Routines (6-9 mth olds)

[kyeaj]

Hi there!

Just wondering if anyone has set routines for their babies that they would like to post? I try to have one in place but find that it constantly changes with my lo's needs and development.

My ds is now 6 1/2 mths old and we are currently finding that he is not really sleeping much during the day, whether this has to do with teething, growth spurt, not needing as much sleep, going on to solids, etc. I was wondering how much sleep, what feeding times, activity times, etc, others have set in place for their babes.

I have searched this site for "routine" topics and unfortunately cannot seem to find much at all. I thought it might be useful for others (myself especially) to find out what others are doing.

I'll start with my daily routine...

7:00am - wakes (usually around this time) has bottle
7:30 - 8am - breakfast (cereal/mashed banana, etc)
9:00am - back to bed
11:00 - wakes (if I'm lucky, if not earlier) next bottle
12-1:00pm - lunch (vegies or fruit)
1:30pm - bed (hopefully at this time)
3:00pm - wakes (again if I'm lucky - but usually earlier) another bottle
4:30-5pm - sometimes has a nap here for around 45 min but lately not
6:00pm - dinner (meat and veg)
6:30pm - bath
7:00pm - bottle
7:30pm - bed for the night

* Lately waking during the night once or twice but generally goes back to sleep without much fuss.
* 4 bottles a day
* 3 feeds of solids
* sleeps at night for about 11-12 hrs straight
* generally has about 4hrs sleep during the day but not quite enough lately (2hrs)

I'm not sure if what our day consists of is good or bad but it seems to work so far. Just that I've found lately we've had trouble with the day sleeps and times overlapping with feeds etc.

Also, wondering when it might be safe to drop from 4 to 3 bottles a day? I've heard so many others the same age still having 5 still... I know it varies but my lo seems to not drink as much seeing as he is now on 3 solids a day. His bottle times also seem to interupt his nap times... You really need to be a mathemetician to work this all out! LOL

Please feel free to pm me if you like and any responses, suggestions, posting of your routines would be greatly appreciated.

Take care!
Kye

[reAllytee]

Well what you seem to be doing is fine !
Bubs will let you know when he is ready to drop his 4th bottle i just found my bubs started refusing it. Just make sure they are getting enough calcium in other ways with say yoghurt, cheese or custard. Another way to sneak it in is use as much formula or ebm if your bf to prepare meals for him.
In regards to feeds etc overlapping i would say try not to worry about timing things as such basically just go with the flow as this is what i now do with my bubs & he lets me know when he is hungry or the likes. A routine is good yes but it doesnt have to be so strict where your always worried about messing it up plus it will only send you crazy !
Our routine is below this is only roughly though as it is sometimes earlier just all varies day to day due to life getting in the way LOL.

6am wakes & bottle
7am brekky
7.30 - 9.30am playtime
9.30am nap
11.30am wakes
12pm lunch
12.30 - 3.30pm playtime
3.30pm bottle & nap
5.30pm wakes & dinner
6pm daddy time
7pm bath time
7.30pm bottle & bed

Sounds like maybe your bub either doesnt need the sleep.
Especially if he isnt showing tired signs or the likes but if he is maybe you need to watch him a little closer & catch them straight away to put him down for his naps. As i found that if i leave my bubs even just that 15mins longer he will get so over tired & irritable that he will just refuse to sleep. Plus there are the days that they are just too excited to sleep say with visitors for example or when teething or growing as this can upset them where they dont want to sleep.
You said he is stirring through the nite lately which can also be a sign of teething, growth spurt or even just his developmental changes. Take your pick its great isnt it :p
Its the common thing that we all wish they came with instructions manuals !
You said that things were working so id stay with it if i were you he will let you know when he wants to change by either sticking with staying awake for longer periods or starting to refuse the 4th bottle.
Remember every baby is different ! :D
Good luck !

[Snugglepot]

I did a 6 month baby course my local council offers the other day and they said that from 6 months most babies only need 14 hours sleep a day now. So as you little tacker is getting a lot of that at night, your day sleeps will now decrease. They suggested 1hr in the morning, 1.5 - 2 at lunch and half an hour in the afternoon. That allows for 10 - 11 at night. Your day is pretty much a perfect routine for bubs, just accept that they sleep less and work on getting bub to have the long sleep at lunch time.

You can drop a bottle and have 3, just ensure they get about 500 - 600 mls of milk a day.

Hope that helps. My son is identical to yours really, only he catnaps more, so less sleep in the day.

