When do you start the schedule

Right now things are so crazy and all over the place. We were feeding every three hours and after the boy's check up the Dr. said we can just feed them when they wake up. Things are just all over the place they only want to sleep in their bouncers and they are starting to drift apart in feeding times. Hayden is not as good of an eater as his brother and I am the only one that can get him to eat right (dh does an ok job), but if things are not perfect for him he will be crazy all night so if I wake him up instead of letting him wake up on his own he doesn't eat that much and then wakes up off and on all night only eating a little. So when did the schedule go into play for everyone? Right now I feel like I need to just survive and in turn I am creating bad habits for them.....Any advice would be great!!! Next question is DH and I went out for the first time last night while my mom sister and brother babysat, well Hayden was screaming off and on all night and finally my mom could not get him to stop so we had to come home as soon as Dh and I came home we fed him and he went right to sleep very content....Is it possible for them this young to cry because we were gone? Does he sense something different when other people feed him?

 

I am wondering about this too. Some women have said they started in a strict schedule from birth...feed at 5, keep them up til 6, sleep 2 hrs, then start all over again.
My babies eat about every 3hrs...give or take 30 min or so. I do not wake them to eat. Sometimes they eat at the same time, sometimes they are a half hour or so apart.
This is my last week of family help and then I will be on my own. So I have another question to throw out there...how do you feed them at the same time? I tried to put them both in bouncy seats today but it didnt go so well...maybe I just have to keep trying?
I think maybe a stricter schedule will be more necessary after our help is gone and I'm just on my own.

 

I have to be honest in saying that I didn't have any schedule/routine until at least 3 months...I was in survival mode those first 3 months and needed some help here and there to get through. I know of moms who had routines, but I found that as soon as a growth spurt hit or something, the schedule went out the door...perhaps I didn't know enough to enforce a schedule.

As for feeding, I use these Fisher Price infant to toddler rockers to feed at the same time, and it works well...just keep it up.

Perhaps others can give more useful advice as to how to enforce a schedule. Once I admitted that I couldn't do it, and to just go with the flow, I was better able to care for them. You are in a tough phase now, and just always keep in mind that it'll get better and the crying will subside (and they won't remember it!). Good luck!

 

My guys still eat every three hours. At that age you can't create bad habits. My guys slept in bouncers for the first two months and then we moved them into their crib. The schedule that worked best was eat, play, sleep. keep in mind they should not be up for more then 90mins. When I finally realized that, life got a bit easier. GL!

Hsuter - I feed them in their bouncy. I sit on the floor and have them on either side of me. keep in mind crying will start when you have to stop to burp one, etc. GL. It does get easier and you will feel more confidant in your self!

 

hey mama! good job so far, youre surviving! i dont know if id worry about bad habits yet. at least i dont! we dont have a schedule either, so dont feel bad. they eat every 3 hours or so. DS eats whenever he wants cuz he isnt/wasnt gaining weight (he gets fortifier now, so its helping), but DD is every 3-4 hours, except for a few days at a time, maybe 2-3 times now, where it was every 2 hours, im guessing a growth spurt? we try to put them down to sleep around 7-8. DD does awesome, DS ugh im getting so frustrated with him. i think its all part of it, learning their personalities, what helps them go to sleep, what doesnt, etc. DD was sleeping 8-10hours, but now is waking up and downing 5oz 2x a night, growth spurt? who knows. DS is another story, sleeps 3hours, sometimes 4 and is up again. sometimes he'll eat, sometimes he'll just fuss, or coo and smile. ugh its hard to be mad at 2am when he smiles so big when i walk in the room. as far as crying when you werent home, DD refuses to fall asleep or even be very content when DH is holding her, put her in my arms and she falls right to sleep. youre doing awesome! go with your instincts, theyre never wrong.

 

I'm not sure how they did it, but in the NICU they trained my DD and we followed their schedule with DS at home. So they ate every 3 hrs. like clockwork!

I didn't start sleep scheduling till 4 mos. (adjusted for those adjusting) according to HSHHC! I would take a look at it!! You will be really happy to have them on a schedule together. It will pay dividends in the long run, I PROMISE!

 

While in the hospital I put my girls on a strict 3 hour daytime feeding schedule. (I would wake them up to eat.) At night we would feed them when they woke (which at 3 weeks was every 3 hours also!). But if one woke, I'd wake the other and feed them both. Every morning (as hard as it was) I woke them at 7 am to start the day with sunlight and a bottle.

Is your son not eating well because he is falling asleep at the bottle? I know mine did at that age. I had to force them to stay awake and eat. It wasn't easy, but they soon (around 1.5 months) became better eaters.

My girls were premies (although they had no NICU time) so I did not follow a sleep schedule at that time. I just let them sleep when they wanted to- which was most of the time. I had grand ideas of eat/ play/ sleep, but it just didn't work for us. They just couldn't always stay awake for playtime. At 3 months, they were able to stay awake longer so I enforced the eat/ play/ sleep and got them on a napping schdule. I also changed them to a 3.5 hour daytime schdule at this point. They had already pushed their nighttime feedings and were only waking once to eat (down at 9, eat at 2-3, up at 7). By 3.5 months they were STTN (I had to work at this, but it is another story). By 4 months they were on a 4 hour daytime schedule and sleeping from 7pm-7am.

Like the pp's had mentioned, HSHHC is a great book.

To feed both girls at the same time, I prop them up in their boppies on the couch and sit between them. I tried bouncers, etc. but this is what worked best for us. They are 6 months now and this is how they still get most of their bottles.

Gosh- that was long. HTH!

 

QUOTE(mom2idgirls @ Oct 4 2008, 08:25 PM) [snapback]1012026[/snapback]
While in the hospital I put my girls on a strict 3 hour daytime feeding schedule. (I would wake them up to eat.) At night we would feed them when they woke (which at 3 weeks was every 3 hours also!). But if one woke, I'd wake the other and feed them both. Every morning (as hard as it was) I woke them at 7 am to start the day with sunlight and a bottle.

Is your son not eating well because he is falling asleep at the bottle? I know mine did at that age. I had to force them to stay awake and eat. It wasn't easy, but they soon (around 1.5 months) became better eaters.

My girls were premies (although they had no NICU time) so I did not follow a sleep schedule at that time. I just let them sleep when they wanted to- which was most of the time. I had grand ideas of eat/ play/ sleep, but it just didn't work for us. They just couldn't always stay awake for playtime. At 3 months, they were able to stay awake longer so I enforced the eat/ play/ sleep and got them on a napping schdule. I also changed them to a 3.5 hour daytime schdule at this point. They had already pushed their nighttime feedings and were only waking once to eat (down at 9, eat at 2-3, up at 7). By 3.5 months they were STTN (I had to work at this, but it is another story). By 4 months they were on a 4 hour daytime schedule and sleeping from 7pm-7am.

Like the pp's had mentioned, HSHHC is a great book.

To feed both girls at the same time, I prop them up in their boppies on the couch and sit between them. I tried bouncers, etc. but this is what worked best for us. They are 6 months now and this is how they still get most of their bottles.

Gosh- that was long. HTH!

Great post!!! Very detailed and helpful!!! :banana: