whats the best way to get you baby into a routine

Arifah A - posted on 11/17/2009

Consistancy keep it up no matter how frustraing it may get keep doing it over and over everyday at the same time if possible

Shaina - posted on 11/17/2009

I started by writting everything down. When he would eat, sleep, play, good days, bad days everything. After about a week I saw HIS schedual. It was when HE wanted to eat, and sleep. I just went with it. I now know when he's tired before he gets crankey, and I know when he has his best most productive play times. It not only helped me but also my SO (he works all day so he doesnt see him that often) or anyone else who watches him for any amout of time. Good luck!

Debra - posted on 11/17/2009

Be persistant. You have to let them know who's the boss, especially that young.

Sanja - posted on 11/17/2009

every day try doing the same thing i have lots of friends with babies and we usually start with putting them to bed at 6:30-7:00pm and in the daytime try to have them nap twice morning and afternoon

Shaquansia - posted on 11/17/2009

Hi sweety,



Start early ! I put my daughter in bed by 9:30pm every night! I give her a bath between 8:30 and 9pm with that johnson and johnson bath stuff and lotion the night time kind it works and its always good to breast fed before you put them bed or give them their bottle if their on formula!Its like the saying whatever you start with you have to finish with!

Holly - posted on 11/17/2009

Everyone has given you great advice. Just remember that your child should be on a schedule that works for you. We have always had a 7:00 bedtime. You and Daddy need time to spend together and get ready for the next day. Let your baby cry some if needed. It will not hurt her/him. If you do not teach your child to comfort him/herself at least a little before you come to the rescue, there will be problems down the road. The Ferber method is great (you can find it on the web). When the baby wakes up, do not go in right away. Wait a little while or until he/she fusses. Most of the time, they go back to sleep. Babies need lots of love and cuddling but tend to do best when they learn that you run the show right from the start. Children crave schedule and structure. Trust me, once you get this routine up and going, you will have a happy baby and a peaceful mom! My kids are really easy going, self entertaining and low maintenance. I don't know that it is because of the way I parented them, but I like to think it helped. Good Luck!

Tina - posted on 11/17/2009

the younger the better to start them in a routine. Keep having the same scheduel everyday and they will fall into it. I did that with my son. He now goes to bed without a fuss, he knows when its time to eat, and when it's naptime. My friend didn't get her kid in a routine, now she regrets not starting her son on one. He won't go to sleep at a decent hour and refuses to sleep in his own bed. I help her when i can. My son does sleep in his own bed cuz I never really let him sleep in mine. Hope this helps

Kelly - posted on 11/17/2009

With our first son, we wrote down what time he was eating, sleeping, playing etc on a daily basis. After a couple of days a pattern became apparent and all we had to do was tweak this slighty (eg. adding a bath and massage before bed) to establlish a really successful routine. We started doing this with out second son as well, but were pretty slack with it. Now we go with the flow during the day, but in the evenings we get more structured and introduced a bath at around 6:30pm (or whenever he finishes his feed closest to this time) with a final feed and bed around 7:00pm. We started this while we were still in the hospital and now he is 10 weeks and only getting up once during the night and sleeping till about 6:00am. This works for us because it means both our children are in similar routines. The best advice I can give however is to find something that works for you and to stick to it. It may take a week or two to get it to stick and/or see improvement but it's well worth it in the end (or you could be lucky and it may only take a couple of days).

Charmaine - posted on 11/17/2009

Hi! there is a fantastic book called "Save our sleep" by tizzie hall. It has a routine for every age group. It makes life really easy because you can just turn to the appropriate page for your babys age and the best routine is there! It also gradually changes every few months so that you dont all of a sudden get to !2 months and think, Oh my gosh how do I go from 2 daytime sleeps to 1 etc. Found it brilliant because as I quickly discovered becoming a mum doesnt mean you automatically know what a 3/6/12 month old needs. Think they may have a website too. Good luck!

Cassie - posted on 11/17/2009

Yes start early, Also wake your baby up early, bout 8, give em a bath feed them, put em down for a nap about 11 or 12 so when it hits bed time they are exauted, and then do it again the next day, eventually they will be on a routine, but you have to stick to it as well, becuz my boyfriend messed up by not sticking to is while i was at work, and i am having the hardest time with my daughter now. :( hope this helps :)

Melissa - posted on 11/17/2009

I bought a dry erase board and wrote my schedule down and stuck with it and changed it as my twins grew. It also comes in handy if you have someone else watching/helping with your baby so they know what to do as well.

Tiffany - posted on 11/17/2009

Start early and stick to it. Set a time line: nap time, bath time, bed time, etc...try to stick to that schedule everyday, and it will eventually become habit. Good luck :)

Reyna - posted on 11/17/2009

best way is start with sleep.put ur munchkin to bed early 9 or 10 (cuz they sleep some crazy hrs) then get em up to feed and take a shower to wake up but still keep u relaxed...then try to take a small walk around ur neighborhood or to the corner store (if u have one of course) then go home have breakfast or lunch depending on how early u get up then try reading a book.or even an afternoon cartoon something u both seemingly find interesting.then try a nap for you both and then wake up and handle the rest of ur day.so at least there's a small routine for the mornining lunch portion of the day