I need a routine, HELP

[IzziB]

I have 7 week old and need to get into some sort of routine. I can't remember what i did with my 1st(5 yrs ago now. I can't remember how much sleep they have/need during the day. This baby gets dragged on the school run - Any tips on starting a structured daytime sleep pattern given that school run is an hr round trip at 8am and 3pm. I'm breast feeding and its never at the same time any one day. Any tips gratefully received.

The only tip I can think to give you is not to try and get a newborn into a routine.

I would agree with Fab - are you feeling you need a routine because you are finding it difficult at the moment, or just because you feel you should have one IYSWIM? Don't worry about what you "should" be doing and just do what works for you.

If it helps you feel more on top of things go for it and just build it around what you do. If you get up at the same time everyday and have school runs at the same time then it will soon form the basis of a routine, with out having to worry too much about what happens in between.

I have found that my little one has established her own routine, and any attempts to go against it result in an unhappy baby and mum! She sleeps approx 1hour and half after waking, for about 45mins to 1 hour. She feeds about usually within the half hour of waking. So basically we work on a 2-3 hour cycle of Eat, activity, sleep and then start the while thing again! She has been doing this since she was about 11 weeks. I noted down her feed times, tired times etc for a couple opf days to see if there was any pattern to work with.

I prefer to think of it this way than to base it on times. It does mean times vary but she usually wakes between 6 and 7am so times only really vary within the hour. I feed on demand so would not make her wait according to a schedule if i believed she was hungry.

I would prefer her to have one long nap as she can still be tired by evening but this seems to be how she works so we are working around it.

I agree with lazzaroo. Try to see what pattern of feeding and sleeping suits your baby and try to work around that. My DS is 9 weeks old and has a routine of feeding, playing then sleeping but as with your baby the timing of his routine changes each day. Can anyone help you with the school run to take the pressure off?

Yeah, baby will find own routine before long. I think it helps to get regular feeds at the beginning and end of the day to start with and then work from there.

Thanks everyone, that was my 1st venture into Mumsnet so really appreciate your thoughts. I'm not stressy about it, but needed some structure without being Gina Ford (are we allowed to mention her??) strict. Will work around baby and keep stuffing the feed in as and when xxx

I have 6 year old and 5 months old. I am blessed with an excellent sleeper, ( 10 hr nights since 8 weeks old!) and all I do is not allow loong naps ( over 2 hrs) in the day, she still naps a lot, but not a long proper sleep. Like you, I have to often wake her up to do the schoolrun, but very often she will nod off in a buggy.

I am s strong believer that we can't talk routines at this stage but what we can do is introduce the difference between night and day.
goood luck!