Newborn routine tips

[TGLucie]

Hello! I know you can really follow a schedule with a newborn but I'm getting closer to my due date and wondered what routines you have or had with a newborn?

I've seen posts where people say to feed before sleep but then others saying play before sleep so they don't associate feeding with sleep?

I know the first few weeks will be a struggle to say the least as we will all be adapting to our first baby but any tips or recommendations that helped you would be greatly appreciated!

I've seen posts where people say to feed before sleep but then others saying play before sleep so they don't associate feeding with sleep. This comes from a book called the Baby Whisperer and isn't actually based on any evidence, it's just one woman's opinion. If you are thinking of BFing, the Baby Whisperer is on the Kellymom list of books to avoidd*.

My best tip is to read Bahy Calming. It works however you feed your baby and this one is evidence based.

If you are after a more recent book, I've heard good things about this one There's an article about it here

My other best tip is to get a nice big stretchy sling. It's unlikely that your baby will go to sleep every time in a cot or Moses basket and sometimes putting them in a sling will get them to sleep and let you do something like finally getting a sandwich

@BunnyRuddington

I've seen posts where people say to feed before sleep but then others saying play before sleep so they don't associate feeding with sleep. This comes from a book called the Baby Whisperer and isn't actually based on any evidence, it's just one woman's opinion. If you are thinking of BFing, the Baby Whisperer is on the Kellymom list of books to avoidd*.

My best tip is to read Bahy Calming. It works however you feed your baby and this one is evidence based.

If you are after a more recent book, I've heard good things about this one There's an article about it here

My other best tip is to get a nice big stretchy sling. It's unlikely that your baby will go to sleep every time in a cot or Moses basket and sometimes putting them in a sling will get them to sleep and let you do something like finally getting a sandwich

Thank you so much for your reply! Looking at the links now and will probably get one of the books you have suggested as I want to breastfeed if I can! I don't suppose you can recommend a sling? I have one but seems super complicated!

From experience, if you plan to breastfeed it will be pretty impossible to not feed your newborn to sleep! I couldn't imagine then waking my baby up after I'd fed her and she was snoozing on me...one of my fondest memories of the early days - the sleepy cuddles on the sofa after a feed.

We had a Close Sling but you might find you have a Sling Library near to you where you can borrow them and see which ones you like

If you do want to BF, this article on what to expect is quite good and I totally agree with lamp

Honestly, the best tip is just relaaaaaax. Easy said with first baby, but just rest as much as possible, and cuddle your baby. You need to get to know your little one a bit before having any idea of a routine, maybe after 6-8 weeks, some kind of vague norms with naps etc will emerge, but before that it’s all over the place. Which it should be. Try not to read too many posts telling you what to do, is my next top tip!

If you get a few moments ever, fill up glasses with juice and put them everywhere, put water in the kettle and put a teabag or coffee and spoon in a few mugs - if you're lucky you might get a drink at some point.

My wee one is eleven weeks old. First six weeks there was no routine, they don't stay awake for long. Constant cycle of sleep / feed / nappy change / awake for short spell +/- crying in random order. Generally you breastfeed whenever baby wants, which can be constantly at the start!

From about eight weeks or so I found baby has longer awake spells and was showing interest in playmat etc. Also tummy is bigger so she went longer between feeds. During the day I now roughly follow this routine- wake up, feed, nappy change, playtime, then nap again. Total awake time is only about an hour before she gets cranky. Morning nap is very long. Rest of day naps usually only 30min or so.

Also remember babies don't read books and they don't all fit in to the same textbook routine.

Agree with @Skyla01. My 10 week old has only just started allowing me a little sanity with naps and feeding since around 8 weeks. Before that is was chaotic and a lot of sitting down while he fed or slept on me on and off all day
Feeding to sleep was a big part of the first few weeks but now he’s fallen into a pattern of nap, feed, change, play/chill with me, nap. He’s normally ready for nap again after an hour and a half at the mo.
Go with the flow of it, when mine got to around 8 weeks I started tracking sleep on an app called baby tracker and that allows you to log as much or as little as you want (feeding, sleeping, playing etc) and it helps with seeing a pattern ☺️

First couple of weeks you just feed all the time so don’t worry about it.

Once they wake up a bit I always fed on wake up from naps and got a tired baby to sleep by other ways - rocking, bouncy chair, sling, walk in pram etc so they never got reliant on feeding to sleep. In my experience it was easier to do that from the outset than let them get reliant on feeding then have to “fix” it when it caused sleep issues later.

Before you have the baby, organise the house. Have a full freezer of ready made food, ingredients, meal plans of food that takes 5 minutes to prepare, to last the next couple of years. Buy extra tshirts, knickers etc. Once the baby arrives Do Nothing except feed, sleep, cuddle and adore baby, and watch homes under the hammer. Occasionally say hello to father of baby. Don't invite anyone into your house who isn't of the Quentin Crisp school of housework. Congratulations, enjoy.

Gina Ford is v unpopular on here but I’ve used her twice from newborn with success. Her book has been updated to make it a lot more breastfeeding friendly. I think they’re brilliant if you’re a routine type of person.