Can someone help me with my baby's schedule?

[TAJ]

Hi everyone.  I am having trouble getting my baby on a regular schedule and as a result, I have a very overtired baby.  My dilema is that every day I have to take my other children to school at 8:15 am and then pick them up at 3:00pm.  Last Saturday was great because we didn't have to go anywhere and the baby woke at 7 to eat and then went back to sleep until 10 am, when he woke up he was a very happy, content baby all day and took a couple of naps during the day without any trouble at all.  The problem is that I can't do that everyday because of the school schedule and I don't have anyone else to take the kids to school.  His naps in the day are only 20-45 minutes long most of the time.  Also the baby was sleeping qwuite well at night(9pm-3am) and now gets up a lot and doesn't want to go back to sleep, we were awake last night from 1 am until 5 am.  We are so tired!!  Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated!!!
Thank you,
Theresa

[Shiv52]

Can you post your schedule in terms of feeding times etc.  What time do you leave the house in am for school run and what time are you back in the house?  Same for afternoon school run.  what age is your LO?

[TAJ]

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me! I feel like my whole life is just crazy right now and all I can do is take care of a crying baby!  Well, I leave the house everyday at 8:15 am and I am back in the house by about 8:50.  As far as a schedule, I really do not have one. I have tried a variation of things to accomodate the school schedule and nothing seems to be working.  LO is 8 weeks old.  The Dr said she thinks he has reflux so we has a script for that and whenever we lay him down he wakes up and cries so the Dr thought it is the reflux and to put him in a swing so when he does sleep it is in the swing which I know isn't great.  I hope this makes sense, I am so tired it is hard to think clearly to form a proper sentence.
Any thoughts would really help me!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Theresa

[Shiv52]

I know all about the tiredness!! 


Are you breast feeding or bottles?  What time would you like the baby to start the day?

[Shiv52]

Have you got the BW book?  It'll go through anything you're not sure of.

Your LO seemed to be doing really well with going a good bit through the night without wakening for a feed so we'll assume thats what we are aiming to continue!

In terms of reflux-is his crib raised at one end so he's not lying totally flat?  When my LO was very small, I swaddled her and either put her in the raised crib on in her bouncy chair in the bedroom until reflux was under control.  The bouncy chair had a function on it so it wouldn't move so I only used it as it kept her sleeping at a slant. 

In terms of starting these routines, obviously its better to stay in the house and have the baby sleeping in the cot etc etc but this is not life.  My LO was in a flexible routine from the start and adjusted very well.  I do though aim to have one sleep a day in the cot and at weekends spent a long morning or afternoon in keeping to the routine. 

Activity time for a LO your baby's age is between 20-45 minutes so you may have to adjust according to your LO's cues.  I've assumed he's can tolerate about 45 minutes
Nap times should be anywhere between 1.5 - 2 hours.  If the LO wakes before this, use ssh-pat to extend nap times.


How about something like this?

E  7am  Awake and feed
A  7.30-8.15  Get dressed/nappy/coat on/car seat
S  8.15-10.00  Nap  This would include your car journey.   Am assuming it would take a bit to fall asleep.  Once you're home     
    could you resettle the baby or would he stay sleeping in his seat?  Not ideal but would help to keep the routine flowing. Not
    sure if its too much A time for a 8 week old

E  10am Awake and feed
A  10.30-11.15
S  11.15-1.00  (To include wind-down)  Nap in cot

E  1pm Awake and feed
A  1.30-2.15
    (This is where things will get a bit tricky with your school run)
   2.15-2.30  Wind down in the house-get coat off, ssh, get into car
S  2.30 ish-4.00  (again resettle when home-would he stay asleep)

E  4pm  Awake and feed
A  4.30-5.15 
S  5.15-6.00  Cat nap  (about 40-45 minutes)

When baby wakes there'll be some A time until:

E  7pm  Feed
A  Bath/jammies/bedtime routine
S  7.30

You can adjust last bit accordingly to suit what bedtime you want. 

Then dreamfeed at 11pm and you'll then hope the baby will sleep to about 4am where you'll feed and then back to bed until 7am where it all starts over again!!!   You'd hope to cut the 4am feed in a few weeks once he's on a more predictable schedule. 

I think its going to be difficult with the school runs but should get better with time.  am not sure if the baby would be disturbed by your other LOs getting in the car and chatting etc (not like you can stop that!) but I think you may need to make resettling the baby a priority when you get home which may be difficult given you have other LOs but could you even have a snack organised?  Depends on what age they are I suppose.  Otherwise I think you're LO will end up OT and may not make it through the evening. 
 
Any thoughts?

[TAJ]

I just want to thank you for your kindness in taking the time to help me.  To be honest I am so tired and overwhelmed I am not sure if anything is going to help.  My son is so overtired that it is hard to try any sort of schedule, he slept today a total of 45 minutes the whole day and now he is with my husband so I can get a break.  I just didn't want to ignore your help, I do appreciate your taking the time.
God Bless,
Theresa

[Shiv52]

Not a problem at all!  I know what its like. Tiredness is a killer!  Do what you can to get your LO some sleep so you can catch up and the routine will follow. 

Keep well and make sure you keep getting a break.

Siobhan x