Did you do a routine and of so did it work? I'm desperate!

[raininginbaltimore]

Dd is almost 6 weeks. I didn't do anything with ds, but dd is so unsettled I think partly through overtiredness. I seem unable to catch her early enough.

Several friends have suggested a routine.

They all swear by it, even some who did nothing with dc1 then routine with dc2.

So did you do a routine, was it "her" or baby whisperer or something else. And did it work!

Make a note for a few days of when she does sleep, when she seems over tired etc. I had a DS who had to be held to go to sleep, still does, woke if I moved, had to be carried, sung to and eyelids stroked to get to sleep. Never had a regular sleep time. Now I have a dd and none of that works. The best thing I can do when she starts to be tired is put her in her cot and shut the door. I find it quite bemusing as often she grins at me, sucks her thumb and is asleep before I shut the door.

I've realised she fell into a routine quite quickly. Woken at 6 by DS grrrr, fell asleep for a morning nap, then a longer nap after lunch, then an evening one and thn bed.

You might begin to notice a rough routine already. E.g. If she seems to be overtired at 10 for a couple of days, then try putting somewhere quiet and comfy, out of earshot of DS if possible at e.g. 930. Look for tiredness signs. For DS this was he began to put his fingers in his ears and eyelids went red (but he never rubbed them). DD gets fractious when tired and it's not feeding time or nappy, her eyelids start go red and she swipes her hands in front of her eyes and sometimes takes her thumb.

We've had much success with flexible routine as read in Rachel Waddilove's book. I don't think it really paid off until we'd been working on it for a while though, and do modify what she says to suit your dd.

Yes I did. But not until a few months old. At 6 weeks they lived in the sling so could sleep when they needed - usually after 45 mins of awake time at age. Routine was pointless as they needed so much sleep when newborns (by that I mean naps at set times).

I've tried, and am still trying, to get my DS (age 4.5 months) on a routine. I found "her" too rigid for me; also tried following DS's cues for sleep and feeding - fail; now giving a look at Baby Whisperer, her suggestions are similar to GF's although seem more understanding and flexible.

Overtiredness is a big problem for me too. If I miss that "window", as TH calls it, he becomes hysterical - won't eat, and making him sleep is a nightmare, then when he does sleep he sleeps badly with constant wake-ups. Once he cried (screamed) for four hours, we were sure at the time it was teething but in retrospect I realise he was exhausted.

I think the routine books have some great insights about being prepared for WHEN they should be getting tired, as mine doesn't even yawn or rub his eyes to give me an indication - he just goes straight into fussing which very quickly progresses to crying and then the dreaded screaming. The overall advice is great, you just may need to tweak to fit your situation. For example, I find that mine frequently gets tired well before the books say he should. He also frequently refuses feeds according to the routine, which is driving me to the brink of insanity. But with work, DD starting school, dog and errands - not to mention sleep - I think a routine is increasingly important for both parents and baby, so worth persisting. It would also be nice to have a social life again!

Good luck.

Tried a routine early and think by about 6 wks DS was getting over-tired. Then read Dr Weissbluth which I loved - about understanding and identifying times of day when you're naturally more sleeping. It's a kind of flexible routine but based on his research of when babies are most naturally tired and then having them sleep in that window. He does say don't stress about it under 4 months as you won't build bad habits. Main thing for younger babies is to be trying to limit there awake time to no more than 2 hours at a time. Sounds short but worked great for us and others I know. Good luck!

Gina Ford worked for me. Not everyone's a fan but I really needed some kind of structure. It drove me mad when people would ask 'When's a good time to visit?' and I never knew what I was doing from one minute to the next.
Her plan is very tightly structured and you can beat yourself up trying to get it perfect but if you try to more or less stick to the pattern, accept that it will often go wrong but persevere, I hope you will be, as I am, rewarded with two steady, stable babies who are contented because they know what's happening next.
With DS1 I (now 22 months and still on it) I started around 8 wks. It was hard because he didn't always sleep until the next feed, cried LOADS, had colic and wind and all sorts but I'd try and pull things back on course and get through the day. The best thing was getting a 7pm bedtime sorted and feeding again at 1030 or so before we hit the sack ourselves.
With DD2 it was a bit harder as she had to fit around DS1 but now she's great (8 months old).
Good luck. 6 weeks is HARD WORK. By 4 months (I know it seems ages away) you will notice your baby really settling better.

