I feel bad though, like maybe i’m starving her. It’s a vicious cycle that we can’t figure out how to stop. Michelle, unfortunately reflux is one of those things that make it difficult for little ones to get comfortable :(. (try and wake them to get more awake time or just start their nap time early? With help and encouragement drawn from your writing, I have made some incredible changes in the order (and sanity) of our home, in just the past few weeks. What are your thoughts as to why they only seem to stir around from 12 to 4 every night? Did you have this trouble with any of your little ones, or do you have any other advice? Do things that you love most and normally wouldn’t be able to do with the baby… If you notice she’s up every 2 hours to feed, say, then try to increase them back. He naps about 4 times a day. Like, do you feed them laying down and think that could contribute to gas? It’s such a mission.. Where do I start with getting him on a better routine & schedule? Also the naps seem so sporadic, one day he will do great the next I spend hours trying to get him to nap. So, for example, if I start feeding her at 7am but she doesn’t go down for a nap until 8:45ish after nursing off and on until 8:30, is it wise to wake her again at 10am? Im trying zo keep him awake to drink longer but he really shuts his mouth close ? How do you swaddle a newborn safely at night when it’s hot in the summer? How to find a good rhythm, routine, or schedule: Determine the average time between feeds. Yes I’m Nursing and that makes sense about less milk in the evening. 30 on first side, 10-20 on second. Also, during one of the afternoon naps I allow home to sleep on me so I can snuggle him, is this a bad habit to get into? Even 45 minutes and another 45 minute one soon-ish after is great. 2. You can take these printables and hang them in your nursery, on the fridge, or keep them in your planner. Any tips on surviving that without jeopardizing my little boy becoming a stellar sleeper? Babies are born with instincts to know when they need to feed. We are trying to wait 3-4 hours between feeds but with his small amount of sleep its a long wait! For example, you may feed her at relatively stable times, and even if you’re out at a playdate, you can do that too. I am honestly blown away. And I always think that too when people say I lucked out, I think, “you don’t luck out 4 times in a row.” Ha! Read: Want an Easy Baby? Even when she is awake and I put her down for a second, she cries. Being a first time mom, im so relieved that ive found your blog! I have a two and half week old daughter and we are trying to get into a better routine. Samantha, so is he only wanting to feed for a few minutes because he’s distracted or falling asleep? Stumbled on this article while casting around the net for routines that were useful but not overly prescriptive. I don’t really want to unswaddle her as I don’t want her to actually full on wake up. Hi Rachel, My baby was very much on this kind of schedule for the first 3 weeks of his life: feeding every 3 hours, with 1 hour for feed/diaper/play, then we put in his crib and he slept like a champ. I now have newborn twin girls who were born at 34 weeks. I then stuck to shorter awake times more closely and baby pretty much followed the routine you suggested on her own, will a little guidance from me. I do keep her elevated an burped after feedings. If the kids brought homework, Becky from Your Modern Family dedicates 20 minutes to help the kids with homework. ), but putting her down waayyyyyyy more often than I was and already she does seem to be staying down a bit easier and isn’t fighting it quite as much. He struggles more to feed if nappy is dirty or wet and it is dirty or wet quite a lot and feel bad lifting his legs etc when he has a full belly. OH and a best friend of mine is moving to Hungary in a few months :). 6.30 pm – Bath Time. How do you keep your babies awake? I then have to encourage another feed 30 minutes later in order to ensure baby gets full nap or else he wakes up and I have to go and feed in order to get him to complete his nap (although I wake him a little to know He is going back to bed) Is this a bad idea? My two week old daughter seems to sleep well. Hello- first time mom here and our little one has reflux and terrible painful gas. And I bet you guys are so excited :). I’ve been trying to follow your schedule and I am wondering what I should do if he won’t nap the full time. i swaddle after every feed before nap and try white noise and lullabies.. so many things to get him to nap again to no avail. It takes such a long time that I don’t understand how this schedule works. Hi Rachel, If so, did it take them a couple weeks to start to do this? Just mainly lots of kissing, hugging and staring at each other. I have a 4 week old and we are just starting to try having a flexible schedule. Put them in their crib awake and let him settle himself down until he sleeps or hold him until he starts to doze off? I am trying to follow this but the problem I keep running into is that my little guy won’t go back down to sleep so quickly – after the feed, change and play he’s so awake that he won’t go back down for a nap. I had no idea what I was doing and couldn’t get her to sleep in her crib until I found your blog. He may be like “Okay, I sit here for 5 minutes and then fuss a bit then MAMA COMES!” :) These sweet babies. Any suggestions for keeping her sleepy at nighttime feeds but awake enough to actually eat a full feed? Mornings and afternoons she sleeps well and can sometimes be put down to sleep. I’ve been told don’t bother with a schedule, but I need structure. Even catnaps are okay for little bitty ones. I’ve created a free email series just for you! I can’t wait to dig into my download materials and start learning from your tips. Geeezzz, it was like you were inside my brain today! It’s usually a combination of shusshing/patting, picking up and cuddling that will eventually calm him and then he might take