Schedules

I am BIG on schedules. Maybe it is the teacher in me or maybe it is my type A personality, but I whole heartily believe in having a schedule for your little one(s) and sticking to it as best you can.

With both Eli and Miles the nurses in the hospital put them on a 3 hour schedule from the get-go. They would come in every 3 hours to remind me it was time to feed so when we came home I always continued on that same schedule. Now, I should state that if my baby were to act hungry before the 3 hours I would not deprive them of food and would of course feed them, but that was rarely the case. Just because a baby cries does not automatically mean they are hungry. Sometimes Miles would get fussy around 2.5, but would be perfectly happy if I gave him the pacifier for 30 more minutes. If the pacifier didn't soothe him and he attacked my finger, then I would go ahead and feed him as I knew he really was hungry. This helps establish the clock in their little bodies. As I've mentioned before, I also did the eat-wake-sleep routine, which I also believe in. You want your little one to take in a FULL feeding and they can't do that if they are falling asleep while eating. If they just get a snack, then they are going to wake up sooner and want to eat again. They will also wake up more during the night.

Anyway.. back to the schedule. I think a schedule produces happy babies! Both my boys are so happy and a big part of this I believe is because they know what to expect and feel safe. (not to say that babies who aren't on a schedule aren't happy). Don't get me wrong...I do not follow the clock by the minute, but try to stay around the same timeframe. This is easy for me for several reasons. (1) I stay at home (2) We still haven't met a whole lot of people in Lexington so I don't have a lot of play dates lined up, etc (3) It doesn't bother me to not leave the house for an entire day (as long as it isn't for a week straight)

Here is what a typical day looks like for us:

7:00 Miles is awake and eats then has play time
7:30-8 Big brother joins us
The rest of the morning is spent playing, a little school time, snack time, outdoor time (weather permitting) running errands.
9:30 (or so) Miles will take a nap if we are home. Most days I try to be home, but if I need to run errands or want to take Eli to the park I always go in the morning. Miles will sleep in his stroller or in the car, and is perfectly happy with that
11:00 Miles wakes up and eats again...then play time
12:00 Eli eat his lunch and then we play really hard until naptime!
1:00 Both boys go down for a nap (this is when I do everything around the house that needs to be done such as laundry, cleaning, prep for dinner, blog, etc) I NEVER miss this nap!! This is their longest nap of the day and if they do not get it, then I end up with 2 VERY grouchy babies for the rest of the day and as a result, do not sleep good that night
3:00 Miles is up and eats again followed by playtime
4:00/4:30 Eli wakes up and usually has a small snack. Followed my more play time!
5:30/6:00 Daddy comes home!!!! YIPPEEE!!!
6:00 Eat dinner
7:00 Start Miles bedtime routine. Miles eats and goes right down to bed
7:30 Begin our night time routine with Eli. Bath, Book, comes back downstairs and drinks some milk while watching a show
8:00 Eli goes to bed!

Whew!!

As I mentioned, the times listed are estimated.

There are nights that Eli is not always in bed at 8 and now that he is older, he can go without a nap and be okay. But because I am home with them ALL DAY long, I need those few hours at night to myself. I love to sit on the couch with a good book or snuggled up to Ryan watching our favorite shows. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to stay at home, but it isn't easy. There are days when I get so tired of cleaning up spills, changing diapers, folding laundry, cooking dinner, etc... so I need those few hours without being "mommy!" If I didn't have that downtime each night then I'm not sure I could make it through the days. So, having early bed times is a must have for me!

Do what works for you. I know that not everyone has the luxury of staying at home so you are not able to stick to a schedule. If that is your situation then I would at least stick to a nigh time schedule when you are in control.

Some of you might have more of a social life than we do (haha) so you are not home to give naps. That is fine as well, but I would suggest having one time during the day that you are home and can give naps

Having a nigh time routine is very important to start from the beginning. (well...I usually start once they are a few months). By doing the same thing every night (such as bath, bottle, book) your baby will know what is about to take place and will go to sleep easier and nothing is better than a baby who goes to sleep easily and stays asleep!