Blog Archive