Pregnancy Info HOME

Sleep? Schedule?LOL! Ha! Babies make their own schedule for a while. My son does not sleep or nap well and he is almost 4 mos. Everytime I think we are getting a routine down, he switches it up on me! Maybe somebody with a normal baby will be able to help! But I do not let him cry it out. Until babies are about 4 mos old, they are crying because something is wrong, or they need something, so I don't have the heart to do it.

Letting a young baby "cry it out" just teaches that their needs will not be met. Babies cry for a reason. It's our job as mothers to figure out what that reason is. It's not an easy job. Schedules and routines are not natural. You eat and dring when you're hungry, not because it's 1:15 and time to drink water. Maybe this schedule thing is part of the obisity problem. People didn't learn to listen to their bodies.

I agree - we don't schedule our babies. They are too little to understand that now it's time to "learn" this or that. I never let my daughter cry it out because I didn't want her to think she had been abandoned and mommy wouldn't come for her. Hearing your baby cry and cry breaks your heart for a reason - we're programmed to respond to them! :) Anyway, after months and months of being rocked to sleep in the womb by you, I don't expect that they are that ready to just give up the security of mom and do things on their own, especially sleeping.

My lil one has sort of created his own schedule. He naps about every 2-3 hours during the day and goes to sleep around 8:30 or 9 pm. We get up anywhere from 4 am to 6 am for a bottle, then we sleep until 8 am and get up for the day. I think not forcing a schedule on him has made it easier for him to adapt to whatever we are doing during the day. However, I have known some moms who never swerve away from their schedules and swear that it's better for everyone that way. Just do what feels right to you :)

yes I think that is too young. my son is already 4 months and he only has a night schedule. during the day he sleeps whenever he is sleepy. They pretty much fall into a schedule on their own eventually.

I hate to hear her cry, but my neighbor has a baby who's 2 months older than Natalia has followed a strict schedule since they brought her home and I thought maybe I was doing it wrong or something. I hate the thought of lettign her cry - I think it's cruel, but my neighbor said it was how they got their little one to sleep through the night. Thanks for your input ladies - I know I can count on you!

My son started sleeping through the night at 5-6 weeks. He is in the 98% since about 4 weeks so I think that helps. What worked for us (I think) was during the day I would only let him nap for up to 3 hours. I wouldn't force him up but I'd pick him up, change his diaper and then offer to nurse him. When he would wake up in the night I would get him up, change his diaper, nurse him. Usually he'd go right back to sleep. I would keep the lights to a minimum at night. I think this helped, or I just got lucky with a good sleeper. I also don't like to force a schedule down his throat. He is now 8 months and if he cries in bed I give him 5 minutes before coming to his needs. The only time I'll come sooner is if he's crying bloody murder. I think it's good for them to learn how to fall back to sleep on their own.

I'm glad this question was asked b/c I was wondering the same thing. My baby is only 5 weeks old, so I think it is a bit early to worry about it, but I've been told that it is never to early to start, so now I am worrying. My baby's been sleeping 4-6 hours most of the nights, and he naps a couple hours in the morning. He gets really alert in the afternoon and usually stays up until later in the evening. If I am lucky, he'll do a of couple short naps in between. So ya'll think he'll get into his own routine? And if he doesn't then what?

bump