Newborn. Routine or not?

Question

My baby is almost 8 weeks. Is it too early to try to enforce a routine? Right now she's basically feeding and sleeping on demand. Some days she naps well some days she doesn't. When I google routine for newborn, I was amazed how some moms have their babies on strict schedule but I can't seem to get the hang of it yet. Am I doing something wrong? Or is it ok to let her sleep and eat whenever she wants?

What do you moms do?

Answer

No need for a schedule, baby will map out their own routine. You can start a bedtime routine though when you're going to bed to get them used to it.

Answer

My baby is 6wks and for the most part she is on a schedule (actually set by her). I started out EBF but then had some minor hiccups and EP and now I'm back to EBF. With that being said while pumping for 5wks her schedule was wake-up 0500 eat back to sleep until 730-800 eat back to sleep until 1030-1100 back to sleep until 230-300pm eat back to 5-630 would eat at 715-730 back to sleep by 830-930 and would wake up at midnight for late night snack and back to sleep until 0500.
I will say her first two weeks I had to wake her every two to three hours. But now she sleeps through the night (recently started after 5wks) her feeding times may shift by 30mins to the left or right but I'm not picky. She is healthy, happy and gaining weight 😀

Answer

Most babies put themselves on a schedule after a while but it doesn't hurt to help move it along and the schedule will change every couple months or even weeks

Answer

My baby was around 8 weeks when he first started a schedule. We started waking up at 7am every morning to prepare for when I returned to work, and from there he started feeding and napping at almost the same time every day. I let him lead the way, he did it all on his own, and by 12 weeks he was predictable.

Answer

I've started a bed time routine, since I work full time and need sleep in order to wake up at 5am. 
We start with tummy time around 8pm, then a bath after that. Lights are off, sounds are on low once 7pm hits. After the bath I take her into our room and swaddle her and feed her. She's usually asleep by 9:40pm. Sometimes she'll sleep for 3 to 4 hours, sometimes she sleeps 1-2 hours. She's only 6 weeks so we're still working on it but it's getting better every night.
During the day she naps anywhere from 2-3 hours, sometimes 3-4 depending how she slept that night. When she's awake, she does tummy time and her daddy plays with her (He's the stay at home) until I get home at 3pm. She tends to be more awake and alert once I get home.

Answer

I am a single mom with a full-time job, so it was important to me that by the end of my maternity leave my son was on a schedule that I could manage with working. At about 8 weeks I gave us a month to practice. I mostly followed his cues and stuck with them; so he kind of set his own schedule and I just made sure to stick to it (not to say that we don't stray a lot of the time!). He went to sleep around 10 on his own a couple of times, so I began to start our bedtime routine around 9:30 every evening, and he has gone to bed between 9:30 and 10 every night since, and wakes up between 7 and 7:30 am. His bedtime may seem late but I work 9a-9p, so it's usually 9:30 by the time I get home at night.

Answer

My son is almost 8 months now, I've been an on demand parent since he was born. However, that only comes with feeding and napping. We always wake up at almost the same time each morning, he goes to bed at 9pm every night. I only give him a bath every other day, but I try to keep it at a consistent time. Eventually, you'll fall into a routine. Just be patient. Start small.

Answer

Do what works for you. I get stressed if I try to enforce a schedule and don't stick to it.  It's a good idea to have routines. Baby put himself on a bedtime schedule and that only gets messed up if he naps late. He sleeps thru night and his naps suck but I'll take it. He still feeds on demand but that works for me. Others are strict but are able to enforce it..

Answer

You can try a basic routine. Like eat/play/sleep, but still too young to implement a schedule.

Newborn. Routine or not?

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