I agree with Aloha on Dr Weissbluth's book though it is very wordy... and LONG but the 2-hour awake window is a REALLY good tip in the early weeks. Your baby won't show signs of being tired so you have to check the clock all the time and put her down before the 2 hours is up.
Sleep is one of the hardest nuts to crack. But so important!

I couldn't get dd into a rountine until she was 9 months old.

yes - but not until 3mo +
i don't thing they really do routine until then
both girls then gravitated towards a shorter morning nap, and a longer pm one.

If you're BF, I would say not to bother until at least 10 weeks old to get past the really nightmare cluster feeding weeks. It's impossible to schedule around this bit!

yep started DS2 at 4 weeks, DS1 straight away. I used Gina Ford and loved it worked tremendously well even though DS2 was hardwork from the word go. I like it because I leant to push feeds, better sleep and helped with any PND as I felt that I knew there was a system and I knew what I had to do next. I disagree that 6 weeks is too early as you can instill lots bad of habits very early. Even if you do some parts of the routine early especially with the cluster feeds you can start the flow. It does make you feel better. I had my routine stuck on the fridge door and changed it as the weeks went on.

Same as bacon - worked a treat for me and I knew where I was

We didn't set out to do a routine but we found DS was going for his bedtime sleep about same time so we decided to go with it. He was in his own room by 2 weeks old as both DS and DH kept disturbing each other (which was fine whilst DH was off work).

Anyhow, we've stuck to the same routine, 6pm, bath into his room to get his pj's on, bottle then to bed (no dummy). We now 14mths on have a baby that goes to bed at 6.30 ish and sleeps (with 1 to 2 wakes a night for a top up) until 7am ish.

Similarly as soon as his teeth started to show we started with a baby brush; first mummy brushes then DS brushes n now he's happy to have his teeth brushed with no fights or tantrums.

This means me and DH get to spend time together on an evening, which is soooo important (well to us anyway).

If we were blessed with another child, i wouldn't hesitate to do a routine from the outset.

At 6 weeks we went with the flow, breastfeeding / co-sleeping etc. 6 weeks is Too young for routine IMOA. At 5 months we established a routine as i was going back to work, and needed DD to feel settled with DH and CM doing everything the same. She had regualr nap times and a bedtime routine which is the same now - dinner, bath, milk, story, teeth and bed. she didn't sleep through the night until 18 months - but only woke for a feed and settled back to sleep after. The plus side is she goes to bed really happily, but the downside is she won't sleep anywhere BUT her bed, and is hopeless after 7pm (2.9 now) as she just wants to go home to sleep - so no spontaneity. Generally works for us, but sometimes wish we could stay out a bit later all together - or not have to dash home midday so she can have a nap in her room...

I couldn't establish any kind of routine until DD was around 12 weeks and even then it was sketchy. At six weeks many babies are too young IMO but many on here have had some success. My routine now is up around same time every day, bath, play and bed around same time. Naps I follow her lead.

My advice would be not to stress over this too much, go with the flow and let your baby sleep in a sling during the day. There's a good chance routines will fall into place in a few weeks.

I did GF from birth with DC2. Relaxed easy going big baby that bf quickly.
Didn't even cluster Feed so fitted evening bf's.
Was down at 7 @6wks & 7-10.30,10.30-5.30 then til 730 then too.
Judge by baby's personality. And def cluster feed a small/ hungry bf baby!! Ignore gf guidelines for bf baby in evenings. Just don't wake then up unless they're tiny and been told to.
Oh yes and DC2 slept in a cot straight away and also was does perfectly for naps. Co slept for first 6wks and straight to cot. Great

I loosely followed gina ford routines & it definitely worked for me.

I wouldn't try anything so early though - maybe by the time lo is 4 months old.

Sleep routine mine had from few months was something like this:
Nap 9 - 10am
Nap 12-2pm
Nap 4 -5 pm
Bed 7pm

Changed slightly as go older as middle sleep became 1-3 pm and late afternoon nap was dropped. Now dd only sleeps 1-3 in the day.

What are you desperate FOR?

For routine?