breast feeding and routines.

[kay06072021]

Hi everyone! I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I would really like to breast feed! My little one isn’t here yet, but he will be going to nursery when he’s around 8 months old, so I’ve thought about weaning from boob to bottles fully when I start weaning onto food, ready for nursery.

anyway, my question is how can I get him into a routine? obviously you can’t really put a newborn into a routine, but when he’s old enough have you found that feeding times have come naturally?

a routine is really important to me, especially as I will be continuing my degree when he is 3 months old.

I think you need to live in the present a bit more. Cross all those bridges when you come to them, there are a million and ten different things that could happen between now and then.

A routine is just doing the same things each day until your baby comes to expect them.

Some babies fall into a routine, some don't. There's no way of knowing what your baby will be like now. Good luck!

I've breastfed both my children, still BF DC2 who is 7 months old.

I think there are some mothers who breastfeed to a schedule but I believe it's quite rare, I think for the most part it makes more sense to just BF on demand.

I do have a flexible schedule for naps which is very helpful (I am using awake windows rather than fixed nap times) and I tend to fit in feeds around that, naturally it is decreasing a bit as we introduce solids, but she is also feeding less at night (yay!) so I'm trying to fill her up during the day to ensure we can stick to fewer night feeds.

My advice is to wait and see how it goes, some people get on with a routine and others don't.

Also you can continue to breastfeed after baby starts nursery, if you want to. You just breastfeed them morning and evening. That's what I did with DC1 - he started nursery at 8 months old. He did also have a bottle at nursery (of ebm or formula) but continued to breastfeed when at home with me.

My baby is 5 months old and only very recently has sort of naturally fallen into a time specific routine (but it can change quickly). I mean she feeds every 3ish hours so if she wakes up at the same time every day then she usually end up feeding at the same time but it only takes her to have a bad night and sleep an hour later in the morning then the timings all change.
I wouldn’t focus too much on long term plans, your idea and plans may all change when baby is here

I haven't read it but 'The Positive Breastfeeding Book' by Amy Brown looks good. I would recommend getting a book about breastfeeding (that one or a different one) to learn about the basics before baby is born.

For sleep I recommend the Huckleberry app, I've found it very helpful (you can track sleep, get recommendations on schedule, reminders when it's time for nap/bed, and general sleep tips).

It is hard to plan a routine, but many babies do naturally fall into one. I’m sure feeding and sleeping patterns tended to become fairly routine without me doing much. But it all depends on the wee character. My first child used breastfeeding for comfort, so much, relied on it, whereas my second was a bit more take it or leave it.

I’m the early weeks there’s absolutely no routine at all, and the baby can cluster feed for hours at a time to build up supply. Now at 4 months my baby fairly reliably feeds at the same time most days, but it’s quite a recent development. That said, he is fed on demand - if I had tried to impose a routine on him it might have worked!

I think just wait until baby comes. Some baby’s don’t like routine others do.
My son is 18 months and have no routine and I have tried and tried and failed every time.
He still breastfeeds and point blank refuse any other milk ( again we have tried and tried)
3 months is fairly young to have a routine, I fed on demand and he still would if he had his way

I think going back to studying with a 3 month old baby is optimistic. I did have a bit of a routine with twins but not rigid and not until they were 8 or 9 months.

I have friends that managed it earlier with bottle fed babies. I think it's really lovely that you're thinking ahead but the thing with babies is that its all a bit up in the air - you don't know how they'll take to breastfeeding / sleeping or a routine (and just when you think you've got it cracked they have a growth spurt or get I'll or something!). Saying you want an EBF baby in a routine could be stressful / make you worry or feel like a failure if it doesn't happen. Try to keep an open mind! Good luck!

If he’s going to nursery at 8m i honestly wouldn’t faff with the stress of weaning onto bottles.

Mine went to nursery at that age, they bf in the morning, evening and before bed. At nursery they just had solids, and were given cheese/yoghurt/milk in a cup at snack time.

They usually fall into something of a routine by 3 months. Again I wouldn’t stress, but find ways you can study while bf- sort out voice dictation for example so you can dictate notes instead of writing, and download reading material onto a phone or tablet.

Thing is with babies the “routine” won’t help that much as it’s pretty much feed, play a bit, change nappy, sleep, repeat. You need to figure out how to study while feeding and/or in those small windows while baby sleeps.

I moved from bf on demand to routine at 6-7 months in combination with weaning. At 6 months was still on demand but probably only 5 times a day by then. By 7 months was 4 times a day; first thing, about 11, about 3 and last thing at night.

With DC1 we worked really hard at getting him to take a bottle as well so from 4 months he had the occasional bottle of expressed milk then formula later. With DC2 I couldn't be bothered with bottles so followed same move from demand to routine but without bottles.

I echo pp in that see how it goes when your little one is here. I breastfeed on demand my 5 months old, and it works out about every 2 - 2.5 hours. Only now my DS is settling into some sort of a routine with naps which he fell into by himself. Prior to that, he did not do any consistent/long enough day naps (I've tried it all and failed, until he fell into naps himself at around 4 and a half months).

Won't lie, it will be tricky to study with a 3 months old. I remember finishing up some spreadsheets for work when my DS was 2 weeks old. I was using My Brest Friend pillow to feed and had both of my hands free. Even though I managed it, it wasn't pleasant, and I won't do that again.

It is absolutely fine to breastfeed to a routine, it’s perfectly doable. I did from day 1, as it suited me and my baby. Cluster feeding etc will be inevitable tho regardless. Demand feeding suits others. See what you feel like doing when baby arrives, but don’t be put off breast feeding as others say it’s too hard to do a routine as it’s just down to the individual

I wish someone had told me how unpredictable babies can be at the beginning, the are like a little chaotic whirlwind. You should always prepare for the unexpected. The best thing for you and baby is to go with the flow and take your time with things.

For at least the first twelve weeks they are pretty unpredictable. Mine started making her own routine around twelve weeks and the routine has become more predictable as time has gone on (she is eight months old now). With breastfeeding it is better for your milk supply to feed on demand as baby instinctively knows to suckle on the breast to produce more milk.