Author Topic: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?  (Read 2748 times)

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Offline busymomof2

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sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« on: March 02, 2006, 19:42:03 pm »
can anyone post their schedule for a 4 1/2 month old? i'm asking because we don't really have one..the only consistent thing is her bedtime which is 730 pm..i'm wondering if i'm going out too much, she is guaranteed to sleep in the car, even if she just woke up? here is what our days are like..we also just started cereal and maybe i'm giving it in the wrong order or at the wrong time??

630-715 pm bath, bottle, bed asleep usually by 730..
sleeps until about 3am then wakes every half hour or hour from then on then up by 6am..
bottle around 7am  (but isn't even really showing hunger signs (this is why i don't feed her in the night..i've done that but she takes about 3 oz which tells me she is not waking from hunger)
cereal after that..
sleeps for about an hour while running errands between 900 and 1000  (varies)
bottle around 1130 or 12..
naps for 1/2 hour periods in her crib in the afternoon or for a solid hour if we are out in the car..
bottle around 4pm
cereal around 530
then bed routine already mentioned..
she will sometimes take a 20 minute cat nap during the supper hour..

she is 17 lbs and was born 8lbs 8 oz..
she takes about 6 oz per feeding and also relies on a soother in bed which i was going to start weaning after 6 months when they say it is ok to let them cry it out...
when she starts waking from 3am on, it consists of me going back and forth putting her soother back in..

any suggestions??????????????????

Offline Kimberly®

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2006, 20:14:04 pm »
first on the soother prop you mentioned, when your ready to wean come see us here, its the philosophy of this sight that its never ok to let LO's cry it out and we can help you wean her of it with out having to do that, you may even consider ending that dependency earlier. Thats a choise you need to make your self though :) when your ready we'll be here to help you.

Now for a routine.. here's a good one to try starting with.

8am up dress for the day
8:30 feed
9 activity
9:30 nap
11:30 feed
12 activity
1 nap
2:30 up activity
3:30 feed
4:00 activity
4:30 nap
5:30 activty
6pm Bedtime bath, story, song, or massage
6:30 last bottle
7pm bedtime
10:30 dreamfeed (if you do a dream feed)

ajust this routine to fit your child. this is the basic routine our LO followed. The difference being she only napped 1-1.5 hours at her naptime, 1.5 is fine if thats what you child does but I made room for 2 hour naps. The catnap should be no more then 1 hour. The ideal bedtime for a baby you LO's age is 7pm, if your child wakes at 7am not 8 am then ajust this routine accordingly. This routine is very flexable.

HTH
« Last Edit: March 03, 2006, 05:33:27 am by Karita »
Kimberly

Offline busymomof2

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2006, 02:10:48 am »
ok......................
i'm actually ready to start weaning..i too, do not agree with letting them CIO.....so have been worried about that but tonight actually i've started (not crying out)...she has been up 3 times since she went down..i rocked her to sleep instead of giving her soother then rocked her all 3 times that she woke up...so far, she is still sleeping and it's been 1 1/2 hours..
the reason i started tonight is because over the last week or so, her naps have diminished to 20 minute naps b/c she wakes up i'm assuming for the soother....i give it back and she goes for another 20 minutes etc etc....

i should have mentioned i have a 3 year old who goes to bed about 8pm and i must lay with him to get him to fall asleep (takes 5 minutes) but he also awakens when she does..(husband usually able to help though)...
i also have to take him to preschool 3 days a week and we leave about 9am...what do you suggest with regards to the schedule?  also, how can i alter the 5-6 am wake to become an 8am wake??? do you think she is waking early from being overtired from going to sleep at 730 pm? i was thinking i was putting her down too early and had been trying to keep up later to get her to stop waking at 5 am but could never keep her up past 730??
thanks so much for your response??
can't wait to hear how to wean from pacifer w/o letting cry it out!!!

Offline Cory'stiredmommy

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2006, 15:55:54 pm »
Hi Busymomof2,
I helped my 4.5 month old son kick the soother habit this week. He kept waking after 2:30 - 3am every hour to 1.5 hrs. I was totally in the same boat. He kept waking for the soother and would get frusterated and kept spitting it out... but wanting it at the same time. Arg! The soother was my enemy. I decided to do the parent pull out method whereby as they are falling asleep and the sucking slowed I would pull the soother out of his mouth. Some naps it only took a few attempts before he dosed off and other times it would be 10-15 minutes where we were doing the dance :D. Once I was confident that he could fall asleep without it (he can in the infant carrier) and he was in a mellow mood I decided to see what would happen if the soother wasn't even introduced... I put him in his crib, he cried for 2 minutes where it started off slow, escalated, and then he dropped off. I was with him the whole time, giving him kisses and using our key words "Go night, night now." He still cries a little at sleep time but it is simply him settling himself. Last night we were only up at 2:30 for a 10 minute feed and 6 this morning. The first few nights we were up about 4 times (The rocking to sleep may become the new soother, if you know what I mean). I did start doing that (getting up and walking him around) but found that made me more tired. Now we simply stay in our bed and he can have his little cry while he resettles.
I hope this helps or at least gives some encouragement.
Cory's mom who is getting bigger chunks of sleep.





Offline busymomof2

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2006, 16:50:47 pm »
wow....ok, i'll give that a shot..
as i was rocking her SEVERAL times last night, i was thinking to myself...here we go, starting another habit...ha..
so give them the soother, in their crib or while you hold them? and about how many minutes is it until they reach that 2nd stage of sleep and you can pull it out? and just to be clear, when they wake in the night, you do return the soother for a short time then pull again?  how old is your lo?
and what do you suggest for the infant carrier..we do go out alot as i am out and about with my 3 year old and just simply can't stay home..she ALWAYS sleeps in the car. as soon as i put her in the carseat she begins to fuss, i give the soother and she goes right off to sleep before i even make it out to the car? should i reach around and pull it out as i'm driving (carefeully of course) once she is asleep? or should she be allowed to have it during the day in the carseat? i don't want to confuse and i want to be consistent. she does not have it any other time aside from sleeping and carseat.
thanks for you help!!!

