How do I move onto a sleep schedule and when and help with feeding please!

[JavaGreen1998]

Sorry if this sounds silly, I’m a first time Mum and have no siblings with children so I’m a complete ‘beginner’ so to speak.

My baby is 3 months old tomorrow and I keep reading ‘bedtime once they hit 3 months should be at 7:30pm/8pm’ and that if I don’t do a ‘sleep schedule’ it will be difficult in the future.

I am already worrying he’s not getting enough formula. He hasn’t been weighed for over 4 weeks at last health visitor visit. He was just touching 12lb on 9th January.

He is on 6 x 5oz feeds of formula per day.

Right now - he gets fed every 3.5 hours from wake up.

So between 7/7:30am is first feed (whenever he wakes up) then -
10:30am/11am
1:45/2:15pm
5pm/5:30pm
8:30 ish

Now he’s going to bed at 9pm after his 8:30pm feed in his next to me crib. Then I’m having to wake him up at 11:30pm for his final feed.

He seems to stick to this schedule, but naps are just as and when he wants to nap.

Now my partner doesn’t think we should be waking him at 11:30pm, now my worry is if we don’t, he’ll wake up at 4am as he sleeps just over 7 hours after that 11:30pm feed, or if he sleeps right through he will have missed out on 5oz of formula.

Is what we are doing currently okay? I have dabbled with 6oz and he will drink it, but is a bit sicky afterwards, but not always.

When should I be doing a nap ‘schedule’? It’s totally confusing me and making me worry I’m doing something wrong.

Now usually after this 7am/7:30am feed, I put him back to bed, so I can get another couple hours and shower etc then get him up before his next feed. He’s starting to not go to sleep sometimes after his feed, he doesn’t cry just lies smiling and chatting to himself. Again should I be playing with him at this point? I’m so tired that extra 2 hours for me is helping so much right now.

It’s so hard when I haven’t got any family to ask for advice and help.

Now if we put him to bed at 7:30pm/8pm - that’s twice I’m going to have to wake him to feed. I’m so stuck with what I should do.

even if we drop the 11:30pm and feed 6oz - he won’t have actually increased his formula amount and I’m quite sure he’ll be more than 12lb now so should be on more!

Sorry for asking on here, just a newbie Mum needing help!

Sounds like what you're doing works. Just keep doing that until it doesn't work anymore.

One night you'll fall asleep before 11:30pm and miss that feed and the baby will sleep through or not and then you'll decide whether you prefer to keep waking up at 11:30pm to feed or maybe earlier in the morning.

From a mum of multiples, don't worry about it. Any of it. If you have another child it will be eating, sleeping, wherever, whenever and it won't make a jot of difference and you'll wonder why you agonised about it with your first ❤️

Thank you for this - it’s so hard as I keep thinking I’m doing the wrong thing, or being unsure if I’m doing the right things!

Could you try 5 X 6oz bottles to see what happens?

I wouldn't worry about a routine at 3 months. For those who choose to sleep train, the recommendation is not to do it until 6 months at the earliest. That's not to say you can't create positive sleep associations (which you can do from day one) but it sounds like you are doing that well already given she will sleep in the next2me.

It sounds good! I think 3 months is too young to try to impose a schedule or bedtime personally. We did at 6 months when we moved our DC into their own room and that worked well.

I think it sounds as though you’re alrwsdy in a routine of sorts and it seems to be working for you?

I too would offer 6floz each time, especially of he’s draining 5floz.