What does/did your daily routine look like with an 8-9 week old?

[Dennisreynoldsduster]

I feel like we haven’t got much of a routine going on and I’m worried I’m not doing enough to get DS out and about and socialising (we’ve all had horrible colds recently and the weather has been so awful here we’ve been home a lot) and not entertaining him enough.
We don’t really have a bedtime routine as such either yet and I was just wondering what everyone else does with their baby around the same age?

At that age, absolutely no routine at all. It's about surviving at that stage as they're so little still.

Your baby is still absolutely tiny - please don't worry socialising and entertainment. As long as your baby has lots of cuddles you're doing great

We had a vague bedtime routine but really the focus was on feeding on demand (breastfeeding), skin to skin, naps on me etc etc.

As far as socialising etc went I took him to a baby massage class once a week which he loved and fell asleep in the middle of it every time!

Can 8-9 week olds socialise?

Up at 7,
Naps at 9ish for the school run
Bf/nap on me most of the day!!
2:45 nap on school run
6:30 bath
Cluster feed
11ish - down in crib
3am g feed
6am - feed

During the week we do baby sensory, baby sign and massage

Dd 10 weeks

We were out a lot but it wasn't for DD's benefit! I just found the days way too long without going out and doing something, even just meeting someone for lunch in a local cafe to break the day up as otherwise it was quite relentless.

Honestly don't worry about groups and things like when they're that age. I personally didn't have DS out to groups and things until after his vaccinations were done. Up until then it was walks, round to see family and the weekly trip to the supermarket!

They don't even know what their hand is at 9 weeks old, never mind benefit in any way from a baby group. Maybe baby massage if they're hard to settle/have colic. My DS was 9 weeks at Christmas so obviously there was socialising but only because we had to 😂

For us at that age is was

1. Up to get ready

8.30 sleep on the way to nursery 10.45 start feeding to get ready for nursery run 11.30 sleep on the way to nursery 18.00 bath time with big sister Cluster feed for hours

Everything else was just as and when she needed it or it fitted around other essentials.

At this age they only need to socialise with you and significant family members. Baby groups are just for your sanity. Chatting and singing is enough stimulation.

I know what you mean - my DD is 9 weeks. I have her booked into baby sensory to start in a few weeks but we are mainly just in the house at the moment. For a change of scene I go into different rooms in the house and take her for a walk in the pram when it’s not pissing it down! No proper routine, bath twice a week x

Thanks all this has made me feel loads better.
Had friends over today who commented that I wasn’t doing enough with him and I felt really bad!
Generally we are up at 7, have a feed, he goes
Back down for a bit and I shower and grab breakfast then he’s up and I generally take him out for a walk if the weather isn’t terrible
Or we
Have cuddles and he goes on his play mat/naps
Sometimes have people over
I put him in his basket in the kitchen when I cook so I can sing to him/ chat to him/ play him lullabies
Tend to then chill until DH comes home then he will have a cuddle with him, he usually has a little
Nap and we try to eat during that window then he’s up and chatting until about 10/11 when he has a final feed and (sometimes) goes down to sleep - sometimes til 5ish which is great

I just felt terrible that perhaps I wasn’t doing enough for his development when they said that! She said they went to two baby groups a day at nine weeks but I couldn’t manage that I don’t think. And there’s so much going around at the moment, he’s already had a bit of a cold
So I was waiting til he’s had his next set of jabs...

Two baby groups a day is NUTS! I did three or so a week and thought that was loads, but two a day is mental.

Up at 5 because of DH going to work and unable to be quiet.
Try to get dc1 ready for school
8:30 School run for dc1
Washing
Washing
Eat biscuits
Washing
School run for dc1
Washing
Dinner for dc1
Bedtime for dc1 while dc2 screams
DH comes back from work (8:30)
Dinner for me and DH
Overtired dc2 conks out on me
I collapse
30 seconds later both children awake and screaming because life hates me

Pretty much the same now dc2 is 6 months

Two baby groups a day! Is she deluded? I have a 15 week old asleep on me at the moment, we are just getting into a routine (of his making) and attend one baby group a week. The rest of the time we take the toddler to preschool, walk the puppy, go out to the shop, maybe go to a support group and go to contact (foster mum).

