Newborn and toddler - getting newborn breastfeeding and sleeping rountines sorted.

[Filofax]

Hi all

Just wondered how others managed this. With my first I breastfed on demand which was exhausting but I was clueless to anything else. After hearing about the existence of CLB and other structured methods can anyone point me to a more orderly future.

Many thanks

Filofax

I would like to know too please! It's only Peppa Pig that's getting us through!

i'm not sure i have any answers but have two ds. ds1 is 2.10 and ds2 is 5 months. the first 2 months were pretty much hell. i did on-demand feedings and frankly i'm not really sure that much else exists so early on. around 3 months ds2 started to be a bit more regular about eating/feeding/sleeping and i was able to build a routine off it for them both. it's something like this:

-ds1 dinner
-ds2 bath
-ds2 bottle/bed
-ds1 bath / bed

having said all that i usually feel like i'm ignoring one while looking after the other. and the 4 month growth spurt and approaching weaning has turned the feeding schedule upside down all over again. most recently ds2 went on a nursing strike and i just thought here's my chance - bottles and formula ahoy!

pls let us know if you find the magical answer.

Loopy which sling did you use? I have a pouch sling at the moment but wonder how long it will last - doesn't seem like she has alot of room.

I agree with Loopsy - also if you can find a sling that lets you breastfeed then it's much easier as you can supervise toddler in the playground and still feed newborn.

Basically whenever the toddler is safely occupied you shove a boob in the baby and they quickly learn to take advantage of it when it's there!

I also changed DS1's lunchtime nap time so that it coincided with DS2 normally being asleep, it made it easier to read him to sleep if DS2 was out of the way.

I'm lucky that I rarely have to do solo bedtimes as DH is usually home, but that's the only part of the day that is sometimes a struggle. We find Thomas and Peppa DVDs are the way through!

CLB is contented little baby AKA Ms G Ford, non?

I found that by maintaining the toddler's routine, the newborn naturally fell into a complementary routine much more quickly. With DS1 it was months before he had structured nap and feed times. DS2 had developed a loose routine from about 6 weeks just by virtue of me fitting in around DS1.

Do make sure you spend enough time building up feeding in the early days though - it's hard getting enough time sitting down with a toddler to run after in those first crucial weeks. Can your DH take any time off work to help initially?