3 week old newborn, how do i get him on a routine?

Question

how do i get him to sleep at the right times such as night time and not most of the day?

Answer 1

For now you are on his time but just be patient and with time he will regulate his schedule so that it is more like yours.

Answer 2

Sorry, but I had to laugh at the thought of a 3 week old on a routine (I dont mean at you asking the question...just the idea of a baby that young doing anything that would make life easier haha)
A routine is NOT going to happen right now, and baby will sleep alot during both night and day. You can try to encourage that once your baby begins developes a routine it will hopefully fit with your ideal scheduel better...but no promises.
Do things at the same time every day. Story time, play time, bath time etc. Wind things down around the house once it approaches your ideal bed time. Take baby out in the sun during the day, it should help jump-start his biological clock.
Good luck =)

Answer 3

You would start by having a clear feeding schedule.That makes it easier. At three weeks, that's probably every two-three hours. So it would go, feed, change, sleep. Feed, change, sleep. Somewhere in there, there's a bath lol. That's about all they do at that age. If you want to have a clear nightly routine, you could do feed, bath, book, bed. (There will still be the midnight feedings, but the baby will learn that after bath, there's book, and time to settle in.) It's never too early to start developing habits. I have two boys, and I started them on a routine from the time they were home from the hospital. If you wait until they are a year old to start the order of things, they will own you! You'll be on THEIR schedule! Babies thrive on routines, just follow what works for you and stick with it.

Good luck! I know it can be done, it's worked for me twice now. I read the book "On Becoming Baby Wise", and it really helped in figuring out a routine that worked for my family.

Answer 4

Since your baby is more alert and aware of immediate surroundings during the daylight hours, he or she will be more inclined to sleep during the night, especially if you fight the urge to play or talk to your baby during nighttime feedings or diaper changes.

Your baby is adapting to the sleep-wake cycle that parents favor, and the baby's stomach is growing and holding more breast milk or formula. At 3 months of age your baby will likely sleep about 15 hours out of each 24-hour period, and two thirds of that sleep will take place during the night. Most babies will have settled into a daily sleep routine of two or three sleep periods during the day, followed by "sleeping through the night" for 6 to 7 hours after a late-night feeding.

If your baby is sleeping a lot when you want him or her awake - or vice versa - encourage wakefulness during the day while also allowing your baby to have distinct sleeping periods. You also can rouse your baby for the late-night feeding at a time that suits your sleep schedule. For instance, if your baby gets sleepy after the 7 p.m. feeding and sleeps until 2 a.m. before feeding again, wake the baby to feed at 11 p.m. and then put him or her down to sleep until an early-morning feeding at 5 or 6 a.m. It may take a few nights to establish this routine, but it will happen if you are consistent.

If your baby wakes during the period that you want him or her to be sleeping, keep activity to a minimum. Change or feed your baby in the dark, and don't play with the baby. Your little one will start to get the message that you're a bore during the night, so he or she might as well just go back to sleep.

Again, not all infants keep to the same timetable. If you have questions or concerns, check with your baby's doctor.

Answer 5

Alot of people say that's too young to start a routine, but why? If your baby is set in a routine at such an age then he/she'll not know any different so you won't have any trouble trying to get them into a routine when they're 6 months old? I put my daughter into a routine when she was born, bedtime that is. Give her a bath at 8, bottle at 8:30 and bed at 9ish. Every night. I couldn't put her into a daytime routine til she was about 6 months, if she started to fall asleep at times I didn't want her to, I'd wake her up for a while but not too much as they tend to get overtired and if they do they don't sleep. At this stage I wouldn't be too worried about putting him in a daytime routine, bedtime is easier to cope with :>

Answer 6

I think you just have to kind of follow his routine for a while ;) Getting used to the world is hard work and babies just sleep whenever they have to. Once he's a little older, and more involved in baby play and being interactive, he'll be sleepier at night and be more interested to stay awake in the day when all the action happens. That's when you'll have luck starting him on a schedule ;) He'll still sleep alot though.. even in the day.. and sometimes wake up/not sleep at night. But, you'll have more of a routine, so to speak.
Good luck and congratulations on your sweet new baby!

Answer 7

I got my baby on a routine at about 3 months, I wish I'd done it sooner. I think he was much happier. When he fussed I wasn't trying to guess what he wanted, I'd know whether it was naptime, feeding time, whatever. You have to take it slowly, let the baby set the sceduale to begin with. I wrote down what times of day he was doing certain things, then if I wanted to change it, I'd make it a little earlier or later every day. He's 1 1/2 now and he eats at mealtimes every day, and takes a nap at the same time every day, he even goes to sleep and wakes up at the same time every day. It makes it so much easier to make plans, or to tell people what to do when they baby sit. I'm really not as anal as I sound, I swear.

Answer 8

I had pretty good luck getting my kids on a routine. During the day they stayed in the living room or whereever people were. I would put them in their cribs during a "nap". I found what time would be good for them to take one and that's when I'd put them in the crib. The rest of the day, they slept in the living room or whereever. At night they were put in the crib and stayed there. When they woke up to eat, I kept the lights very low and kept it quiet. Then put them back in the crib. They learned during the day there is noise and light. We're awake. At night it's dark and quiet. We sleep. I was never quiet during the day. I vacuumed and did dishes, laundry. Whatever. I wanted them to get used to the noise so they'd sleep better if there was noise. By the time they were about 5 wks they all (I have 3) were sleeping pretty well. (11pm-5am) They wake up at 5am. Eat and go back to sleep until around 9 or 10. Just find your rhythm and stick to it! Good Luck!

Answer 9

If you time his actual sleep, you will find he's not sleeping more during the day. Don't expect a night time sleep for another month or more. He needs to be sleeping @22 hours/24. The best thing you can do, is train yourself not to complete awaken when you get up at night.
My twins started sleeping 6-hr nights fairly early, but they were not the same 6 hours!

Answer 10

Oh honey, you don't. Not at 3 weeks. Give it some time, a routine will start to form on its own. Until that happens enough to recognize it, don't try to force anything on Baby. He's been through quite an ordeal recently!

Just to note: An over-tired baby will sleep worse at night. If you keep him up and deprive him of his much needed sleep during the day, he'll be over-tired and cranky at night when you want to sleep.

Answer 11

I don't agree with these other answers. My children, now 5 and 3 were on schedules from day one. I mean, I didn't not give them food if they wanted it, but I would try to be consistent. Maybe it didn't always work out, but my children were sleeping through the night by a month old and they were on eating/sleeping schedules of 8-4-12-4-8. Now, they are still on schedules. My kids now that naptime is at 12 and bedtime at 8. We have no issues with these time slots. When it is close they tell me or there father they are tired and want to go to bed. You just have to work with them and learn from them. Good luck to you and don't let people tell you how to do with your kids. You are there mother and you are with them all of the time. You and your husband/boyfriend whatever know best!