1st Year Schedules
I am very organized. I may be boasting by saying that, but I really like structure & love schedules and planners… Having everything written out when it comes to Quinn & Stella’s schedules, is a huge comfort to me, and make sure that Jared & I are on the same page, as well as any Caretakers of the kids.
After Quinn was born I obviously couldn’t just put him on a schedule immediately, he was a newborn, but I did a ton of research and landed on 2 methodologies that I wanted to follow. At the beginning stages, you are basically walking zombies and cant do much, so we started with just the Babywise Method, which just talks about feed wake sleep cycles, not a strict schedule from the get go. They call it “PDF” - Parent Directed Feeding. The routine is basically to feed right when they wake up, and then play until its time to sleep again - and over and over. Of course babies don’t follow that exactly, but we had a bit of a rhythm. The main goal there is the “order of operations”… eating as soon as they wake up, and not using feeding as a way to get them to sleep. They encourage full feeds, full naps, and active playtime, so that each part of the schedule encourages the next. Since this worked for us, we decided to follow suit for Stella.
Around the time Quinn turned 2 months, I started thinking about going back to work (I took 3 months off total) and we tried to get him on a schedule. This was for the benefit of both of us, because routine helps babies learn, and it helps parents stay sane! So the schedules that follow are mostly based on Moms on Call schedules, with some modifications - got to do what works for you! I highly highly recommend the Moms on Call books, I have the infant one, 6-15 mos one, and toddler one. They are easy to read, lots of schedules, talk about sleep training, and are so quick that I even got Jared to read one! They offer a lot of great advice of First Aid and normal parenting situations too. We still adhere to a schedule for Quinn, its a lot looser now, but kids (like adults) thrive off routine and a schedule, so we will continue it as long as it works for our family. For Stella, I started her on a schedule at 4 weeks, but of course there is a lot of grace with the schedule, if she NEEDS to eat, we don’t deprive her. Its just a goal, and like I said, it works for US, it doesn’t mean its what everyone has to do or is right for them.
Note - below are schedules, but MOC and Babywise offer many other suggestions about the right way fo get your child on a routine (sleep environment, how to swaddle, tips, tricks etc - so there is a lot to be gained from getting the books yourself - I just wanted to share the actual time frames!)
4 - 8 Week Schedule
6 or 7am: WAKE (MOC says you don’t let them sleep in even if they are snoozing, we start the day at 7) Breast or Bottle, then back to sleep
9am: Eat, wake time, diaper change
10am: NAP
12: Eat, waketime, diaper change
1pm: NAP
3pm: Eat, wake time, diaper change
4: NAP
5:30pm: Eat, wake time, diaper change
6:30: NAP
8pm: Bath (every night)
8:15/8:30: Eat, straight to bed!
will wake up once or twice during the night
8 - 16 Week Schedule
7am: WAKE (MOC says you don’t let them sleep in even if they are snoozing, we start the day at 7) Breast or Bottle, Play Time & Get Dressed
8:30: NAP (try your best to keep them asleep for the full 90 minutes, but no more. A lot of times they wont get there all on their own, so I go on walks, hold them, put in paci, etc to keep the nap going)
10am: WAKE, feed, diaper change, play time
11:30: NAP
1pm: WAKE, feed, diaper change, play time
2:30: NAP
4pm: WAKE, feed, play time, diaper change. MOC says this is the most important feed and even if the other parts of the schedule is messed up, you should always make sure there is a bottle/boob in the mouth at 4!
5:30: NAP
6:30: WAKE, bath time (every single night), diaper change & PJs, quiet time
7: Feed
7:30 - 8: Go to Sleep
At this time, the baby is always swaddled for all of his naps and at night, and we practice the Soothing Rounds that Moms on Call teaches for sleep training, starting at 8 weeks. (I think that MOC encourages starting that sooner, but we weren’t comfortable with it)
4-5 Month Schedule
7am: WAKE, 8 oz bottle
9: NAP
11: WAKE, 8 oz bottle
1pm: NAP
3: WAKE, 8 oz bottle
4: Baby Food (1-2 oz)
5: Small NAP if needed
5:30pm: WAKE
6:30 Bath, 10 oz bottle, asleep by 7:30
I think we stopped swaddling here, and using sleep sacks because Quinn started to roll over, and it is safest to have their arms out at that point.
6 month schedule
7am: WAKE, 8 oz bottle
9: NAP
11: WAKE, 8 oz bottle
12 noon: Baby food
1pm: NAP
3: WAKE
4:15: 8 oz bottle
5: Baby food
6:30: Bath, Change, Read, 10 oz bottle
7: Sleep
8 month schedule
7am: WAKE, 8 oz bottle
8: Baby Food/Soft Food (Eggs, muffins, yogurt, fruit) for Breakfast + Water
9: NAP
10:30: WAKE
11: 8 oz bottle
12: Lunch (finger foods, pouch, lunch meat, cheese, etc) + Water
1pm: NAP
3: WAKE, 8 oz bottle
5: Dinner (pasta, chicken, soft fishes, veggies & fruit) + Water
6:30: Bath, change, books, 10 oz bottle
7: BED
12 month schedule (really similar to above, except you are cutting down on milk and replacing with more food)
7am: WAKE, 6 oz bottle
8: Baby Food/Soft Food (Eggs, muffins, yogurt, fruit) for Breakfast + Water
9: NAP
10:30: WAKE, snack
12: Lunch (finger foods, pouch, lunch meat, cheese, etc) + Water, maybe some almond milk
1pm: NAP
3: WAKE, snack
5: Dinner (pasta, chicken, soft fishes, veggies & fruit) + Water + 2 oz milk
6:30: Bath, change, books, 6 oz bottle
7: BED
And that gets you to a year! The next schedule continues to cut down on milk and completely eliminates the night time bottle, and over the next 3 months we also transitioned to only 1 nap! I really hope that this can be a resource to any of you looking to provide some structure in your little one’s (& your) schedule, but remember this is just what worked for us, and may not work for everyone.
For some of my favorite products and links to other helpful articles, see my previous post on sleep!