@perly I start right in the hospital, I just don't tell the nurses because they would freak out! Lol Depending on how much your baby takes at each feeding will determine how many hours to start at, the ultimate goal being 3 hours, then 3.5, then 4. It takes about 4 months or so to get to the 4 hours. For a newborn the last feed of the night would be 10 or 11pm, then as he wakes up on his own through the night & starting the schedule again around 7am. Also newborns sleep a ton, so the "play" period would look more like a diaper change & baby talk with mom for a few minutes. Lol Also, (sorry so long!) nighttime feedings are strictly business...no playing, no lights & minimal talking. Some might think that's mean I suppose, but it just sets the tone that nighttime is for sleeping.
@wilsomom oh my god im still sorta lost lol. Would you mind showing me an example of your schedule for a newborn? Im so sorry, i just wanna make sure i get this right. I had never heard of a baby sleeping through the night that early on, so Im definitely interested. Not so much for me but for my husband because he works so hard and i don't him to get hurt at work or something because he's falling asleep on the job (he works at the port loading and unloading big containers onto the ships).
Oh no problem. @perly My hubby drives a semi 14 hours a day so I can understand. I keep my newborn in a bassinet right by my bed for about 3 months. I also spend about a week in my room alone with the baby bonding & healing. If baby is small & not drinking a lot at first I would do a 2.5 hour schedule. It would look something like this:
7am eat, diaper, talk/sing, nap 9:30am eat, bath, nap 12pm eat, diaper, sit by window, nap 2:30pm eat, diaper, talk/sing, nap 4pm eat, diaper, sibling time, nap 6:30pm eat, diaper, baby massage, nap 9pm eat, diaper, talk/sing, bed for the night 11:30 one last quiet, dark feeding before I go to bed, no play time, quick diaper. Now I only feed baby when she wakes me in the night. Quickly & quietly with maybe just a night light, then back to bed. All the day time feedings I would wake baby at the proper time if she was asleep.
If your baby is bigger or drinks more you can start with a 3 hour schedule. And of course as she gets older she'll stay awake more for play time & start eating at 3.5 hours, then eventually 4 hours as her tummy gets bigger & she can hold more at a time. I usually cut out that last feeding before I go to bed around 3 months or so.
@wilsomom you know i always say it lol. You seriously have so much strength and patience and i seriously have no idea where you get it from... therefore, in my eyes you're Super Mom lol
@excitedforoctober her technique helped me a lot. I ended up not following it word by word but i basically used the same concept. Adrian is my first and like i said on your post, he's been sleeping through the night since he was 2wks old. @wilsomom has the best advice
@ExcitedForOctober I didn't know about it with the first 3 & they took forever to sleep through the night, but it worked every time with the last 6. That's why I like to share it with new moms because I wish I would've known sooner.
Thank you for sharing this. I basically did same thing sleep, eat, play. But my daughter has alwyas sleeped in later do you wake ur lo up to stick to the schedule just curious? Cause I just let my daughter sleep and she created her own little schedule that worked well for me. And the other main thing is having bed time routine which I think bath is big part of and then nkt interacting at night feedings I think that really does the trick help them understand difference between night day. @wilsomom
@jules I would wake them up to eat in the morning until they're old enough to be on regular foods and eating mostly 3 meals a day and 2 snacks with the family & other kids because I'd want the baby full and happy while the rest of the family is getting going in the morning...plus I usually cook breakfast so I wouldn't have time to do that if the baby woke up at the wrong time! Lol As long as your daughter had her own little schedule that worked for you guys, that's great! Each baby is just a little different and sometimes I have to tweak things a little for various seasons of life, but this gives you just a basic guide to get going. You're so lucky/blessed that you discovered it on your own!
@wilsomom ya I did get lucky plus I love schedule lol. But the main thing is my daughter was always good sleeper long naps. Still does that now. Well I think they are long naps. Her first one I usually get some cleaning done then I have lunch then sometimes take little nap. The second I get diner stuff together and chill eat snack that time will surely be used when theres another baby around.
@Wilsomom How long does baby feed between those hours and do they sleep? I have a hard time keeping him wake after feedings and waking him up to feed, he's 15 days old. I'm thinking of stopping and waiting until after his circumcision tomorrow and start over.
@veevee at 15 days old it's ok not to keep him awake after feedings, only if he feels like it then as much as you can the older he gets. As far as how long he eats...I've always had to use formula so they take a bottle pretty quick, like 15 minutes. My friend who uses the same method & breastfeeds would feed for 20 minutes. She used pacifiers rather than baby using her boob as a pacifier! lol
By the way...he'll be really sleepy after the circumcision. And I know jewish people who do the circumcision at 8 days old, according to Bible practices & coincidentally 8 days old is when the baby's vitamin k levels are high enough for proper clotting....just thought that's interesting! Lol
@sands3 Yeah, I think it would. If 4 hours is too long you can shorten it, as long as you follow the sleep/eat/play cycle. My 2 year old only takes 1 nap a day though, so you don't have to do the sleep part during the day if it doesn't work out for your family. Here's my 2 year old's schedule: (and all the other kids too)
Eat breakfast 8:00 Lunch 12:30 (sometimes a small snack before lunch if hungry) Nap/Quiet time 2:00 Snack 4:00 (as soon as nap is over) Dinner 6:00 Bed 8:00
I hope it helps....since mine sleep through the night so early, I haven't had much experience with trying it with an older child, but it's worth a shot!
Darn, Idk then.... like I said I've never done it with an older child so I'm not sure. Lol I hope you find something that works..maybe the No Cry Sleep Solution would work for you. @sands3
Comments
I had never heard of a baby sleeping through the night that early on, so Im definitely interested. Not so much for me but for my husband because he works so hard and i don't him to get hurt at work or something because he's falling asleep on the job (he works at the port loading and unloading big containers onto the ships).
7am eat, diaper, talk/sing, nap
9:30am eat, bath, nap
12pm eat, diaper, sit by window, nap
2:30pm eat, diaper, talk/sing, nap
4pm eat, diaper, sibling time, nap
6:30pm eat, diaper, baby massage, nap
9pm eat, diaper, talk/sing, bed for the night
11:30 one last quiet, dark feeding before I go to bed, no play time, quick diaper.
Now I only feed baby when she wakes me in the night. Quickly & quietly with maybe just a night light, then back to bed.
All the day time feedings I would wake baby at the proper time if she was asleep.
If your baby is bigger or drinks more you can start with a 3 hour schedule. And of course as she gets older she'll stay awake more for play time & start eating at 3.5 hours, then eventually 4 hours as her tummy gets bigger & she can hold more at a time. I usually cut out that last feeding before I go to bed around 3 months or so.
I hope this helps!
Thank you Super Mom
I'm far from super mom, but thanks lol :">
@perly Thank you! I'm glad it helped.
I'm probably going to restart the schedule when he heals.
Eat breakfast 8:00
Lunch 12:30 (sometimes a small snack before lunch if hungry)
Nap/Quiet time 2:00
Snack 4:00 (as soon as nap is over)
Dinner 6:00
Bed 8:00
I hope it helps....since mine sleep through the night so early, I haven't had much experience with trying it with an older child, but it's worth a shot!