Baby routine advice please

[Lyns22]

Hi everyone, I'm pregnant with our first baby and just looking for some honest answers please.
I was just wondering what your newborn baby's routine is, ie how often between feeds, how many times they're up in the night, nappy changes etc. I appreciate every baby is different but if a few people answer this should help me get a general idea. I find that friends and family are kidding themselves and boasting that their newborn only wakes up once, it's frustrating that some mums are just trying to 'outdo' each other by bragging about who has the best behaved baby! Strangers tend to keep it real!
Many thanks! X

Ha,ha,ha. Routine. Snort. Stifled giggle. Choke.

Ok, so now that's out of the way....

There is no newborn routine. It varies from day to day up to about 8 weeks (earliest).

I was feeding on demand so every hour or so, the only thing that was fairly consistent in the first few weeks was a very grumpy time around 6-8pm with a lot of cluster feeding, basically feeding none stop between 6pm and 11 pm. Then every couple of hours in the night.

Set your expectations very low and you might be pleasantly surprised.

But, don't get complacent, just because yours sleeps well on day 4 means absolutely nothing. I have friends who thought they'd nailed it with a baby sleeping 12 hours straight at 3 months who last week at 7 months didn't go longer than 45 minutes at a time!

At day 5 DD was going 5 or 6 hours& everyonewas amazed. Since day 6 she didn't sleep for longer than 3 hours until she hit 6 months and a bit of night weaning and now she goes 4 hours. Sometimes. Woo hoo!

But seriously, congratulations and here's wishing you a snoozy one!

I suggest you read the sleep and also parenting topics in this forum :) ... that should tell you all you need to know (and put you off children for life after bump is here).

:)

(Mum to two dd aged 9 and ds 6 months who have never slept more than half an hour the whole day long - but sleep well at night thank god - and decide that daytime starts at 4.3am every blood day).

Thanks ladies!! Ill set my standards low and anything is a bonus!
:-) x

Baby's don't have routines well not at newborn anyway!! My dd wasn't into a routine til she was 6 weeks and all that consisted was a bath bed and dream feed at the same time each night. Your baby will settle into their own feeding routine x

The way newborns sleep is no indication at all of how they will sleep when they are a little bit bigger. My newborn fed all night the first few days and then gradually got into her own way of doing things.
My tip would be to teach the difference between day and night by providing daylight exposure in the daytime and darkness at night. Don't panic if at first it's all upside down - they do get into a pattern usually.

My son had a few medical problems at birth which involved everything being monitored constantly. I had to note down the times and duration of everything he did. ;feeding, sleeping, bowel movements, crying, vomiting etc.
Although I wouldn't suggest anything so extreme, when we came home from the hospital the boys routine was great! Mainly because I had discovered his own patterns in a way that I never would have noticed if it wasn't written down. With my next one I definately plan on making notes of certain things ( especially handy for those "why does he always seem to cry at this time?" moments of clarity)

Just take each day as it comes. What I would say though is that its never too early to start helping them differentiate between night and day. So during the day, get DC dressed (in something other than a sleep suit!) make it light, and don't be afraid to make noise. At night, put DC in sleep suit, quiet things down, and make it darker (close curtains etc). I have to admit though, dc spent first 2 week s in sleep suits, as it was easier!Good luck!

I would say just do what works in the beginning. Feed on demand (they cry less), sleep when you can. The first three months are like a fourth trimester, so you can't get them to do much tbh. Around 4-5 months a routine kind of falls into place. Always demand feed though!! Good luck