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Routine for a 7 wk old- advice please!

Hi,

My LO is nearly 8 weeks old and untill now I haven't wanted to force him into any kind of strict routine as I had wanted him to figure things out for himself. Although he has fallen into his own litte pattern most o the time, it is quite hit and miss, he often wakes several times i nthe night and is very cranky in the day so I want to implement a more of a structured routine but am not sure what or how to start this. If anyone has advice, it would be really appreciated..

His pattern at the moment is roughly as follows:Awake the majority of the morning either playing or feeding etc (cries alot during this period and is very unsettled!), has a long sleep in the afternoon, plays, sleeps and feeds on and off during the evening, goes down to bed properly around 11pm. On a good night, he wakes up for a feed at 2/3 am and again at 5/6am. On a bad night, he is up every couple of hours. I know this could be MUCH worse, bu if I can impove things, it's worth a try.

Also, does anyone use the EASY method (Eat, activity, sleep. You). I like the idea but am wondering how it works in practice, for example, after my baby feeds, he is usually nice and drowsy so it makes sense for him to sleep straight afterwards, i.e at bed time or during night time feeds. But according to the EASY routine I should play with him instead. Also, how do you go from Activity to Sleep- surely they are over- stimulated by this point and wide awake? And if they wake up but it is not time for a feed yet, which part of the routine should you revert to..?


Any thoughts? Thanks x

Replies

  • Ooh, your LO sounds exactly like mine (he's 6 weeks)!! I could have written an identical post! I don't have any advice but would be really interested in what anyone else does as I've been thinking we need more structure too.

    Bit of a pointless reply, just thought I'd say your not alone! xx

    Elle
  • I love The Baby Whisperer book and would definately recommend getting it. The idea behind getting them to do some activity before sleep is that they don't get into the habit of needing to feed to get to sleep. The book will help you recognise the cues that he is sleepy such as the 'thousand yard stare' and a few yawns so you can then get him down for a nap before he gets overtired and cranky. They should be awake when they go in their cot so that they can learn to go to sleep and self settle that way when they wake up in the night they can go back to sleep on their own and don't need to be 'fed' to sleep.

    I hope this helps some but I really would recommend getting the book as she obviously explains things a lot better and in more detail. I got it when dd1 was about 2 months and she was sleeping through the night by 10 weeks. I am reading it again now and this lo is 4 weeks and usually only wakes up once in the night for a feed and once or twice has gone all the way through to 7.

    Good luck
  • He is young to be awake that much in the morning I think? Maybe if you can try and get him to have a nap mid morning (easier said than done I know!)

    Then perhaps try and eek out time between feeds so that he isn't feeding on and off, but has a proper "meal" so to speak and this will give you a chance to get a routine going.

    I didn't do EASY as my LO (now 6 months) always fell asleep after a feed and also only took a few ozs every feed in the day, but she did sleep at night so I wasn't too fussed.

    Don't worry if you can't get the activity in after food as he is still little, but I would try and get a set order of events as it were. Then if he goes through food, sleep, play, food, sleep, play etc is should hopefully at least leave you in a position where you know what is happening in the day and he is getting enough sleep then.

    I am a firm believer in babies having lots of sleep in the day and then having a better sleep at night. But maybe I have a very sleepy baby!

    Hope that is some help
  • hi ya, we do the easy routine or our little version of it and it seems fab, rafferty has been in same routine since about 6 weeks,

    day starts at 8am (although he sometimes wakes at 7ish-he comes into out bed for a morning cuddle with his dummy)
    8am-6oz bottle, playtime dress etc
    10.30-nap for 1 hour in bouncy chair or pram
    12noon-6oz bottle then play time under gym etc
    1.30-sleep for 2 hours (i sometimes have to wake him for feed)
    3.30-6oz bottle, playtime
    5-5.30- short nap in chair or on me, this is just to get him through bath time and stop him getting grumpy
    5.45-bath time, massage
    6.30-up to nursery for bedtime bottle in dark room
    7pm-swaddled and down for the night

    initially he would wake up at 11pm for feed and then again at 5am but this first wake up started to get later and later and now on a good night he doesnt wake until 4am so does a good 9 hour stretch, and a bad night wakes at 2/3ish. He takes a good feed of 5/6oz and then goes through until 7ish. to start the routine i always made sure the first feed of the day was at 8 am, so if he woke at 5am i would give him a few oz's to see him through but not a whole feed as it would have put him off his morning bottle,

    sorry if i have rambled but i am very happy with the routine we have settled into and it was led by Rafferty with a little tweeking from me!

    Keeley and Rafferty 11 weeks!
  • forgot to say that Rafferty was very sleepy baby and i sometimes struggled to keep him awake for an activity but i started off by taking his nappy off after feed and letting him have a kick about (and wee everywhere) or i would give him an olive oil massage, he also loves music so i would dance around with him singing (poor chap!) at first he would only manage half an hour after a feed but that has gradually increased and now he is spending more time awake with less effort from me!


    hope that helps a bit!
  • Hi girls

    Toby is 7 weeks old today and we have been doing EASY since week 3.

