When does a routine appear?

[lilystem]

Hi.

I have a five and a bit month old. He's bf on demand (normally 6 ish feeds in a 24hr period) and sleeps fairly well. On a good night we get a good 7 hour stretch from 7pm.

The only routine I have is that anywhere between 6pm and 7pm we'll change him, bath every other night, story, feed and bed.

When does the rest of the day fall in to a routine? (Please tell me it does!!) Today for example he had 2 1.5 hour naps and one half hour nap but yesterday he only slept for 45 mins all day. I tend to just follow his cues based on sort of eat/activity/sleep/activity routine. It just totally changesevery day!

Does weaning help? Is it worth trying to enforce a routine and if so at what age?

Dd was also bf on demand and I found routine appeared after weaning. Once she was on a good 3 meals a day around 7 months old everything sort of fell into place around that. In the end when she did insist on set times for food and naps I was a little put out as I had got used to being more flexible. You can't win sometimes :o

From about 6/7 months with solids and dropping to 2 naps.

8 months here and still waiting...

I'm bf my 3rd on demand and the only routine that has evolved is bedtime.Bath at 9 after the older 2 then bf again in front of TV,in cot at about 10.30.Sleeps until 7 most nights.
With my older 2 a daytime routine developed as they were weaned and was also influenced by them being more mobile and tiring themselves out so after 7-8m it was roughly;
morning activity,nap,lunch,activity,nap,play,tea,bath,sleep.
At 11months they were napping after lunch only,as it fitted in with childminder/nursery arrangements.

14 months and still waiting.....