Our Schedule

After having a baby those of you who have had one know that your life is turned upside down! Nothing is the same as it once was. It is crazy how something so small can cause such a whirlwind. What helped me get over all of the craziness was getting on a schedule. And by getting on a schedule, I mean getting my new little babe on a schedule that worked for all of us.


Now some of you may not agree with this but this is just what we did and it worked for us. In my opinion, babies only know what they are taught to know. They know if they cry we will jump because that is what we teach them. After all of the family left, daddy was back to work, and it was just me and Tucker, I decided it was time to take charge of the situation.


I have said before that Tucker has been pretty consistent at being fed every 4 hours since he was born, and that is true, but only because I made him be consistent on it. After your baby is born, it takes a little while to get to know each other. To know their cry and what it means. To know how they like to fall asleep, how they like to lay down, how they like to be held. I can not tell you how many times at night the first week or so that Tucker was home that he would be crying at night and we would change his diaper thinking that was the problem (waking him up in the process) and then wonder why he wouldnt go back to sleep and lay down. I had to make him know the difference between day and night.


So during the day, I would always have him sleep in a place that was pretty well lit either by the sun or whatever it may be. As far as eating, he would mostly go 4 hours without eating but sometimes it would be 2 hours. Now dont get me wrong, sometimes he would go through a growth spurt and he would NEED to eat more often but for the most part, I wanted to get it at least 3 and a half -4 hours between feedings. The reasons were I did not want him over eating because I didnt know why he was crying. I know a lot of people that just shove a bottle in a babies mouth because it makes them stop crying to soothe them when really they might have just been tired or had a wet diaper.


So by me spending the time to figure out what those cries meant, he now has eaten every 4 hours. Sometimes longer, sometimes a little less than that but it helps me plan for my day. How many bottles he will need. What time he will eat and where we will be at that time of the day. He has slept SO GOOD because of this schedule. He usually will eat and then be awake for 1-2 hours (the awake time increases the older he gets) and then it will be time for a nap. Then when he wakes up after sleeping usually 2-3 hours, it is time to eat again. I tried a lot of things, like giving him a bath every single night but then in the winter that is not great for babies skin and lets be honest, how dirty do they get every day so now we bathe ever other day and sometimes if there isnt the time, it might be on the 3rd day before he gets a bath.


I think having the stability but not ALWAYS having to stick to it makes him flexible. He can fall asleep anywhere although he prefers being rocked because that is what we do at home, it is not the only way he will fall asleep.

I hope these details have helped someone, this is just what worked for us and it has worked GREAT!!