Getting a routine - where do I start?

[Stefka]

My DS is three weeks old and so far we have just been taking it as it comes. I am thinking we need to start some kind of routine though but I have no idea where to begin. Any advice?

don't worry yet - honestly plenty of time for that, I went witht he flow with ds, i'm sure some folks will say get in there from the start but do as you will I say - look for routeins etc around 3-4 months ish - we then started for bedtime and worked everything else round - alos by then you have a pretty good idea of your baby's patterns - althou tbh they do like to change things as well lol.

congrats on the new arrival btw.

yes, don;t try a routine yet !

just when you think you have cracked it , a growth spurt, teething, a cold or something else will blow it out of the water!

follow your baby, get to know him and his needs ..... as adults we have days we are not hungry, or we cannot stop eating, we are really sleepy or wide awake, want to be amused, or are just happy to sit and watch the world go by... babies are the same, take each day as it comes and enjoy

Stefka give yourself a break! Aren't you expressing and suffering sore nipples at the moment? Honestly, just keeping yourselves clean, fed and watered is marvellous at this age. There is plenty of time for establishing a routine when your LO is a few weeks older and nothing you do at the moment will set them up with bad habits.

Even if you did start a routine at this age it would change every couple of days because that is what newborns are like. The best thing to do is to pay attention to what your LO does at certain times and after a little while you will be able to predict things. Then you can anticipate them and plan accordingly/encourage more sleep, etc.

The one thing I would even consider doing at this age is to start doing the same things before bedtime each evening, eg bath/clean babygrow/cuddles in a dim room/feed. But don't worry if you don't manage it, it really is very early days. Take care of yourself

Congrats on your new ds! We just went with the flow and as DTM says at about 3 months we found there was a bedtime routine and everything followed from there. If you really feel you need a routine now, perhaps start bedtime at the same time and do some kind of bath, feed, bed pattern.

Oh good - that's one less thing to worry about right now! My HV had mentioned it so I had a wee panic as we are not even slightly in any kind of a routine!

It is nice to have a bedtime 'routine' early, not because it's a routine per say but because it's nice! I loved giving my two DSs a bath, followed by a nice massage, and a nice cuddly feed and a book (yes, that young!). DH and I both loved it. Although it was never at the same time every night, I think it helped them settle for the night.