At what age did you put your baby on a schedule?

Question

I am being given all different advice...from 4 mos. to 6 mos. My baby is just turning 3 mos, but I am wondering at what stage does she have more regular schedule, esp at nighttime...eat, bath, play sleep?

Answer 1

I never put mine on a schedule. I let them set their own schedules. As only they know when they are tired or hungry or want to be alert or poo/pee etc.
If they needed a feed I'd feed them, if they fell asleep I'd let them sleep, if they were alert i'd play with them, if they needed a bath I'd bathe them. And I never had any problems with sleepless nights or unsettled babies. They were quite happy wherever we went, never scared of new surroundings or new people.
And funnily enough they did create their own sleep patterns and feeding patterns. But it would change as they got older to what they needed.
I personally think that is best for babies as putting them on a routine or schedule is rather slack as they have no concept of time or when its appropriate to feed etc. All they know is they are hungry NOW, or they are tired NOW or they want to be awake NOW.
Its best to listen to baby and yourself and do what suits you both. No-one else knows your baby as well as you do. I do believe that babies are more settled if you meet their needs as they get them.
Good Luck and do what is best for YOUR baby and for YOU. And remember to enjoy every moment as they grow so quickly.

Answer 2

Right when they come home...the schedule changed often at first, but once you find the right one for your baby, it works wonders. Your baby should be eating regularly every 2-3 hours. When you put her down for her naps, make sure that the room is well lit and maybe play some music or leave NPR on. This way she starts to associate noise with daytime. At night, make sure the room is completely dark (night lights can upset her REM sleep cycle) and quiet. Maybe even a white noise machine would be ok at night time. This will trigger her to start sleeping less during the day and more at night. I'd pick the same time each day to do a bath-night time seems to work best for most babies because it can be tiring for them and soothing all at the same time. I'd give her a bath, read her some books (even a 3 month old should be read to), feed her a bottle, and put her to bed. I'd do this every single night so that she gets that routine in her head. The bath will remind her that it's time for bed. Same deal with play time. Make sure it happens at the same time each day and if she gets up in the night to feed (which she will), don't turn on any lights, don't talk to her, feed her and put her back in the crib. Best of luck!

Answer 3

Gosh... I never thought about what age it happened... I just went with what they were doing... and when it seemed to settle down a little into some sort of routine.. when I noticed them having "good" days when they were more on a certain schedule, I just encouraged them to stick with that schedule. Every child is different... and it wasn't (at least for me) a matter of forcing a schedule on an unwilling child... but a matter of nudging their "wants" to fit the schedule under which we all lived more happily.

When I say nudge. Suppose your baby wakes up every morning at 6:30, eats, plays, and goes back to sleep at 8:30... . One morning you have to leave the house before he goes back down, so he stays up a bit longer... say 10:00. Well, that puts his morning and afternoon naps a bit later than normal... he goes to bed a little later that night.. and sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00 the next morning. You're singing halleljuh, but it takes more than one day to make that a "schedule"... he might not be so distracted that second day, so you entertain him for a bit and otherwise distract him as long as you can. If he can last until 10:00 again, fine... you're one day closer to a routine! If not? No sense making everyone miserable, so move in increments. Put him down a little later than normal the first day... the next day a little later... the next day a little later... always encouraging him by distracting him, maybe taking a walk outside or playing with him... Eventually, having a bit longer morning time will become normal... and the rest of the schedule will fall into place.

Also, they become more routined when they start eating solids.

Wow.. got carried away there... In short? Just listen to him and give him positive, painless nudges toward a routine...

Answer 4

At around 6 months a sleep schedule can be implemented, however, all infants are different. Try a bunch of things, find what works and stick to it.

My routine is 6:00 dinner, then we play a little, bath at 7:00, play, read & pjs then 8:00, lights off in his room (nightlight on) and I nurse and sing my son to sleep. Every single night...it's hard, but it works with him. He's 8 months and we've been doing this since 5 months with no problems.

Answer 5

I forced a nightime sleep schedule onto my children at 3 weeks. They still woke up, of course, but at least they figured out, quickly, that we go to bed at a certain time, it's not playtime, and they did sleep for at least a few hours before waking and needing a feeding. As for the rest of the day, it really settled in about 3-4 months, until then they are just eating so frequently it is really hard to establish something rigid.

Answer 6

I found it was nearly impossible to predict anything with my son until 10 or 11 months.

Now hes on a pretty regular shedule for sleeping and meals, he still nurses whenever he feels like it though. (hes 14 mo).

They go through so many changes, sleep adjustments, nap changes, growth spurts, etc... Its really hard to have anything set in stone.

Just watch for your babies cues and be flexible.

I knew my son would go down for a nap every day at about 11 am, some days it was a little earlier, some days later.

Eating, esspecially, shouldnt be sheduled in a baby under a year. They have too many growth spurts, its really important to allow those to pass naturally.

Also, around 7-8 mo, most babies go through seperation anxiety and that throws sleeping off alot.


Some kids thrive on schedules, some don't.

Answer 7

Every baby is different and have different personality "types". Some are more adapting, others prone to resist. It really depends on the temperment of your baby. I could tell right away that my youngst (she is a year) would do well on a routine. Schedule to me sounds a bit more strict, but a routine gives you some breathing room.

I started at 7 weeks. At this age is was awake for longer periods of time and it was easier to gauge when she was getting tired. I put her to bed at the same time for her naps and bed time and have stuck with it. Giving her a bath before bed is a great routine starter. :) She will learn to associate her bath time with a a time to wind down and be ready for sleep.

I really believe that starting as early as I did with my baby, has been beneficial in many ways. She associates her crib with bed time and I can literally lie her down and walk out of the room and she gets herself to sleep. I dont have to go back in time and time again (even though it took some persistence to get there).

I see nothing wrong with starting your baby at 3 months of age. :) Good Luck!

Answer 8

I started establishing some kind of routine with my kids as soon as they came home from the hospital. When they were very young (newborn-4 months) it wasn't exact. As they grew they came to naturally fall into the schedule I had designed for them. A couple of things are never scheduled, they just happen. Those are feedings (feed when hungry) and naps (babies nap when tired). They are now 8 yrs. old and 3 yrs old and well adjusted, happy boys. Do what works for you and not what everyone suggests.

Answer 9

at 2 weeks ol my daughter slept bedtime was at 8pm she would wake up around 5:30 and 6 am and she would eat and play and be changed and go back to sleep around 11am and ake up again around 2pm. eat play be changed or whatever and go back to sleep around 4:30pm and up again around 6 until bath at 7 and bedtime again at 8.... yes i was lucky she slept through the night pretty much lol most people can't get that out of there babies but the sooner you try to do it the better for you and baby. having a schedual will help you know what your baby needs at hte time and what the different crys mean as well as him having comfort in knowing just about what is going to happen when mmmy or daddy comes around!

Answer 10

Not everyone puts their baby on a schedule. After all are you hungry at the same time every day, tired at the same time every day and so forth? I raised both my nephews now ages 17 and 15, my daughter now age 13 and my son age 9 months and none had a schedule they let me know when they are hungry {nothing worse then trying to force a child who isn't hungry to eat or a non sleepy child to sleep} and they all made their own schedules. For instance we could remove all the clocks in our house and know when its 815pm because that is when my son gets cranky rubs his eyes and is ready for bed.