Just do what works for you. At that stage we were doing baby cinema once a week, baby yoga once a week, postnatal yoga and a walk each day, plus lots of seeing friends who were also on mat leave and eating very many buns.

Baby groups are entirely for the parents at that age; I don't think babies really get any benefit from them. Some people need groups and adult company to keep from going insane. For me, the best thing about mat leave is how few people I have to talk to and interact with. Everyone is different! I have stopped going to baby groups as such now but we do go to exercise classes where you wear baby in a sling. I like the fact that these are clearly for the mothers and the baby is just an added extra. I also like baby cinema too. Basically, I just live my life and drag DS around with me. I remember my HV saying that the only things you really need to do are chat to the baby and allow him/her plenty of time to kick around on the floor. Sounds like you're doing it perfectly!

Hi,

I have a ten week old, we have found a bedtime routine works for us, he gets tired at the same time and wakes to feed at the same time each night.

7:30am wake up
11am nap (usually 1-1.5 hour)
Lots of cuddles, tummy time and books (pretty sure only tummy time is actually being learned lol)
3PM nap (until fivs)
7:30 bath, massage, bottle and bed for 8:30pm

Two night feed times are 2;30am and 5:30am.

We go to baby sensory but he is normally in full potato mode, it's more for me to socialise.

Full potato mode made me laugh @ilovethekitties

DS is really guzzling food at the moment, I think he may be going through a growth spurt although he’s just had one judging by the amount of chunking up he’s done in the last week - jumped a centile!
He tends to want to eat a lot during the evening/late night then goes down for a good 5-6 hours but I’m hoping to try and bring his “bedtime” forward a bit

I’ve got some books arriving in a couple of days so am going to start reading those to him and he seems to enjoy his playmat more now - So I am trying to keep him entertained

Like others have said, no routine is needed!I felt like you do with ds1. I had a little playlist on my phone and we'd sing nursery rhymes each morning. Dh thought i was bonkers but it made me feel organised! With ds2, i just embraced the sleepy cuddles. The time will soon come when he wants to be out and about. And throughout your parenting, there will ALWAYS be people who tell you you're not doing something right or you should be doing more. Find your tribe of like-minded mummies

At this age the groups are definitely for you to be able to socialise. With my first I started groups around 10 weeks because I felt like I needed to get her out doing things, but really I just felt it was quite stressful trying to get there on time and ended up missing some of the classes which were prepaid because she fell asleep or because she decided she needed a bottle just before we needed to leave. With my second I've decided not to do any for a while until she will actually benefit from it.

Like you said too the weather is awful so don't put the pressure on yourself to get you both out in the horrible weather to get somewhere for a certain time when you could just decide to go for a nice walk at any time whenever the weather improves. If you feel like you want to socialise maybe look for some drop in sessions so you don't have to commit to going every week, but if you're not too fussed then carry on what you're doing, baby will just be happy to have you there talking to them and having plenty of cuddles

No routine really. But my 11 week old tends to only be happily awake for 1 hour or 1.5 hours max! So it’s several naps a day until she goes down for good 7:30 /8:30pm until 3am feed and sleep again until 7am. When she is awake we do reading, baby mat, baby play gym, music, dancing. We usually take one or two walks a day w the dog. No play groups as she is too young. She is my third and I think earliest to get benefit is 4/5 months. Unless it’s a baby massage class.

My baby is 8 weeks tomorrow and we have no routine whatsoever.

I wake up with her anytime between 7am and 11am, we cuddle, drink coffee and watch a TV show. At sole point we'll have tummy time. Then we go out for the day. She spends most of the time sleeping in her pram. We go out because otherwise I'd go nuts in the house all day and it gives me a break from feeding her every hour and a half, as she sleeps longer. Then we come home and drink more coffee.

When my boyfriend gets home we might give her a bath, although not that often, and we eat food and entertain the baby. We sleep around midnight, waking normally twice to feed.

There are no designated nap times. If she sleeps, she sleeps! :D