could anyone share their daily "routine"? - will weaning take over my life?

[Caz10]

I'm trying to be a bit more observant of dd's "routine" now - at 5mths she is quite a frequent bf-er and has 2-3 naps a day. It just occurred to me today that the "awake" gaps we have now when we might go for a walk/coffee/to the shops and pretend to do the housework are shortly going to be filled with weaning type activities! I know the idea is to all eat together, but at the moment I tend to be grabbing things to eat on the run between seeing to her and getting stuff done.

I'm very excited re weaning but just can't figure out how/where/when to fit it in?! or is it like the start of bf-ing, drop everything till we get it sussed?!

any advice very welcome thanks

I found it quite helpful actually as it forced me into a bit of a pattern and stopped me aimlessly mning hanging round the house while dd grizzled with boredom - for a start it means you have to eat proper meals too

are you planning to BLW or do purees? i found that leaving small bowls of finger food around the place encouraged ds to eat and meant i could carry on my lack-of-routine for a bit.

my best advice would be to just go with the flow - don't stress about her eating and she won't stress either!

DD 7 months old and I have just introduced protein (day 3!). I don't know if it is related but the routine has gone haywire. Has anyone else had this? Plus like Caz10 I would be interested to hear what other peoples routines are like.

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That is actually a great help VP and I would love to hear from any others too!!

How old is your LO?

One of my concerns is that dd's Bf's are all over the place, she can feed every 1.5hrs or every 4hrs depending on...well I don't know what it depends on! Was wondering if I should try to be a bit more routiney with them, but can't see how to really, and it seems to go against the whole demand-led thing. hmmm

Amy what kind of changes have you seen?

MrsB that is a good point, these parts of the day when dd is on her play mat or whatever can turn into mealtimes!

theAfkaUrbanDryad - BLW - I think! Although tbh i know I probably won't be able to resist tinkering around with spoon feeding mush at some point just to see what it's like.

Ok, so I'm a routine junkie... but here's my day. DD is 6 months... but this should work if your LO is under 6 months as DD still has all her milk before solids so she doesn't cut down on it too much (this is because she has precious little to begin with) but would work for you as this is the advice for babs under 6 months, I believe...

6.30-7am ish (all timings are very ish as I don't wear a watch...) wake up, bottle
9.30 nap
11.00 bottle (smaller feed, so like, 1 boob rather than 2 if you're BFing)
11.30 solids (veg, mostly) followed by more milk if she'll take it
12.30pm another nap
2.30pm bottle
4-4.30pm if earlier nap quite short she'll have a catnap now, if she's had a good sleep earlier though, then she won't.
5.30ish small feed followed by solids (baby rice and fruit usually)
6ish bath
6.30ish as much more milk as I can get into her
7ish bedtime
11ish bottle

Solids don't take that long really... I usually have lunch while she's having hers (a bit early I grant you, but since I'm in the kitchen anyway) and then give her some little tastes of whatever I'm having as well as her own stuff. It's quite fun, actually.

Sometimes she'll have soemthing to suck on (rice cake or something) in the afternoon - more for fun than anything else...

In the evenings we're a bit more 'get on with it' as she's often getting a bit tired but try and at least have a drink and a biccie with her.

I plan to start her on some fruit and yoghurt for breakfast some time in the next week or so., and I'll probably do it around 7.30/8, and I'll probably be eating similarly!

Good luck!

Must admit I've found filling my freezer with lots of little multicoloured pots of stuff quite satisfying, but then I'm quite sad...

HTH

db
xx

In terms of prep for food, every time you cook for yourself, steam a bit of something you are cooking extra and then freeze it - so if you are doing carrots, steam a few at the same time, then freeze in ice cubes when you do broccoli etc do the same, and then defrost and then mix together to make meals. I did this with my second and third and it really saves on time, rather than trying to do huge bulk cook sessions.

Hi Caz,

I was very much the same as you, BF on demand and tended to feed every 2-3 hours. My DTs are now 8.5 months and in the last few weeks I have noticed that we do actually have a routine, but it's one that my LOs have worked out for themselves and also suits me.

So here goes...

7/7:30am - wake and BF
8/8:30am - breakfast (Weetabix & fruit)
9 - 10am - nap
10:30ish - BF (although they are losing interest in this one)
11:45/12 - lunch (spag bol or similar & fruit)
12:30 - 2 - nap
2 - BF
4/4:15 - sometimes a quick catnap now
4:30 - supper (veg and yogurt)
6 - bath
6:45 - BF
7 - bed

They normally wake for 1 BF during the night at about 4am.

I've definitely found that weaning helped me structure the day and I was BF more than this to start (at least one around 4ish, if not more) but as I said, in the last couple of weeks things have slotted into place.

HTH and just enjoy, eating together is so much fun!

Thanks!! That's great!! db do you stick to that quite strictly or can it be flexible when you're out and about (I'm thinking of the days we're at baby groups etc)?

VP where do naps fall into yours?

BitLessTiredNow - do you do that for purees?

Thanks!

i started off giving dd a brunch at 11am ish which worked out well with her feeds, then if i was eating lunch or snacking i'd offer her some as well. it took me a few months to get to the three meals a day thing just because at the beginning i dreaded the idea of it just being milk, food, milk, food and having to lug things with me etc. blw meant she could have some bits and bobs while out with me in the afternoon, thank god.

oh, and if i was at a morning thing then she snacked when i did as well. i did consider buying one of those bonkers banana keepers before i thought 'dur, i'll just buy one at the greengrocer on the way there'.