the paci and eventually fall asleep. It’s a pain at first but it’s SO WORTH IT when they take that long stretch of sleep while yu are sleeping too. So happy I found your blog! I would offer a dream feed and then go to bed and sleep until they woke me up for a feed. So for your newborn, that first nap (probably not more than 1 or 1.5 hours after he wakes up) is the most important. Love this post! Would you feed them right before and hope for a car nap and then transition or wake them and feed when you’re home? Even if I did do that, then once she is up and feeding well it would be hard to swaddle her again after the feed without her being jostled awake again. But he just seem to love his play time. Leah, I’m telling you my 5th has a witching hour too :) From around 7 or 8 until around 930 or 10. I kid you not when I say they will wake within minutes of the normal feeding time. I honestly don’t know what to do. In the few short days that I have been exercising this method I truly have noticed a change for the better in his response to me. Only a dream feed around 10-11? I find they nap better if they are away from the hustle and bustle. Kenya, I love this question. I have a 6 week old and I’m starting to put him on a routine. Also, you mention in various places to never rock or feed a baby to sleep but then I don’t know how that would work in the middle of the night?! All four of mine were (and one still is) so sleepy they would either sleep until woken up, or awake at almost the exact time I normally feed them. Thank you so much!!! Most Important Factors When Creating a Stay at Home Mom Schedule. I wish I would have discovered it with my first child. I’ve always been wondering how others do it. Do you suggest they are kept away for nap time like in a dark room with white noise? So if we have a few minutes off here and there then I just keep the normal one if I can :). I am generally following your routine- awake no longer then 1.5hrs, sleep during the day no longer then 2 hours, for him formula bottle feeds every 2-3hrs. The other they’ll be a tad fussy for a few minutes then drop off to sleep if well fed. As a single mom coping with a newborn and a toddler alone it can be like running a marathon every day. I now have a 4 week old and am starting your newborn schedule. He’s tired and yawning when I put him down and if I wait longer he’s even harder to put down. Leslie, of course you should go in when you feel you have to, but I wonder if you should really try and let him try and get to sleep on his own. Hair-raising because babies often fight bedtime if we aren’t careful. Very informative post and I apologize if you’ve already addressed this but my son is 6 weeks old as of yesterday. I’m a first time mom to a 15 day old baby girl. It looks like the baby is fed at 6P, but then not again until the dream swaddled feed at 10:30-11? Hi, first time new mama here. Baby Is Still a Stranger. Also, should I change the diaper before the dream feed? Hi Rachel, amazing site thank you. Nah! What do you do with infants who wake up frequently? Any thoughts? I can’t find any good replies on these type questions on here though… since I didn’t find this information until after what rachel calls the sweet spot, when newborns have a drive to sleep, I am unsure what to do. i have to almost force the bottle and he will cry and not eat so I dont force him. How long do you let the baby cry it out before it becomes too long or before you go in there and comfort them? We are on reflux medicine and are trying things to help with her tummy troubles, but we are really struggling. My question with your schedule is what to do since he wants to eat more often than going 3 hours for the day during feedings (and at 6 weeks, is eating every two hours too often?? She’s slept in four places and traveled an entire day on airplanes. She needs to be asleep before she’ll sleep in her cot for naps. I love your blog it’s so simple and clear. If you put the baby down swaddled and in her bed for all daytime naps, when can we fit in skin to skin and cuddle time? And my baby is about to turn 21 years old so I’m starting all over again. Sometimes it takes 10 or 15 minutes as they learn to get to sleep themselves. Anyways, I have a question about the dream feed. The book comes with printable routines (3 choices for each age) that you can hang up and use! Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. I have a 5 week old and I’m trying different routines with her right now and have a difficult time understanding this sample schedule. We’ve been loosely following this schedule for about a week now and it has been so helpful! My daughter is almost 5 weeks old. He ends up just sleeping in my arms so that he will get some good rest. So, now we just swaddle her body and leave out her “cactus arms.” Have you seen other moms/babies still have swaddling success by leaving the arms free? Go to bed at a reasonable time, at least one (but preferably two) hours before midnight. =) Some days go pretty well, but others just don’t. Your sample newborn schedule might look different, then be tweaked to work for you. On the schedule it says after a nap you Feed, Change Diaper, then Play, then baby goes back down for another nap. Any tips to help? Thank you! I just wanted to thank you for your sample routine. What happened? Hi! Am I doing something wrong? I would, however, make sure that you’re not moving routine all around all the time. Also if he’s in his crib with the lights low and he is “resting” I still think that’s better than being out and about being overstimulated. 