Do you have a strict routine?

[arthursmum]

Just wondering if people have really strict routines with their children. I have 1 child of (almost) 7 months & we don't have a routine. We have a fairly general mould by which our days are shaped but we are very flexible and tend to go with the flow regarding what's going on at the time and ds's mood/needs. He copes with it very well. We are certainly not bound by exact meal times, etc. I never neglect his needs & no matter where we are he always comes first.
I'm curious as to what other people do with babies of a similar age. I was a full time carer for to a 6 month old baby for 7 months and she really needed to stick to a strict routine to be happy whereas little A is mr.cool and very mellow about times, places, etc..
What do you guys do?

[Rainbowbrite]

MJ is now 13 months & we've never had a set routine. She has 1-2 sleeps a day around the same time every day but its when she gets tired that she has a sleep. BF we have never had a routine, its always been led by MJs wants, same with solids. Yes I stress that she doesnt eat enough but i let it go now. She eats when she's hungry :yes:

Only routine ish thing we have is mornings we get up, play, eat, play till she's tired then bf to sleep or go out & hope she falls asleep in the car. Nothing major though.

[wattle]

I think every child is different. Ds loves a routine, so we go by that. It makes it easier for everyone else too. His routine has changed as he has grown, but we are consistent with nearly everything. (ie meal times, bath time, outside time etc)

Occasionally things will change, but he is much happier when things return to 'normal'.

Since I introduced the 'dinner at 6pm every night' thing, it's been much better too. That way we all get to sit down together rather than getting sidetracked and eating quickly at 8.30pm!

[Miaow]

EJ doesnt really have a routine and shes 7 months. Its basically as Rainbowbrite was saying - she sleeps when shes tired and feeds when wants to (breastfed)

I do try to feed her her solid meals around the same time but Ive never had much luck getting her to go to sleep at night at a set time cause if she isnt tired she will fight sleep.

[bronny-jane]

no routines here at all:eek: :eek: :D

[Mischief]

Ollie has his own routine. I tried to get a routine in place (Save Our Sleep) but he cried his eyes out because he likes lots of feeds in the morning, then has a really long sleep in the afternoon...so I let him stick to his own!

He goes to bed each night between 7 or 8, and thats the only thing i make him stick too! If he sleeps a little less during the day I dont mind, he makes up for it usually the next day! :)

[EskimoMumma]

I have a routine , no set times, meaning it doens thave to be done in that itmeframe, but it is roughly the same thing in terms of meal time, playtime, naptime, bathtime, etc etc... and my kids love it it keeps my sane

and what kept my 3 year old in order was a whiteboard on the fridge, where we wrote , numbered, what we were doing that day.. oh god he actually kept to it! :laughing: (it was everyhting from breakfast, bath, play, park, lunch etc etc) and after each task was done we would tick it off. and if i forgot brush teeth, he wouldnt do it :banghead: cuz its not ont he list.


we do not have it now, but i am considering bringing it back (it broke in my move)

[*Chels*]

I dont have a rountine.I kinda wish I did but I guess I was just a new mum,not really knowing what I was doing!!!We moved from NZ to Oz when Riley was 7 weeks,so at the time we should have been getting into a rountine,we were all over the show trying to get our life organised!!
We have a rough plan of the day though.Rileys never been a great sleeper!we went to the day stay clinic but he cried all day and slept for 10 mins,it was a diaster!!!
now we just go with the flow.he Breastfeeds to sleep,which does get annoying sometimes coz i always have to be the one to get him to sleep.But i just cant do the whole "let them cry" thing!
I think as long as you are both happy,then thats all that matters!!

[tommylu]

We have a routine with my little one he is 10mo,its not really strict but we do work around "his times" for example if i have to go grocery shopping ill do it in the morning so im back in time for his nap at 9:30-10am.
We had a really tough time with his sleeping,he was BF to sleep and i just couldnt do it any more i was exhausted from all the night waking, so we tried the controlled settling/crying it worked in 2 nights !
He now has set times for sleeping,mainly the nite time sleep 7-7.30 everynite and his first daytime nap then depending on how much sleep he got he might have another nap in the arvo,thats if he is tired.
The only bad thing about all this is that he has become acustomed to me doing everything.ie:he wont go down if DH or mum are looking after him.:rolleyes: :banghead:

[Briannabear]

We have a routine and always have. My DD responds well to it and I couldnt cope without it! :p
That said, we're pretty flexible. If DD is hungry she eats etc. Also, if I have to go somewhere that might disrupt her normal routine its not that big a deal.