Yip, I think basically what I'm trying to say is please god don't say I have to stay in the house all day doing feeds/solids/naps!

I guess the joy of BLW is that it can be a bit random?!

oh sorry crossed about 3 posts there - thanks dairymoo!!

i think you an be random whatever you decide to do tbh, but you just have to be random in a slightly more organised way.

I totally work around what we are doing each day. If we are at home then naps are in cots and meals in highchairs but if we're out then the pram will do for naps and my lap or the floor will do for meals (to sit on, not eat off ). Also, if we're really busy or my LOs are sleeping during a 'mealtime' we just miss it and they have another BF when they wake. Best to be flexible, me thinks otherwise I imagine you could get a bit tied to the house.

We have a bedtime routine at present but thats it. I am hoping/planning that when we start weaning in 5 weeks, we will have a routine and this will be based around meal times. We will start sitting at the dinner table then with DD in her high chair and DH and I will cook more and eat more healthily. We eat crap at the moment and have it on the sofa in front of the TV. Dining table seems to be a dumping ground but this will change!

HI Caz,
Naps are pretty flexible, but my feeding times tend to be fairly regular, but this is because my LO very very rarely cries for milk (she's just not that interested in milk, really, I think ) but we have some weight gain issues and she doesn't drink much as it is, so this seems to be the best way of getting as much in as possible! It looks more complicated than it is, it's essentially a 4 hour routine, but with a slightly earlier afternoon feed to allow me to split the evening feed in 2 halves thereby getting more milk into her... IYSWIM.

The solids just follow the milk at lunchtime and are in the middle of her split evening feed - and MOST IMPORTANTLY BEFORE the bath. Largely because she likes to have a spoon herself and "help" with the feeding which means theres as much ON her as IN her... .

TBH if you don't have a routine as such I'd just give her some solids at around lunchtime after whichever BF is closest to that and similarly around suppertime.

Just I would say, at 5 months, make sure she has her milk first...

If we're out at (solid) feed time, I just take a little pot (with lid) of stuff with me, a couple of spoons, bib and many, many muslins. Prop her up somewhere and away we go... Not that much hassle really... Make sure you've packed your industrial size pack of wipes though...

db
xx

Caz dd used to do like your dd-wake at 6ish for milk then go back to sleep until 8/9. She wasn't really interested in milk when she woke that time so that is when I offered solids. She used to nap from 11-1ish so would give her solids at 1.30/2, she also would nap from 3-4.30ish so would offer more once she woke again (this was when weaning was quite established btw, I didn't just jump in and expect her to have 3 meals straight off!)

However am going to have to find a different way for ds as dd had put herself into a routine by now, had milk before sleeps and didn't want it after, slept at the same time each day for roughly the same amount of time etc. DS is still completely random-feeds and sleeps whenever! Will try to feed him at same times as dd but we'll see...

Basically what I am trying to say is follow dd's lead-see when she most seems interested in stealing your food etc and proceed from there. I keep saying it but I am shocked at how different dd and ds are-I was kind of expecting him to do things as she had!

Sorry - just coming back to this as have been cooking. DD routine has been roughly:
7am milk
8am breakfast
9am sleep for about 45mins
11.30am lunch followed by solids
12.30pm sleep for a couple of hours
2.30pm milk
5pm dinner
6pm bath
6.30pm milk
We were doing 10.30pm milk till recently but have dropped it and she is still sleeping through (hurrah).
Introduced protein at lunch a few days ago and I don't know if the two are related but suddenly she doesn't want to sleep at 12.30 - she is full of beans. I have taken to moving the 2.30 feed forward to 1.30 and she falls asleep in my arms. Gina & Annabel K both say not to feed milk after protein as it stops iron absorption (have another post on this!) so that has confused me and now I'm not sure when to do that milk (mid morning about 10.30?) or when to put her down for her main nap (about 1.30?) all very confusing......

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ooops meant to say 11.30am lunch followed by milk

Hi Caz

DD is 6 months and we've just started weaning.. she's also fully BF... anyway no routine yet BUT we've started with breakfast because it means she, DH and I all sit down together and have some cereal. She shares mine, although I give her hers mixed with ebm and mine is with cows milk. She likes it. Basically she wakes up, has bf, then an hour's play, then I give her breakfast.

It's so early days that a) she is feeding more than ever on milk and b) no routine at all, but we've never had one to speak of...

Good luck!

thanks again everyone this is all very useful!

does everyone have naps sussed? dd has only previously napped when fed to sleep or on the move and I'm trying so hard to break the habit, but it's just taken me 40mins to get her down for a sleep, it can take longer on occasion, so that tends to muck up any semblance of a routine!

chocolatehobnob what cereal does she have? when do you find is best to express?

questions, questions, sorry!

I hate expressing and DD wont take a bottle, Caz... but I express in the morning, after she's had her breakfast, and use it the next morning for her breakfast (iyswim). She only needs a teeny amount so it's okay that I don't get much! We're having Weetabix.

Naps - not sorted here either... totally random...!