4pm, 6pm 8pm then 10:30 or whenever. Or a daily schedule for stay at home moms? Hi Rachel, I have tried to put my 6 week old on a schedule for 2 weeks now she sleeps 4-5 hour stretches through the night as she has always done but the daytime naps are so hard!! I am not sure if it’s bc of a growth spurt or what. Or should I just end the nap since she is crying? So this schedule doesn’t seem to build in any time to do anything outside the house…any suggestions for doing that? I tumbled into post partum depression/anxiety and didn’t know what to do anymore. I do t want to make this a habit. Should we be creating a naptime routine? I just want to make sure I’m understanding this correctly. Loosely following this with my one week old but what about when they want to eat more frequently? HI Lindsey, yes I usually would cluster feed during that time. Our days look a little like this but struggling in the evenings especially with a four year old too! He has some type of reflux, though, could that be your issue? We swaddle him up and rock until he’s drowsy, but he wakes back up as soon as we lay him down or very shortly after. I hope to train my little one to be a great sleeper. Your email address will not be published. He hates being swaddled with arms in and it doesn’t seem like he’s tired enough to go back down for a nap within 40 min of being woke up prior. Thank youuuuu would really appreciate your insight. i put him down in his nursery within one hour, with white noise and paci and he will only sleep about 30 mins before he starts crying, i assume he is overtired. Video Transcript. Your website has been my saving grace in the slew of information I have read and researched online. I only say that because often we have less milk then at the later evening and she could be fussy cause she’s getting no milk then you’re stresed so you’re making no milk then she’s upset and you are and on and on. 6.00 pm – Homework/Reading. How can I get this down to one time a night? Yes! If you struggle with creating an easy flowing routine or rhythm in your home… this is it. He’ll only sleep when held and if she leaves him to sort of cry it out he’ll just scream and cry and never sleep. My little guy is 8.5 weeks old and goes down pretty well around 8pm after a good routine but wakes up almost every 3 hours like clock work during the night. Anyways I started following your routine and we just sat in bed and had what I told him was “quiet time.” We sat and read and made a fort and had warm milk. We protected his sleep, didn’t let people wake him up to see him, etc. Which helps reinforce what you said- the problem wasn’t me; I stumbled upon your blog one morning after praying night after night for God to fix my home! So I leave his arms out completely. Sorry, just got to this comment, but I’ll usually just hold them upright against me so that it’ll hopefully help settle them! Thank you so much! How long did it take them to adjust to the routine? I’m so scared she won’t go back down if I interrupt her nap. i am so glad i’ve found your blog! The only problem is it’s hard to get everything done and put them back down before they get too tired and fussy. If baby is sort of feeding each 4 hours day and night how to change it? I didn’t have a sleep schedule for my toddler until she was a little older, probably 4 or 5 months. This is a lot like my baby but it’s ALL day. Once she is asleep after a feeding, I try to put her down appx 30 mins after the start of a feed. Don’t put baby on their tummies after a feeding or they are likely to spit up. I day-weaned my 2 year old a month ago and have been trying everything to get him to go down for a nap without the nursing. Oh yes I change at every feed probably for that age. If 2 hours is too often it’s that he isn’t eating enough! Thanks for sharing your experiences! ♥️, Oh gosh, I’ve only been trying this routine since lunch time today after we got home from the Dr who told me there doesn’t appear to be any medical reason for why I can’t get her to sleep for longer than 5 minutes during the day (even though she can sleep like a champ at night). He does sleep well at night going 3-5 hours between feeds. I won’t lie and say it was easy, nothing about having multiples is easy. would so appreciate it! Esmy, I’m sorry if you feel I’m saying it’s your fault, there is no “fault” at all. She’s going on 5 weeks and we are having a heck of a time getting any sort of sleep/routine that works because she just refuses to fall asleep :( I try to do her “dream feed” around 9 or 10 sometimes I wake her up to do this if she was asleep and others she refuses to sleep after her afternoon nap so she is already awake.. She then usually wakes at 11 pm, 1 am, 3 am and 5 am then won’t go back down for a nap after the 5 am time until 8 or 9. I am currently looking at a few routine options for Bub number 2, due in July. I think if she nurses then has a bottle, the feeding shouldn’t’ take 30 minutes, right? He doesn’t always cry right away, so we will try to leave him alone for a while to see if he’ll go back to sleep. Also, will he take the paci? This is new so I’m trying to keep him in his crib. Hi! We don’t have a schedule and I’d really like to institute something as I prepare to go back to work. Thanks for this great post! Looking at this schedule, do you feed them when getting ready for bed, or is 6pm the last time before the dream feed? Which helps reinforce what you said- the problem wasn’t me; it was my systems. I’m not sure where to go from here. If your baby fights sleep much I’d say that it’s a case of you keeping them up. I’m going to try really hard over the next week to put him down sooner but we are also battling possible reflux too :( When we swaddle her with arms in, it only takes her a few minutes to Houdini her hands out. I am trying to get my 4 week old to take better naps during the day, so he sleeps better at night, and not to snack so much during the day/dinner time. Catherine, do you think he’s getting full feeds? Right now the baby barely sleeps 30 -45 minutes at a time before she wakes up. xo from a Belgian mama. However my dilemma is his daytime sleeps. Of course the schedule changes, but they nap between feedings for the first few months without question unless they’re sick or we’re out. I tried doing a routine of feed-play-nap but on certain days, my little one is sleepy after the feed. Nov 8, 2020 - Looking for a morning routine for working moms?