    I let Toby decide when the "E" will be - he is naturally feeding every 3 hours but sometimes he wants to feed after only 2 hours and that's fine, I never make him wait. I do wake him up for his feeds during the day though, I don't let him sleep through. I try to cluster feed him in the evening but if he is sound asleep after his bath I will let him sleep. I do wake him up for a feed at some time between 10pm-11:30pm. That's been working really well - he only ever wakes up once between that feed and the start of his day at 6-7am (usually at about 3-4am).

    re being drowsy after feeds - I know it seems counter intuitive but it does work. After the feed he will sometimes even be asleep but will usually wake up when I wind him. Then I usually put him on his playmat and he will have a kick around for a while. Once he starts yawning (usually after about 15mins or so) I know the "sleep window" is open and I go and put him down for his nap. He is really easy to settle and sleeps better than when I just let him stay asleep after feeding.

    Recommend it!

    C image
  • Hey hon
    Oliver is 10 weeks so not much older but i'll let you know what I do.
    Like shocked mummy I keep the same awake time (bottle). We have set 7.30am as i'm happy for this. Sometimes he wakes around 6 but I put him in bed with me with his dummy and he goes straight back off, I really do try and hold out for this 7.30am feed.
    Daytime naps are still a little varied and I let him lead but they are starting to become more routine like as our morning starts at the same time. I was finding that he would wake between 7-8.30 so his whole routine could be out by an hour and a half a day.
    7.30am - 6oz bottle, dress, change and play. Then mummy has breakfast while we have a chat (LOL)
    9am - naptime in rocker or playgym in living room
    10.30am - wakes, entertains himself or we have a little cuddle
    11am - 6oz bottle, change
    Afternoon's a bit hit and miss, normally takes a nap for about an hour but I let him dictate. I just play around/chat to him until he starts dosing
    3pm - 6oz bottle, change
    4pm - sleep until around 5/5.30
    5.30 - bath
    6 - 6oz bottle, change into pyjamas - has a cuddle/playtime with daddy
    7.30ish - starts gettign tired so we dim lights in living room,, if we have dinner then we pop in him his rocker or he sits with daddy
    8pm - put him down for bed
    Bedtime is a bit hit and miss, anytime between 7-8 but we let him dictate, I dont' put him down wide awake, normally half asleep so he is settled enough to stay down but awake enough to know he is in his cot.
    Stays asleep and we dreamfeed him around 10.30pm (4oz) and change him

    Then we let him wake us. He wakes around 3ish for a feed of 2oz, it's as if he needs just that little extra to go through the night. If he wakes earlier I give him his dummy and he goes off, if he wakes after 5 then I give him his dummy until 7.30 and he is absolutely fine.
    He needs around 28oz to make this work and he is steadily takign this now without too much hassle.
    I must say Oliver has dictated a lot of this. Today he was showing major hunger signs at 10.30 so I brought it forward by half hour, so next feed at 2.30 but then I still kept bath at 5.30 and feed at 6 as he was happy. We just make sure that the first feed (7.30am) and last (10.pm) are quite rigid. I'm a firm believer that a set morning awake time really helps the routine slip into place and then hopefully bedtime comes naturally as he has been awake the same amount of hours.
    Sorry for the ramble, hope that makes sense.
    xxx
  • Hon
    Just to say, when Oliver gets tired he gets ratty, as if he needs a little extra help to go off so when he gets tired I just pop him on my shoulder and keep it quiet and have nice cuddles and he is normally asleep within 5 mins. Maybe try that??Then once he is asleep he goes in his rocker.xx
  • Hi,

    Sebastian is approachng 8 weeks old and right from the start I have dictated bedtime and then from hs lead a feeding routine. I also have a 2 1/2 year old so I need to know when he'll feed to make sure he avoids times when I'm taking her to nursery etc. Up until now I have just been letting him sleep whereever/whenever but he ends spendng alot or time being grumpy and I don't get a mnute to myself so over the last couple of days I ahve been trying to structure his sleeps more. I have sort of been doing a bit of Gina Ford but not to the letter so our days look a bit like this

    7.15 - wake,change, feed
    8.00 - get dressed (helps to wake hm if a bit sleepy after feed)
    8.30ish- starts yawning so put him in cot if not going out
    9.30ish- wakes and plays
    11.00 - feeds then change
    11.50 - yawning so up in cot for nap
    this is wher it normally goes a bit awry as he doesn't sleep as long as I want him to at the moment.
    1.15- awake and playing
    2.30 - feeds
    3.00 - sleeps
    3.30 - wakes and plays
    5.00 - has extra 10 mns snooze
    5.45 - bath
    6.00 feed
    6.15-6.30 bed
    10.30 dream feed
    3-4am wakes for feed

    The morning wake time and the bedtime are set in stone and his feed times rarely change. I have tried to follow Gina ford in that I think he should have 1 long sleep in middle of day with 2 shorter ones either side but i leave it up to him how soon after a feed they are and for how long.

    Some advice I was gven was to look for the first signs of tiredness and put him down to sleep straight away and to put him up in his cot as there are less distractions so he gets a better standard of sleep. I have been trying this over the last couple of days and today the difference in him was unbelievable, he played muchmore and for much longer and only got grumpy at about 5 but then we think he has colic anyway. I am wondering whether to gibve him a split feed so half at 5 and half at 6:15 so that he isn't so hungry at bathtime not sure yet though.

    My advice is to read the books and sort out in your own head what sounds sensible and then use it to adapt to your own routine.
  • Thanks for all your responses they're a big help x
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