The new and improved schedule
Happy New Year to my lovely readers!
As I mentioned yesterday, 2011 is hopefully going to be a year of improved sleep for our little family. I am proposing that by creating and following an eating/nursing schedule for Baby Boy, he will not wake up starving so often in the night.
Here’s a look at his current schedule …
- Between 8 and 8:30 a.m.: Awake for the day
- 10 a.m. sharp: Nap
- 2 p.m. (or 3 p.m.): Nap
- 7:30 p.m.: Bedtime routine begins
- 8 p.m.: Bedtime
Not much of a schedule, huh? You’ll notice that there are no meals — or nursings — scheduled, and that’s because it’s a “whenever” kind of thing. I feed him purees randomly (usually only once a day), give him bedtime cereal sporadically (twice a week, maybe), and nurse on demand (couldn’t even count how often in a day).
SO! Here is my proposed new schedule …
- 8 a.m.: Wake up for the day, nurse
- Shower for me, get us both dressed
- 9 a.m.: Breakfast (a serving of pureed fruit, a serving of cereal)
- Playtime together
- 10 a.m. Nap (nursing right before he goes to sleep)
- 11:30 a.m. Wake up from nap
- Independent play with his kitchen toys while I make lunch
- 12 noon: Lunch (a serving of pureed fruit, a serving of pureed veggies)
- Playtime together, bathtime, errands (if applicable)
- 2:30 p.m.: Nap (nursing right before he goes to sleep)
- 4 p.m.: Wake up from nap
- Playtime together, independent play with his kitchen toys while I make dinner
- 5 p.m.: Dinner (two servings of pureed veggies — one veggie, one meat once he starts eating proteins)
- Playtime together
- 7:30 p.m.: Bedtime cereal
- 7:45 p.m.: Jammies, bedtime story, nursing, lullabye
- 8 p.m. Bedtime
And, until (or if) the “sleeping-through-the-night” thing happens, I will try to keep the nighttime situation to the following …
- 12 midnight: Nursing
- 4 a.m.: Nursing
Whew! That’s quite a schedule, isn’t it? I created it based on our current nap schedule — which, in turn, was created off the 2-3-4 schedule, which babies instinctively seem to begin following when they’re a couple of months old.
I’m printing out this post and sticking it on the fridge, and my New Year’s resolution is to stick to it until it becomes a comfortable routine for me and Baby Boy. I hope the added solids — and the regular mealtimes! — help keep him more satiated during the night, so we can both get some much-needed sleep.
As always, I’ll let you know how it goes!
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Heather's Handmade Life 