When To Start Newborn On A Schedule

Although routines can be beneficial for when to start newborn on a schedule, we don't advise adhering to a rigid schedule until they are older. During this time, a baby's developmental readiness varies greatly, and a lot of the conventional advice on baby sleep doesn't usually apply to infants younger than three months. In addition, you already have a busy schedule. Along with feeding and caring for this new little human, you're also quite busy! Now let's talk about baby sleep schedules.

I can't even begin to count how many times, as a former night nanny, I've been asked, "How soon can I get my baby on a baby sleep schedule by age?!" by a new mom. It should come as no surprise that parents frequently worry about this.

What Is a Baby Schedule?

According to Jillian Thistel, the creator of Twinkling Stars Pediatric Sleep Consulting in Ontario, Canada and a licensed pediatric sleep consultant, infant schedules are just what they sound like—a general plan or timetable your child will adhere to every day. But it's crucial to remember that after a kid outgrows the newborn period and their sleeping habits are better (and a little more regular), that's when baby schedules really start to take hold.

What a Newborn Should Expect?

If you're reading this, there's a good chance you're a new parent who wishes your days had more structure. I have some good news and some terrible news to share with you.

The "bad" news is that until your kid is around 5 or 6 months old, a clock-based routine is usually impractical.

The good news is that you may assist your kid develop a more regular daily habit by creating a daily routine throughout the first few months of life. This will eventually make a clock-based schedule quite feasible. In the end, infants are creatures of habit and find solace in a regular schedule fairly fast.

The Significance of Baby Schedules

As previously said, baby schedules provide a roadmap for what to expect when for both the infant and their caregiver. First of all, a regular routine reduces the likelihood that your baby may skip meals or naps and become cranky as a result. "Family life is much easier when baby is happy and content."

Additionally, according to Scott, baby schedules help infants "learn a day-to-night routine" and help them anticipate what will happen next. Put another way, since kids sleep during the day and wake up at night in the womb, regular scheduling aids in the development of the circadian rhythms, which are frequently inverted after birth. All of this is to suggest that infant routines can result in a baby sleeping better all around. According to Scott, "if you set a routine for sleep time and lay them in bed at specific intervals, they begin to incorporate those cues into their behavior." Not to add, a timetable for the baby eliminates some of the uncertainty from the parents' everyday lives, reducing stress and worry.

When to Start a Daily Schedule?

I suggest establishing a regimen two to four weeks postpartum, if your child has outgrown their birth weight and is gaining weight steadily. (This advice also applies to those of you whose older babies find it difficult to maintain a schedule.)

My 6 Step Guide to Creating a Daily Schedule

It might be intimidating to know how to create a routine, therefore I divided my procedure into seven simple steps:

1. Feed every day at around the same time.

During the day, I usually advise feeding babies every 2.5–3 hours. Your infant will rapidly become accustomed to regular feedings throughout the day and become hungry enough to consume a complete "meal" as opposed to "snacking."

It could be ideal to combine feeding on demand with a 2-3 hour feeding plan if your kid is still not gaining weight or if you are nursing. Consult with your physician for advice.

2. Create a routine for feeding, activities, and sleep:

In addition to helping your baby release energy before their next nap, a feed-activity-sleep schedule helps prevent the development of a feeding-to-sleep link. For a when to start newborn on a schedule, an activity may be as easy as changing their diaper or taking a little stroll around the neighborhood.

Why not draw the connection between eating and sleeping? Babies who go to sleep on their own for naps and nighttime had longer stretches of quality sleep, according to research from the 2004 National Sleep Foundation "Sleep in America Poll.")

3. Adhere to "wake windows" to prevent an overtired or undertired infant:

Your baby will be able to stay awake throughout developmentally appropriate wake windows, which are the periods of time between naps and before bedtime. These intervals of awake between sleeps as when to start newborn on a schedule.

That being said, your kid will probably be able to handle a maximum of 1.5 hours of awake throughout the first 12 weeks of their existence! Age-appropriate wake windows from birth to 16 weeks are shown in the table below.

4. Step outside!

Infants do not understand the distinction between day and night from birth. In fact, they don't even start generating circadian genes or melatonin until around newborn schedule week 2; these two factors are crucial for the formation of a baby's sleep-wake cycles.

Knowing this, it is our responsibility to assist them in learning the distinction between day and night. Providing your infant with *indirect* exposure to daylight and fresh air is the greatest way to do this.

According to this intriguing study, babies under the age of 13 weeks who slept soundly at night spent TWICE as much time outside each day as those who didn't. Tell me if it doesn't encourage you to go outside now.

5. Establish a consistent bedtime and naptime routine:

One of the greatest ways to let your baby know when it's time for a nap or bedtime is to establish a consistent routine. Research shows that babies who follow a set bedtime routine go to sleep earlier and wake up less frequently at night. An abridged variation of the bedtime ritual, lasting five to ten minutes, is the naptime routine.

6. Examine each day as it comes.

I hope that these seven stages will be helpful to you as you start to create a daily schedule! Consider your lifestyle and your child's developmental requirements when determining how you would like each day to unfold. Your infant will progressively become accustomed to the daily routine as you start to create one that suits your household. Knowing what to anticipate every day will give them a sense of security. But keep in mind that raising babies is always a learning process. Give it some time, and both you and your child will undoubtedly benefit.

Baby Schedule Mistakes to Avoid.

Setting infant routines can be made easier in certain situations, but there are also certain ways parents can

Going against your baby's natural rhythm: Wu advises that if you attempt to force your child to follow a very regular schedule despite their erratic patterns, it will not succeed. "Some babies will not even notice the disruption to their routine; others will experience a stress reaction." As previously said, pay attention to your baby's natural signs.

Keeping infant up too late: Contrary to popular belief, keeping a baby up a little later won't help them sleep longer or later; on the contrary, it will make them overtired. Wu explains, "They might exhibit it if they appear to have had enough sleep but exhibit irritability when awake." "If the baby is younger than six months, he or she should be back to sleep in two hours."