Do you wake a sleeping baby during the day to keep him on schedule?

[Leanne]

Usually Ben feeds through the day like clockwork - every 3 hours. His last feeding this morning was @ 7.30am, then he sat with Daddy for a bit, and when he got fussy I went out to get coffee and left Daddy to deal with the fuss for once (hee hee!) Anyway, Ben probably went down for his nap around 8.30/9am (he'd apparently had a *huge* meltdown after I'd gone) and is still sleeping. So, I'm left wondering if I should get him up and feed him since it's been just over 3.5 hrs since his last feed.

I think he may be embarking on his 6 week growth spurt, however. He ate every 2.5 hrs yesterday and didn't nap well at all. He's usually a great napper.

Anyway, just curious what you other moms do.

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

Hello Leanne,
sorry we missed your post, how did things turn out in the end?

In answer to your question, I can tell you what I do now, but I can't relate it to when my ds was the age of your lo, b/c he was on nowhere near as good a routine as yours, I'm so impressed that you've got him on a good routine already

Basically, I work on the premis that if he sleeps over on his nap time, there's usually a reason. If your lo had a huge meltdown, then he probably exhausted himself, and needs to catch up. If he goes over, say 5-10 minutes, I don't worry about it, but if it's much more than 1/2 an hour, then I will start to make soft noises outside his room, so that he stirs awake on his own, without me actually having to get him up. I don't leave it much more than that, b/c then that's setting up problems in the routine for the rest of the day.

HTH

[Leanne]

Thanks for the reply! I think a half hour sounds like a good rule of thumb.

Ben actually started stirring shortly after I posted this, so I didn't have to make the call myself. Phew! 

I'm really glad I've found these forums. It's so nice to get words of encouragement and feel like I'm on the right track with Ben. Thank you again!