How much of a routine do/did you follow with a 6 month old? Answers from all wanted!

[moodyzebra]

Ok, out of the lastest GF thread...
With your first/only child, at 6 months old, how much of a routine are/were you following?
Answers if possible categorised into:

1. Fairly strict routine, or GF-like.
2. Fairly loose routine.
3. None, or very little routine.

Last thread I found anything like this was in 2000! Eulalia, maybe JJ, are the only 2 posters I recognise from then.

Ooh! Answering for myself: 3 -- very little routine.

none but desperately waiting for one to happen, but didn't know how to get her into one.

Mixture of 2 and 3 (more 2 because of nursery, 3 at home) I think. I was back at work part time and she was at nursery 2 days a week. Nursery had routine. I didn't and still don't. Doesn't suit the way I life I'm afraid. Didn't follow any books guides, just went witht he flow.

GF! It worked for me as I didn't have a clue or family to help or advise me. Looking back I didn't need to follow it to the letter and I should of chilled out more which I plan to do if ever I manage to get pregnant again!

We don't follow GF but our DS has settled into a routine of his own and is very happy and contented. Am quite strict about naps etc. but will go out and do things and he has to fit in with us on those occasions.

GF here (1)

Worked well for us.

we get up early in the morning to take ds to school during the week but allow dd to wake up when she is ready at the weekend. Solids roughly the same time each day, again more to fit in with older child. Sleeps when she wants to, wakes when she wants to.

Very strict GF routine with DS from 2 months ...
DD has no real routine now (she is 3 months) apart from bath and bedtime at the same time...

Number 3, absolutly no routine at home (she was in nursery full-time starting at 6 months)

No Gf when I had DS1, but I wouldn't have done it then either, just not for me at all. But to answer the question...

DS1 (and DS2 and now DD who is 6 mths) followed a loose routine that we developed between us IYKWIM. No set times for things though, for example lunch would be sometime between 12 and 2, depending on what time we were up and what we were doing.

Our routine is set largely by ds's natural times to nap and eat, with the following exceptions...

1. If we are going out, he may have to eat earlier or later than he'd like.
2. Bedtime is always between 7.30 and 8.30, so sometimes he's fine with it, other times there's huge tears when he goes in the cot. Luckily this works for me, as I'm not working and he's the only child, so days can be fairly fluid. I just think it saves alot of hassle to wait until his body reaches its own conclusions! I would hate a strict GF routine in my life, so why impose it on him?

Was thinking of how to word my answer and then read lydia's and she's said it all for me.

Honestly Lydia we are EXACTLY the same. I've re-read your post about 10 times as I keep trying to explain our house and then you've said it in 1/4 of the words.

Are we almost MN twins now, then?

I would say 2), fairly loose routine. We did try GF a couple of times, but didn't click with it. I definitely felt I needed some routine (I need to feel I have some idea how the day will go, even if it was a living nightmare!) But I would say that by 6 months ds had decided his own routine and we went with that. Earlier than that, we had kind of guessed what he needed then enforced it (if that makes any sense. But there was a fine line between trying to make him do what we wanted (never worked) and being persistent when I knew it was what he needed. Though, I never panicked if he didn't sleep at X time, or we were out at bedtime, just kind of adapted it as need be. Okay, will stop going on now!!

1. I think. Most days two naps - am and pm but not set times. In the cot if at home. Regular bedtime with set routine - bath, milk, teeth, story, bed. Got up far too early to satisfy GF (ie bedtime 7.45, up by 6).

Possibly somewhere between 1 and 2. Not specifically GF, but fairly close to her for nap times etc. Routines have worked for me and still do with ds1 (age 3).

Same as Lydialemon, just developed our own vague routine, varied depending on what the day had to offer!

3 here and have always felt guilty about it, as if I'm doing something wrong by not having a 'routine'. All the books say babies need a routine to feel secure. All I can say is ds is a very happy baby... he's at nursery in the week now so gets more of a routine there but still nothing rigid at home and doesn't seem to bother him.

With ds1 it was somewhere between 2 and 3. We didn't have exact times for doing things and were pretty flexible. If I'd known at the time how much he relies on things to be the same (we didn't know at the time that he was autistic) we probably would have had quite a strict routine but one that we'd developed ourselves IYSWIM.

DD2 is a happier, calmer baby who cries much less and sleeps much much more. Could be part of her natural personality but we put it down to less imposed routine, following her signals rather than a books suggested timeplan and DH and I being naturally a bit better and more relaxed second time round.

(Poor DD1 - she has been a bit of a guinea pig when it comes to our parenting - we have tried all the routines out on her and none of them seemed to do a lot of good!)

1. Remember being quite anxious that they both napped in the afternoon at around that age because otherwise they didn't sleep at night, and that was about it in terms of routine. I don't think I'd read GF at that point but I feel safe saying that if I had I'd have been horrified at the very thought of her routines. I read it with horror about a year later when I discovered mumsnet and found GF to be the hot topic. I was pretty much passionately (and vehemently and rudely) anti until I started liking some of the people who were equally passionately pro... Now I just can't take her evil seriously at all.

Very definitely 1,GF, but adapted to fit in with mothers and toddlers, swimming, shopping, visits, holidays etc where necessary.

My ds was a bit of a nightmare and was quite demanding - so I decided early on that I needed a routine or I would be run ragged.

I would say 2: Fairly loose routine

I followed the baby whisperer book to a point - I would say not very strictly.
My sil never had routine and her two dd's, aged 3 years and 22 months, still sleep in her bedroom every night! So I think this scared me into having a routine!
I need organisation or I go to pot. So at 20 months ds is still in a good routine. But it works for us. ds sleeps and eats very well, which has taken work as he used to be a nightmare. sorry am waffling now!

3 - routine didn't fit in with me so I didn't bother. Did read the GF book and there were some interesting bits in it but WAY to restrictive to have a life as well.

I'd never heard of GF til I found mumsnet and by then it was too late, ds was 3 or 4. I'm between 2 and 3 on Zebra's list: we did what we wanted when we wanted but I found that he fairly naturally wanted to sleep at roughly the same time every day (didn't stop me going out though, he could sleep wherever we were, didn't need black outs or anything to do it!) and meals roughly fell into times ish. Dd is proving to be the same at 5 months: she sleeps and eats at fairly regular times but it's just evolved that way, we haven't imposed a routine on her.