Routine for baby

Question

I am FTM with 1 week old baby. May I seek advise how should I establish fix routine for my baby? Eg fix time to sleep, eat and awake?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Hi congrats on the arrival of your baby! It might be better to have baby sleep and feed on demand during their newborn phase (I.e. First 3 months). However, if your baby is sleepier than usual, eg from jaundice, I was advised by a board certified lactation consultant to wake baby at the 3-hour mark to feed as feeds are more essential to very young infants as they have really tiny stomachs in the beginning. Newborns also can't tell day and night yet, you may want to try to introduce day time and night time by having them in daylight (can be indirect such as keeping curtains opened in the day) and turning down the lights by evening to cue night time. This was also suggested by my lactation consultant from Thomson medical. Yellow / dim lights are preferred over white lights for night. Routine may be more feasible from 2-3 months old, or even 4 months old, depending on your baby's readiness. Some mums use the eat-play-sleep method, which is to let baby feed when they wake from naps, then play with them and lastly put baby to nap. I personally don't use that and I watch the clock instead. You can search up on baby wake times online and there are guides on recommended wake times based on baby's age. E.g. A 2mo may tolerate being awake for an hour. From there you an build a routine based on wake time. You can also try to fix a wake up time and bedtime based on your lifestyle. I go by 8-8 for my 5mo. It used to be 7-7 but I found it too early for me. That being said, different babies have different needs! Till now I'm still trying to figure out what my baby wants and routines may get thrown out of the window during developmental leaps/ growth spurts / illnesses. Don't be too hard on yourself if the routine takes a while to establish or doesn't work out. All the best!