[watermelon]

Sophie is 6 months old this weeks and we have a routine quite similar to yours.
But I just can't get DD Sophie to sleep in. We are up by 5-5:30 am everyday.

5- 5:30 am - wakeup
6-6:30 - bottle (slow drinker!)
7am - breakfast (but too tired sometimes)
7:30- 9am sleep
9 - 10 am - play or go shopping etc
10am - bottle
12 - lunch ( but again getting very tired)
12:30 - 2pm - sleep
2 pm - bottle
2:30 - play
4:30-5pm - maybe a sleep
5-5:30pm - dinner
6pm - bath
6:15 pm - bottle
7pm - bed
9pm - dream feed
9-5am - as many as 5 night wakings :( (but she just needs resettling, rarely needs feeding)

So, we are still having 5 bottles of about 150mls each a day. She won't drink the "recommended" amount of formula at a go, so we're having an extra bottle at night. Hopefully we can drop a feed soon.
Even though we try for 3 solid meals a day she doesn't eat very much each time (about 1/3 jar of commercial or 2 cubes of homemade). I'm having trouble with getting the breakfast meal in as she is so tired again by that stage. I'm thinking of trying to do solids then milk at b'fast to try and make her eat a bit more.

Sophie will start going to long day care in 6 weeks so I'm trying to establish a routine that she can follow there.
Unfortunately I think the routine I'm using will have to be adjusted anyway, as I will need to leave for work by 7am. Its a 1 hour drive to work so not sure what will happen will the breakfast meal then. Hopefully we'll get home again in the evening early enough to keep the dinner meal at 5:30 - 6pm.

If anyone has any suggestions feel free to comment. (Any suggestions on the stopping the night wakings greatly appreciated!)


Sam (34)
Mum to Sophie (20/7/05)

[peekaboo]

Watermelon,
I was having the same problem with my DS waking too early, 5am-5:30am. Is your DD's room completely dark? Since putting dark curtains up my DS has been sleeping through until 7am!
Cheers, Leah

[watermelon]

Thanks Leah,

A few times I have thought about putting up darker curtains but have then read that it doesn't make any difference (according to some of my baby books).
I think I might have to go buy some block out curtains and give it a try

Sam

[kyeaj]

Hi guys! :D

Thank you so much for your replies... It definately makes me feel better to know that we're doing "the norm"! I'm pretty relaxed with our day-to-day doings as it changes so often and there is always different things going on but I find just having a guideline to try and stick to really helps me (and my lo).

Kez - Thanks or the advice re his amount of sleep... At least I know now that he is getting the average for his age that he should be getting. Most days it chops and changes as to how much time he sleeps for but he usually always gets around the same amount when you add it up, obviously the amount that he needs.

Also thank you for the bottle advice... now I know that if I drop one (he usually drinks around 200 ml each bottle), that he will still be getting 600ml a day which is fine.

Sam - you mentioned that your Sophie is waking during the night... Is it usually around the same time? As I have heard that it is common for babies to set a pattern and wake at the same times for no reason (it's just because they're get used to it). If you can resettle her back to sleep and try to do this for 3 nights running, then this will break her pattern. This will only work if it's a "habit", not for hunger, nappy change, etc. Try reading "The Babywhisperer" books - great tiips on night wakings, settling, etc.

As for this 3 times to break a pattern... It actually works for anything, nap times, settling, sleep amounts etc. It's amazing!!! Heard it from a girlfriend and I live by it now... Once I hit day 3 with anything new I'm trying - I'm over the moon!

Take care and thanks to all,
Kye

[Natasha Wells]

My DD is about to turn 6 months and has been on this routine for about a month now. Before that she was having three day sleeps and 4 bottles. Everywhere i have read says at 6 months MOST babies sleep 10-12 hrs the average obviously being 11 hrs and need a total of 14 hrs a day. So 3 - 4 hrs during the day is plenty of sleep at this age. As for the bottles if they having 3 solid meals a day i think 600 - 800mls of milk a day is fine. We have just recently dropped to 3 bottles. This is our routine:

6.30am - Sometimes wakes so comes into bed for cuddles with Mum and Dad :-)
7am - Bottle 250mls
8am - Breakfast Fruit and Cereal
9.15/9.30am - Sleep 1.5-2hrs
12pm - Lunch Yoghurt or Custard
1pm - Bottle 200mls
2.15/2.30pm - Sleep 1.5hrs
4.30/5pm - Dinner Veges
6pm - Bath
6.30pm - Bottle 250mls
7pm - Sleep for the night.

I hope this is helpful :-)