Suggestions for routine for 18 week old

[koalabear]

Hi - probably been done before, but I'm on a slow dial up connection and searching the archives takes forever ....

I have a 18 week old DD - feeds about 7 to 7.30, and sleeps from around 9.30 to 11, then feeds about 11 to 11.30 ... then everything goes a bit messy

I want her to be awake from 5, with a bath at 6.15 with her big brother, and then a bottle at 7 and sleep (with a dream feed at 11 pm).

Does anyone have any suggestions for between 11 am and 5 pm - I just can't seem to get something with works!

TIA

[MamaG]

How about waking her earlier from her 9.30-11 nap and then trying to get her down for an hour in the afternoon at, say, 2ish? That way she won't be shattered at 5pm but will get nice and sleepy after her bath (hopefully).

I wish there was an on/off switch, it would be soooo much easier!

[lazycow]

18 weeks is quite young. Ds didn't have much of a routine before 6/7 months but then I did persuade him he needed one at about that age.

How does it go wrong?

Will she sleep again at about 1pm or so?

She would probably then need a third short nap at around 4pm for 30-40 mins or so so that she is awake at 5pm.


Ds needed 3 naps until he was almost 9 months old though the third nap was a bit hit and miss.

The key was to get him to nap before he was overtired. He really needed a nap every 1.5hrs at first though that went to every 2 hrs later.

At 16 months he still has two naps a day and is still in bed by 7.00pm. Mind you he wakes early but that is another thread

[OLFAYE]

Hiya,

I am a big fan of Gina Ford, her routines work so well and I have a wonderful Contended Little Baby, the routine for 18 weeks goes a bit like this :_

Feed and awake 7-7.30am
Nap time 9-9.30am for 45 minutes (max)
feed at 11.30am
Lunch time nap 12-12.30 for 2 hours
2.30pm Milk feed
4.30pm Short nap if needed 15-20 mins (max)

Then you can bath at 6.15 then bottle at 7pm (a bit late would be better at 6.30-6.45pm)

Then bed, dream feed at 11pm is fine, but if you want to work towards dropping this it may be a good idea to bring it forward until you are eventually feeding at 10pm, then when she is taking as little as 2oz you can try dropping it altogether.

I know this is not an easy routine to adopt but it works well because they sleep at lunch when they have a natural dip in energy and alert levels, you get to eat in peace and have 2 hours to yourself.:)

On this routine Olivia has only ever not slept for 2 hours on a ver few occasions ans has slept through from 11-7 from 11 weeks and sleeps 7pm until 7.30am from 6 months onwards.

Good luck
Cate
xxx

[dandycandyjellybean]

At this age my lo followed pretty much the routine you mentioned, and it seemed that he didn't like to be awake much more than about 2 hours at a time. Basically, he woke about 6ish with a nappy, small b/f and nap in bed with me till 7ish up and then I managed to keep him awake until about 9, when he had a nap until his next feed at about 10.30ish. Then he was awake until about 1pm, when he had another nap until his next feed around 2.45-3ish. Then he was awake pretty much until his bedtime feed at 6.45 with maybe a 15 minute freshener sometime before about 5.30. I had to persevere and get him through crying bitterly to object to naps but within a very short time he got the routine and thrived on it. He keeps a similar routine except we have to fit meals in too . It can be difficult to find time to fit in going places that you want to go, however, he is a very happy, settled baby who goes down awake for all naps / sleep and sleeps through the night too, and I am convinced that is because he is now happy and secure in his routine. HTH.

[koalabear]

thanks everyone
this really helps

lazycow - where it goes wrong is that she will sleep around1.30 to 3, and then is awake from 3 onwards - so bath time is a nightmare with her screaming (not pleasant) - to try to fit that 3rd nap in is impossible as if she does, she doesn't want to wake up (and is VERY cross when woken up)

so, i think i will work towards just two naps and see how we get on 9.30 to 11 am, and then 2 to 4ish - hopefully this will bode well ..... we'll see

OLFAYE - thanks for gina ford advice - i would love it if this would work, but that third little nap in the afternoon just doesn't seem to work .... and i'm not sure how to make it work ....

[koalabear]

belgiumbun - are you thinking of weaning? my DD was sleeping 7 to 7, but is now waking in the night, which is why i have "reinstated" the dream feed at 11 pm

mother in law says this means she needs weaning - but she's only 18 weeks .... the weaning police say i will cause her irrevocable harm if i subject her little intestines to food at such an early stage ...

[sareg26tymaddie]

when my son was 10 weeks my health visitor advised me to start weaning him. Being a first time mother i took her advice and started him on yoghurts, baby rice and rusks as he was waking in the night every two hours and still having milk in the day every three. This worked for me. Since then though the weaning period has changed to 4 months to six so maybe you should talk to hv.

[sareg26tymaddie]

My hv told me to go on milupa and it works a treat but only certain places sell it. Its funny because my daughter is the opposite and is on cow and gate 2 and she is satistfied with that. She has slept through since she was 7 weeks and i had a nightmare with my son till he was 7 months.