10 week old not in routine?

[hhhhhhhh21]

First time mum with my beautiful DS. He’s 10 weeks old and is a dream but I am just concerned we’re still not in a routine? Is this normal?

I see so many people saying ‘this is our night time routine’ etc but we really don’t have any at all

He still naps on me all the time and won’t nap solo, he has bottles whenever he shows signs of hunger which are all different amounts (FF) and there’s not really any consistency? A slight pattern maybe but not a routine

I’ve tried implementing one and it really doesn’t work, the week I did he started getting night and day a bit confused and was wide away 2-4am then sleepy all day etc.

How can I implement a routine? Or is it too soon?

sincerely a very tired mum who’d love to get in bed at 8 and watch telly with a cuppa after putting the baby to bed! (He currently doesn’t settle for the night between about 9-11pm)

I will be flamed for this but The Contented Baby gave us the tools to implement a routine. Sleep is so much the result of feeding

Depends on the baby. Some fall into a routine themselves others are all over the place. I didn't have a proper routine with DD until about 7 months and even then it was nothing strict. It's only since she's started nursery that I do the whole, pyjamas, story, white noise thing. Before that I would just wing it.

That’s because he’s just over 2 months old.
Personally I don’t see the point in strictly enforcing a routine for at least 4-6 months, perhaps when they move into their own room/nursery. It’s good to still have a routine going.. but I wouldn’t worry about it not panning out every night. Their babies!

Theyre*

Didn’t bother with a routine. At 10 weeks was still trying to work out which way up the baby should be.

DD now 11. Seems to have worked out okay. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Completely 100% normal. :)

By DC2 and 3 I tended to have them in the living room with me while I watched TV until I went to bed.

Mine were all a bit random during the day, routine started to appear a bit after 6 months when they were having wee meals. Night times were a bit pants for all of them, but they all got the hang of it eventually. Bedtime routine was only ever pjs, milk, brush teeth (when bigger!) Story/feed/cuddles as required.

The more I stressed about getting sleep the worse I felt, so I tried to go with it the best I could.

With DC2 I was introduced to slings and carriers which helped a lot and were v handy for some naps. :)

Depends what works for you. I just went with the flow, content baby who found his own routine over time. He is now one. We definitely didn’t have anything near a routine for 6 months and even now teething, days out etc can throw it all out of the window

Think we very slowly started a vague routine around 3 months

He’s 10 weeks old, of course he only naps on you. All normal.
Three kids here, my only routines started at about 6 months when we did regular bath, feed and bed from 8pm (they still get up a lot up until midnight though). All babies found their own napping routine over time, none took longer naps til they were 10-12 months. All napped on me or in the buggy til 6 months. I refused to get stressed and just put my feet up while they napped. They are all much older now and sleep really well. I don’t regret the cuddles

Depends on the baby and depends on you. I'm much better with a bit of a plan for the day so had a routine quite early but you have to be flexible with it - babies are unpredictable so sometimes you just have to roll with it!

I broadly followed Nanny Louenna's routines, you can find her on Instagram

You don't need to have a routine if you don't want to. Nothing bad will happen.

If you did want to I found the most effective way was using something like Huckleberry to track their sleep and feeding patterns for a couple if days and then make the routine loosely based on what's happening anyway.

He's little still and routine might not happen.

Think at this age more or rhythm than routine. You've said he has a pattern emerging which is great and you can use that to build your rhythm around.

Alternatively I found doing the first feed at the same time each day, and getting them dressed helped to set the rhythm a bit. I'd also go for a walk with them around the same time each day and that became their morning nap.

I prefer thinking of it as a rhythm rather than routine. Your baby is 10 weeks old. As for bedtime routine ours was: nappy change and get into pjs whilst singing nursery rhymes, poem, feed. When DS got to 6 months we changed it to feed, pjs, poem. It takes 15 minutes max. DS only started napping somewhere other than on me or in the pushchair/car seat at about 6 months and boy did he protest!

I never had a routine with my 4dc, just went with the flow. It suited us but its not for every parent or every baby. We did however have do bath, feed/story, bed at night, just not at a set time.

Another one winging it... my 21 month doesn't really have a routine and we go with the flow. Our son was the same and he was a really relaxed baby as no screaming or crying at bed time.

Honestly as long as they're sleeping more overnight than during the day (that means they've worked out some sort of circadian rhythm), anything goes. Ours got into a wake, eat, play, nap routine at about 3 months, consistent bedtime at 4 months.

Up until then bedtime was very unpredictable, the only thing I did every time was sing a couple of songs after a feed and try putting him down - wasn't always successful! Introduced a book at 3 months. X

A routine will eventually fall into place, if you're happy and he's happy then just go with it
There's no right or wrong way to do it.

My first wasn't in a proper bedtime routine until about 5/6 months
No idea when anything happened with my second its all a blur 😂

I followed my baby. When I started to see a pattern emerge with feeding/sleeping I would work with that. With DS2 it was easier because we already had school run, proper meal and bed times so DS2 had to fit in.
Unless you really need a routine then I'd just go with it. Who cares if he's sleeping on you downstairs for 4hrs in the late evening while you watch box sets?!

Baby is way too young for any kind of routine. My daughter fell in to a natural routine around 5 months. Now she's 13 months and she a flexible routine of a nap in the morning and nap in the afternoon. I remember wondering if I was doing something wrong around this age - you aren't! I promise.

I’ve always tried to let my 5 month old little boy lead me in things like this. I noticed him getting into a routine just before he was 3 months old. He started napping at similar times during the day and would then be tired and ready for bed at similar times each evening! He has a half hour nap on a morning and around 2 hours on an afternoon, he just seems to have fallen into this routine. He starts showing signs of tiredness between 6/6.30pm so he goes in the bath, has a bottle and is usually asleep between 7/7.30pm. He normally wakes between 3-5am for a feed then is back asleep til 8/8:30am. I don’t think it’s an issue that your baby isn’t in a routine they are all different! Atm my little one is like clockwork everyday however this will probably change as he gets older so I wouldn’t worry so much about a routine anyway! I will say though what helped me was when he’s been through a few bad sleeping phases, I always still stuck to his routine, I didn’t change anything I just dealth with it and let the phase pass.

He's still teeny bless him. We used to do a bath at 7. Then a bottle in a dim room and if they fell asleep put them in crib (in our room) that seemed to form a basis for 'bedtime' everyone's different l. You do what suits you and good luck ❤️