No schedule? Am I the only one?

Seems like there is a lot of schedules on here. With my other two children(boys, ages 18 and 8) i did schedules. I thought I would be different with the twins, they do not have one. Am I the only person here that does not have a schedule?

They sleep 12 hours at night solid, have been since 2 months old. They went to sleep on their OWN at around 7pm and wake at around 7am. Usually its a little earlier than 7pm when they go to sleep, sometimes it could be later if we leave them with a sitter to go on a date and we get home at 10, they go to bed then. Whatever. They sleep solidly through the night. They eat when they want, nap when they want, sometimes they nap together, sometimes one is up and the other is sleeping, I just love no schedule. I can do what i want without stressing, if they sleep they sleep , if they dont, they will eventually.

 

That sounds amazing! Sounds like you have some laid back kiddos, which is great. We started with no schedule for my boys, but found later on that they needed the sleep and structure or they were :diablo: . Once we started being more rigid about naps things turned around for us. Now I am pretty relaxed about their schedule, but we're also in the midst of transitioning to toddler beds so all attempts at a schedule went straight out the window.

 

Well I just remember with the boys if my schedule went off key for some reason I would get so stresed. : "youre supposed to sleep now its 2!" or i have to rush home now because its naptime and OMG the traffic is holding me up" etc. THey have been sleeping in their own beds since 2 weeks old in a room together. We are very laid back parents which I guess is why they are so laid back. I just read so much about the schedules and feel like maybe i should put them on one/

 

If that works for you, I say it's great. We have to keep our boys on a schedule for naps and bedtime - we can be flexible with eating, but if we get more than 30 minutes off their nap or bedtime schedule, they are messed up for days. But they have never been great sleepers, so that's no surprise.

 

If its working for you then great! All babies are different! I was a freak about my boys' schedule more for my own sanity! My daughter has a loose schedule but it does make it tougher when she is starting to change rhythms and we try to create a new schedule!

 

If no schedule works for you & your family :good: Don't put them on a schedule because others do - especially if you know from past experience that it stresses you out.

I agree with Kim - in my case, a schedule (with some flexibility) helped me stay sane. The newborn stage was really hard for me because I felt like I never knew what was coming next - it made me :crazy:. When we established a routine (which later developed into more of a schedule), I felt like I had more of a handle on parenting. That may be an illusion, but I'm holding onto it for dear life! :laughing:

 

I didn't do a schedule with my two, they just kind of fell into one. But by being flexible with naps and food, they learned to eat anywhere and sleep anywhere (except for the car!) Even now, the only schedule we have is that bedtime is at 8, wake time is 7 at the latest.

 

You are NOT alone...I have never scheduled my kiddos...always been on demand...the whole time I was pregnant with the twins people told me over and over that we had to get the boys on a schedule ASAP...but I knew that wasn't for us. The twins are also #3 and #4 for us...I have a 3 and 2 year old also.

The thing you said about you guys being laid back parents so there for so are your kids is sooo true...there is no way we just happened to get 4 super laid back kids......They are laid back because we allow them to be.

 

Mine are getting close to a year and what little schedule we had a month ago flew out the window cause they're in between transitioning to one nap a day and they changed rooms. That change killed their naptime. I think it's too bright in there. I need darkening shades. So no you're not alone.

 

For us the NICU got our schedule going and it just worked for us. we are not HARD CORE but the twins now that they are 13 months seem to thrive on it. Its funny to me they have gone down for their morning nap between 10 and 11 for 8 months or so and now its summertime and they will sleep til 8 or a little later but still between 10 and 11 they get fussy and start doing their ready for nap signals like dd will lay on th floor and suck her thumb and ds will crawl into his room and try and pull his blanket out of his bed.

As far as schedules go I wouldn't have survived the first year much less enjoyed it without one but sounds to me like your kiddos are super layed back (AWESOME) and what you all are doing works for you. Also sort of sounds to me like your kids are on a schedule of their own making just that those every now and then nights when they are not in bed by 7ish they don't wig out. ENJOY IT!

 

Schedules worked really well for us, but I think you have to do whatever works best for your family. If no schedule works well, then you go for it. I have one laid back girl and one that is not, but both were on the schedule. I definitely don't think schedules are the only thing that determine whether a child is laid back or not, I think genetics probably has much more to do with that.

 

We don't have a strict schedule, but a very general routine. They wake up between 8 & 9 am, have their bottle and breakfast, play a while, & then they dictate to us when it's naptime by their signals. They take their nap, sometimes at the same time, for the same amount of time, sometimes not. Then we go through the whole process again through lunch and supper. DH, the twins & I all go to bed at the same time usually about 9, we go lay down & snuggle with them until they fall asleep, then I move them to their crib. It's definitely not a schedule that was set, we just kind of fell into it, but there is a lot of variations in there as well & the babies seem to do fine with it. It works for us & you should definitely do what works for you!

 

We aren't the most scheduled of people. However, when they were 6 months +, they napped and went to bed at the same time. Feeding could have been off here and there. I wasn't a slave to the schedule. Sometimes nap was in the car, or it would be shortened, etc. Now, that they are older, and it's summer, we have kissed the schedule good bye. There is no such thing as a 7 pm bedtime around here anymore! And man do I miss it!

If it works for you-that's all that matters!