Should I try and change this routine - whay would you do?

[dellabob]

Hi MNers,
I need some basic evening/night routine guidance fo my DD.
She is 8weeks old and has put herself into a a pattern for the last 3 weeks - which fits natural her rhythm I guess. It goes like this:

5 - 7pm - serious nap
7pm wake up - change, feed and finish nearly at 8pm
8pm - bed
2am - feed
6-7 - wake up feed

This comes after a morning nap of 2 hours and shorter lunchtime nap and feeds every 2 1/2-3 hours.

This is great, and I'm not com[plainin in the slightest but it does interfere with the evening with my DH and dinner prep. Not that I begrudge this at all, I just wondered if there was a way I could try and delay things to start her nap/bed at 7pm instead of 5 and try and get her to continue to sleep through the 6 hours she is currentl doing?

So yesterday I managed to get her afternoon nap from 3-5pm and woke her to feed/play, but she was absolutely exhausted and couldn't stay awake. I got her to bed at 7pm, and dream fed her at 10pm no problems. However, she still woke at 2am and so I fed her.

Do you think this was because it was a break from what she normally doe/likes or this is her wake up time and thats that. go with the flow Is there anything you woulkd do differently or just continue to go with the flow of her rhythm?
Thanks :-)

Congratulations on the new arrival!

Think at eight weeks you may just have to go with the flow.

Not sure if it's a consolation or not, but during the first three - six months they tend to change their routine every few weeks anyway. You are also coming up towards a growth spurt phase so don't be surprised if you have a few days of lots of sleep and then more than a few days of her being bright-eyed and bushy tailed at random hours of the night.

Hmm I think this is pretty good already, can't you do a dinner prep from 5-7 and then finish it quickly lost 8? Dd woke reliably between 2 and 4 am until about 10 months. If bedtime is the main issue, you have to get her to nap earlier as you know, and the transition will take several days. Personally I'd just accept the 2 am waking as hunger, more than reasonable for her age.

Why does that interfere with your DH prepping dinner? Sounds like a great routine.

If your baby is anything like mine , her patterns will change every few weeks so I'd just go along with it. You seem to have achieved the first hurdle of separating night and day, well done. As time goes on you can aim to finish naps by 5 and do bed at 7, or whatever works for you.

DH and I do alternate nights so one of us does dinner & the other bedtime, but that was once things had become a bit more predictable.

That sounds a lot like my DS2's pattern around the same age. It sounds like you are doing well and responding to her needs. That late afternoon/early evening sleep is a pain for you in relation to your time with partner etc but it doesn't last for ever! And as you've seen trying to keep them up til 6 or 7 is awful, poor things, they are just too tired!

My son, now nearly 9 months, is still sometimes really tired about 5pm and if I am on my own (ie DH not home unexpectedly early!) I pop him to bed, as can't deal with trying to keep him up and happy, plus sort out my toddler's dinner. In those cases the baby usually wakes by 6pm, has a little bath & milk, then is back to bed 7ish with no detriment to his usual waking times.

Roll with it, you are doing fine!

Thanks ladies. That is reassuring to know that DD is doing ok at the moment. The 7pm bed route has worked for 2 nights now and just attempted the third! Although she woke at 2 with wind and didn't need feeding, so I let her settle back down until she wanted to be fed at 5.30am - I think it was a fluke to be honest!

So i'm enjoying the new pattern but waiting for the next change to occur