Offline Cory'stiredmommy

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2006, 02:38:44 am »
I gave Cory his soother when he was in the crib/In the bed with me/or the bassinet. I simply pulled the soother out when the sucking slowed. You'll notice when that happens. It goes from suck,suck,suck,suck,suck to suck...suck...suck.........suck. This is when I GENTLY pulled it out of his mouth. In many instances he would wake, look at me, turn his head and go to sleep. Other times he would cry ... and I would put it back in his mouth... and start all over. I didn't want him to cry and get worked up - that would have de-mellowed him. The longest it ever took us for him to fall asleep without it was about 12-15 minutes. That was the worst (not bad at all). Other times.. as he became used to the drill, he would fall asleep after the first pull out.

When Cory woke in the night, I would do the same thing... but honestly, sometimes I was too tired and he was not mellow enough to handle the pull out... so I let him have the soother. I do have him in bed with me. He enjoys his crib but until he can sleep longer chunks I can't imagine having to get up some many times a night and walk over to his room.

After a week (Last Sunday) I decided to let him have a cry down cry (the short kind where they are tired and definitely not hungry) and it was only 2 minutes of the tired cry and he went to sleep. His cry is like a roller coaster ... It goes up, up, up ... peaks......and then silence - sleep. I have heard this is very normal when babies have a little cry as they are trying to fall asleep. I always stayed with him during this time - usually putting my hand on his tummy and giving him some kisses - depending on what he needs.

We have not brought the soother out since Sunday morning... It's Friday! That habit is kicked and I think he loves the fact that he can fall asleep without mommy always interfering. He is an independent little guy! By the way, I have found that he falls asleep easiest when things have been very calm before bedtime (20 minutes before). This may be a little challenging if you have a 3 yr old running around.

He is 4.5 months... born October 14, 2005 - That is why I could totally relate to your situation. Same stage in life!

For the time being, until you know she can fall asleep without it, it may be worth buckling her into the car seat 10 minutes before you need to leave and do the pull out method before you embark on your journey- probably easier if she is coming up to nap time. I know some LOs always fall asleep in the car - regardless if they are tired or not.  Perhaps you could let her have a few minutes of settle cry and maybe she will fall asleep within a few minutes of getting into the car. It is great for us because now if Cory is tired in the car - he can settle himself and I am not twisting my arm around the seat to try and get the soother in his mouth. It makes driving a lot safer for us. I can't concentrate at the best of times, lately!

From what I understand, it may be easier to get rid of the soother all together. It was easier for me to commit to getting rid of it all together because it was a problem for car rides/daytime naps and night sleeps. I also thought it may confuse him and delay him learning to fall asleep without it. It may not be as hard as you think. Sometimes parents have more of an attachment to the soother than the munchkin!
Let me know how it goes. I'm very interested.
Sarina
P.S. I did give Cory a receiving blanket to chew on and he tackles it while he is falling sleep. I went to wake him a few minutes ago and he had his arms around the blanket and had some of it is his mouth. He can selfsooth this way!





Offline Katet

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2006, 02:58:41 am »
My thought here is that rather than a later bedtime you actually need an earlier one, particularly as day time naps aren't all that good. I'd try a 7pm bedtime if you can for a week & see if that improves things, I certainly have found even with my 2.5yo when he wakes early it actually better to make bedtime earlier... ie 8.30pm = 6am wake up, 7.45pm = 7am wake up & nap times stay the same & I have a happier baby... same goes for my 9mo, he sleeps 6.45pm to 7.15, but used to do 7.30-6.30am go figure, but it works
dc1 July 03, dc2 May 05

Offline busymomof2

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2006, 16:29:53 pm »
wow!!  last night was our first night..she went to bed at 7pm and i removed the soother at 715pm and did not hear from her (few little moans and groans) until 545 am!!  (i did dreamfeed her at 1030 w/o soother)....so she basically slept 11 hours w/o it...my problem ( i hate to keep complaining) is the 545 wake up..this morning i think i made a mistake...i offered her a bottle at 545..she ate about 4 oz then poohed then was totally awake (she ususally wakes at this time anyway but it has been a restless sleep from 3am to 6am before last night).  so tonight, i will do everything the same and just re-offer the soother when she wakes in the early hours and see if she goes back..
as for the carseat, i did try to let her cry but i could only take 7 minutes of it then i reached back and put soother in...
i think i'll stick with weaning from the night right now then tackle the daytime carseat. at least she does not have it any other times..
so how long was it in total for your gentle weaning process??  congrats!  my daughter was born oct. 16th....too funny!
thanks so much for all of your help, both of you!! i'm so glad i posted! 
the early bedtime did work (went down so easy at 7pm) but could it be the source of the early wakings??
naps are still 1/2 hour to 45 minutes...about 3 a day ..
i am going to try to stay home more often...

Offline Cory'stiredmommy

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Re: sample schedule for 4 1/2 month old?
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2006, 17:15:50 pm »
Busymomof2,
I am sooo jealous!!!! And very happy for you. My rascal has his internal clock set to 2:30 for a feed and 5:15. I notice that there are some posts related to early morning waking... That is my next challenge.... I am soooo jealous! I hope tonight is the same for you. I did the pullout method for about a week - only until I figured he could fall asleep without it. I don't know what I would do with that much sleep in a row... Congrates. Her quality of sleep must have been awesome. You are going to have a very happy girl today!