Tweaking the Routine

[KB]

Hi Everyone

Just a question regarding a transitional phase I seem to be in at the moment :?

DD is almost 71/2 months.  We have recently had to deal with night wakings again after her first night away from home.  Didn't sleep well that night and neither did I so when she slept in the next two mornings I let it happen so that I could too.  Bad move, routine was right out and so began night wakings.

Thankfully DH settled for three nights straight and we concentrated on getting her up at 7.30 again, even though she had not gone to sleep at night until 9pm.  It has made me realise just how important her routine is to her as we have now had two nights in row of sleeping through again and managed to fix it without me rushing in to feed.  Very proud


Wake 7.30 BF
8.30 Breakfast
9-9.30 Nap
11-11.30 BF
12.30 Lunch
2-2.30 Nap
4.00-4.30 BF
6.00 Dinner
6.30 Bath
7.00 BF
Bed by 7.30

She is struggling a little at the moment to fall asleep at night.  Can sometimes take an hour but she is happy, just sounds like a little party going on in there!  I think this will settle after a few days of getting up before 9.30am though.

Anyway I'm rambling.  Questions are, when do you go from 4 bf to 3?  And how does this routine look as this is how it's starting to head.  If it's a 4 hr routine I'm supposed to still be on what happens when the two middle feeds are more like 5 hours apart?  With the morning A time why is it so much shorter than the others?

She is fussing a little at BF, is it time to drop one, if so how or am I giving her too much solids (three large ice cubes for lunch/dinner and about 8 teaspoons cereal & fruit breakfast).

Thanks!

[james030405]

Hi KB,

James is about the same age as your lo and I found I was feeding almost every 2hrs between milk and solids and he was drinking a lot.  So I moved his first bottle and mid morning feeds to be at the same time as his breakfast and lunch.  So our morning routine looks like this:

7am:  bottle and breakfast
9am:  nap
10:30am: water and snack (fruit)
11:30am: bottle and lunch
1:30pm:  nap

I give a bottle at 3pm and he drinks all of this know including the ones he has with his meals.  I also thought this routine would make it easier to drop the 3pm feed when he doesn't need it.  I think a nurse told me that when they don't drink all of it for about 2 weeks in a row, then you can probably drop down a feed. 

We have been doing dinner at 5pm and his last bottle at 6:30pm.  My goal in the next few months is to maybe bring his dinner to about 5:30/6pm and give him his bottle at the same time. 

so far this routine is working for us, although we are having much earlier wake up times than yours    James is up between 5:30 - 6:30am.  If he wakes early, I give him half his milk when he wakes and the rest at breakfast.  It sounds like they are eating the same amount of solids as well. 

Sorry for rambling, I hope this makes sense. 

Lisa mum to James my textbook/spirited koala