[annb]

big routine freak here!!! have been since he was about 10 weeks old and it sooo works for us...he is NEVER cranky, sleeps at his nap times (tho we only have 1 nap now) has no problems going to sleep at 7pm so our evening is always nice and relaxed. Yes it can get a bit tedious at times being in such a set routine during the day but at least I know that I can plan my day/activities etc and not have a cranky child at any time. WIth #2 on the way I do wonder how I will do it with 2 kids tho both needing different sleep times

[BubbaLicious]

Nope no routine here!!!
Everything gets done, feeding sleeping, cleaning, bathing and so on, but in no particular order.
We are free spirits!! :D

[blueeyes]

We dont have a structured routine with set times, he wakes, feeds, plays and within two hours is back in bed. This is whenever due to his tired needs as well as his feeding needs. He is five months and is exclusively BF so he feeds when he needs to. The only time that is structured is nightime, he has a bath, feed and bed before 7. Then it is our (mine and DP) time.
Although with the introduction of solids soon this all may change!:yes:
Oh the joys!!:yes:

Mel

[arthursmum]

Thankyou all very much for replying, i really enjoyed reading tham all. It's nice to know that we're not the only people without a strict routine. I have never had one so i don't see why i should start now, it's a bit too stressful for me and A. I wouldn't do anything that upset my little boy, it's more that i have followed his pace since he was born and fit everything else in around that. I function alot better that way anyway.
Alot of his friends have routines (but i spose we do live in Switzerland!) & i just felt a bit like we were about the only people without one.
Cheers:D

[mum2bubba]

Hayley doesn't have a strict routine, some days shes awake at 8am and other days 10am (I know this will change when its time for school but thats a few years yet) we usually leave a four hour gap from when she wakes up in the morning to when she goes down for a nap so for example if she wakes at 9am she has lunch (obviously has breakfast first thing, then morning tea two hours later) then nap at 1pm or if she wakes at 8am (the earliest) her nap would be at 12pm etc (she sleeps 1 to 2 hours during the day, occasionally longer, somedays she doesn't sleep but she has some quiet time in her room for an hour or so so I can get thngs dome around the house) Bed time is always 8pm, the bedtime routine is pretty much the same every night (get p.js on or have a bath, read a book or two, then its bedtime)

I don't belive in strict routine, I believe there should be a balance and I think that some children (or families) need routine more than others, I know ppl who actually won't go out anywhere because their kids need a nap, if we're going out somewhere I just hope that Hayley sleeps in her pram or wherever, otherwise I might put her to bed a little earlier at night.

When she was about 4 months I got her into a routine but followed her one as well iykwim, she used to have two tow hour naps from when she was 4 months (before that she slept all the time we didn't really have a routine for her then) but when she was 8 months she only has one nap. Routines are important sometimes because it teaches yor children responsabilities-and when they go to school or kinder they will have set routines there so its best to get them prepared.

Dinner and bedtime are roughly at the same time every night with Hayley.

[damien's mum]

Hi there

My son is 16months, and i often have this fight with my SIL that i dont speak to now. She raises her son, to a book.. and with that i disagree, every child has their own personality, and will do what they feel comfortable with. She makes me work around her, and i dont think that is fair, i mean im pretty easy going with damien we live each day as it comes, we dont have a rountine, but a slight pattern, meaning damiens bottles and sleep, but i dont let that run my day, if i need to go out, then we do.

[~Emmylou~]

We have a routine but I wouldn't say it's "strict". We do things in pretty much the same order so everyone knows what's coming next - more peace that way because we've been doing this since she was a couple of months old so she knows no different and just goes along with it.

The only thing we are strict about is bedtime and day sleeps. If we have to do something during the day we work around her sleep, and we don't have her out at night after her bedtime which is 7pm.
It's not a big sacrifice really because we have no bedtime tantrums (she will sometimes go and wait at the bottom of the stairs to be taken to bed when she knows it's time) and we get a few hours to ourselves every single night :D

[SassyMummy]

We have a routine, but it's not strict. There are no "deadlines" I have to meet or anything.

I like things to go in a certain order though, and for her meals to be "roughly" scheduled...it makes it easy for me to plan my day if I know when DD will most likely be hungry and most likely want a nap etc...