Newborn queries ....

[lay82]

My DS is 4 weeks old I am bottle feeding and would like to get him into a routine, but not finding it easy. Sometimes he will take a full feed 5oz and last 3 hours - perfect. he wakes for his next feed and then might only take 2oz which only lasts him 2 hours max so my ideal routine of 7,10,1,4,and 7 o' clock feeds go to pot. I know he is not a machine but other people seem to manage this with ease.

Does anyone have any hints and tips of how they achieved this.

I should add I am never keen to wake him from a sleep as i assume he sleeps if he needs too which can also throw my routine out, should I wake him?

Honestly? I think he's too young for a routine. I have two DSs and bottle-fed them both from fairly young but didn't attempt a routine till they were 3-4 months when they started to fall into their own sort of routine and you take the lead from there... In the first 3 months, just let them do their own thing and relax and enjoy them!

For me, I didn't worry too much about how much they were drinking and when. I fed them as and when they are hungry. And let them nap as and when too. But I do have the 'key' moments in the day to give the day some structure. For example, a walk in the pushchair in the late afternoon, bath-time at around 6pm, followed by bottle and bed. Eventually, as your DS gets more 'predictable', you can start to try and nudge him into your routine by say, keeping him up till the nap time you have in mind for him etc. He's still very little, enjoy him! :)

Agree with angel - just go with the flow and feed him when he's hungry and don't get hung up on how much he is taking. If you were bf you wouldn't know!! You will find before long you will start to see some signs of routine, i.e. sleeping at around the same time each day or going longer between feeds - take your cues from him. Ds always used to get tired and sleep about 9am so I have always used that as my ideal time to get him to sleep in the morning - as has been said, he won't stay little for long, so enjoy this time

Lay82 you might find some help on this thread...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/1041506-Safe-thread-for-those-using-Gina-Ford-Babywhisperer-routines

but yes, i would wake him for a feed at the intervals you have suggested. It shouldn't take long for his internal clock to align with the routine you want to establish.