How to Create a Routine for Baby
By Jan Kremer
When you first bring your new baby home, you're going to have a lot of
questions.
You may wonder why he's not sleeping through the night and what you can do about it. You may be
concerned about how many times a day to change or feed him. It's only
natural that as a first-time parent, since babies don't come with
instruction books.
Be sure to ask your pediatrician
any questions that directly relate to the health of your child. And one
thing you can do right from the start is to get baby started on a
routine. Creating a loose schedule for you baby will benefit you now and
into the future when he's older.
Babies are very adaptable to their surroundings. They can sleep even when the TV's on
or the doorbell rings. In order to set a schedule, you'll have to
consider that babies do not know the difference between night and day.
After all, this little guy has been in complete darkness for nine
months. The clock means nothing to him, so you may have to wake him up
during the day to eat. Consider using a humidifier to help baby sleep better with fewer stuffed noises.
You will want to start to get
baby familiar with when the family is up during the day and when it's
time to sleep at night. Most infants can't make it through a whole
night of sleep because their stomachs are too small. They can't hold
enough food to keep them satisfied for the whole night. So don\'t expect
too much of your baby at first. Your routine will have to be flexible
until baby is a little older.
For now, start by
getting baby up at the same time every day. If it's usually a rough
night and you both can sleep late, allow baby to sleep until 10 or 11
o'clock. Then wake him up to eat. Newborn babies usually can go no more
than five hours without feeding. So start your schedule from the time
you get up. Feed him then and plan another feeding for about four hours
later. Write up a schedule to feed baby every four hours. The tricky
part is feeding baby before you go to bed. You may have to wake him up
at say 11:00 so you can be ensured of getting at least four hours of
sleep. Feed him at 3:00 am. He'll wake you up when he's
hungry.
Then repeat the whole thing over again.
Planning for four hour feeding intervals will allow baby to regulate his
system to expect feedings at a certain time. Slowly, try keeping him up
a few minutes more a day so that he'll sleep at night. As baby gets
older, his stomach will be able to hold more food, so you won't have to
feed him every four hours. As that time gradually stretches out, you'll
find one day that he is actually sleeping through the night. He may wake
up at 6am for his breakfast, but consider that a good night's
sleep!
Starting your baby on a schedule is a good
idea. Once you get to know your baby's habits, you'll be able to plan
activities around his sleep schedule. The key is persistence. It will
really pay off in the end when he's taking regular naps as a
toddler.
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