It's hard to have a routine for a baby from the get go, after labour and delivery, you go home and think, now what ?
Human beings naturally, are creatures of habit. Even people that say "I have no routine" tend to have one, they just don't realize it. Of course there are those who are more extreme like the 'TYPE A' personality; competitive, highly organized, ambitious, impatient, highly aware of time management (like myself), Its hard as having a baby, can cause you to feel as though life has gotten incredibly chaotic.
The common feelings that I hear from parents in these first few months are; inadequate, frustrated, overwhelmed, tired, unsure, low, the list goes on and on.
In the beginning, when you first bring your baby home from the hospital they can be fairly sleepy, and as the weeks roll by and you start to get used to each other, they will become more alert and have longer periods of wake-fullness. You can start to think about putting some sort of structure in place.
This is harder of course, if you have had feeding issues, but over time, and once through some hard hurdles a routine can be developed so that you both of you, start to know what to expect and when - life will become more predictable.
If you want a baby to sleep well at night, then there has to be some sort of structure in the day; around feeding and sleeping. If your baby sleeps too much in they day, then they will be up all night fussing and grunting keeping you awake.
I'm sure you have heard the saying 'sleep when the baby sleeps', you also know how unrealistic it is. For a new Mum it's hard to just close their eyes' and fall to sleep, at the exact same time the baby does, and if you have more than one child, it's pretty much impossible.
Whilst some babies will fall into a routine (and I have noticed that when a client has more than one child, subsequent siblings are often on a routine by default, as you already have a routine for your older child). If you only have one child though, the whole day and night is just one long blur, with no official beginning or end to the day, you just surviving.
So what can you aim for as your baby reaches the grand old age of 4-months ??
Well, provided they are gaining weight well and there are no other issues, most babies are capable of sleeping through the night with one feeding between 10-11pm until 6/7am - if you are not seeing this in your baby, but would like too, contact use to see how we can
help.
Not sure you want to commit to sleep training yet?
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👉 Topics will be easy to find and broken down by age
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Another option if you only want to work on a routine, download our
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We can get you and your baby there.
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