Baby Routines

Ok brain picking time...

Baby #1 was difficult for about 3 week and finally settled down when I
spent a day at a Plunket family centre and they helped me establish a
routine. However he was off the boob and on bottles by 5 months due to
my having to work.(He still needs a set routine) He would occasionally
need to be rocked to sleep briefly but not always.

Baby #2 was a breeze and we followed the guidelines in the "Babywise
books". By 8 weeks he was sleeping 8 hours a night and by 3 months he
was sleeping 12 hours. By 5 months he was on a perfect 4 hourly
routine with 3 solid meals and he even put himself to sleep sucking on
his thumb. He weaned himself naturally at about 14 months preferring
his solids by then to mummy milk. (He still loves food!)When awake he
would lie and play happily on the floor and occasionally fall asleep
there without complaint.

Baby #3 was a placid wee girl we followed a loosely adapted
interpretation of the previous babies routine generally 3 hourly feeds
with the odd top up at nap times for comfort. Solids were something
that she just had tiny tastes of from 6months to 22months when she
finally began eating proper meals. Mummies milk was always her
preference over food. She too would play happily on the floor and
often fall asleep there without complaint.

Now for this baby #4 He is a Will unto himself!
I don't know, he just doesn't seem to fit into any routine I may try
to impose, he feeds on demand, no matter how much I try to establish a
feeding routine LOL. He feeds on one side for 5-10 mins then 1-2 hours
later wants the other side when he is ready for a nap. He has a short
30 - 50 minute nap in the morning but will only settle when nursing.
He has another nap the same length in the early afternoon and again in
the late afternoon/early evening. He will fall asleep in the car or
when rocked in his pram without needing to be nursed but when at home
he nurses to sleep. He is ready for bed at about 7:30 at night then
stirs and needs a cuddle (burp) about an hour later. He wakes briefly
for a feed sometime between 10pm and midnight. Then every 2-3 hours
throughout the night until we start our next day all over again.....
Often he will end up in our bed when I fall asleep nursing and don't
get him back into his bed or when he wont resettle in his bed in the
early hours of the morning.

And to think he was wonderful from birth to about 3 months sleeping
8pm - 2am then 2:30 - 5:30. Daytime naps have never been more than an
hour with him but at least before I had the night times. I even tried
solids for a bit but they made no difference to his sleep patterns so
I am waiting a while before I try them again.

So what has happened between now and then and how do I get him
sleeping again.

It is almost impossible for me to stay home and settle into a routine
the way I did when the others were little as these days my services as
a taxi driver and sideline supporter are required a lot more and our
weeks are pretty full on. I am too soft these days to leave him to cry
when we are at home, he resists sleep as much as possible and even
fights nursing if he is tired or sometimes in favour of watching his
siblings do whatever they're doing at the time.

When awake he is an alert, happy, active baby and is full of smiles
and laughter but he does demand a lot of attention as he is very
social and needs an appreciative audience for all his giggles and
smiles and acrobatic achievements. Any audience will do so long as he
has one.LOL

But I do dream of having a nice predictable routine where I can plan
ahead once in a while. Actually and I know I am being totally
unrealistic here but I would love him to fall into a routine like my
baby#2 had. But dreams are free LOL

Blessings

Nina