Baby's Schedule

I'm excited -- this is my first reader-requested blog! After reading my July 29 entry, "What Would You Do," one reader asked if I could share ideas for a baby's schedule. 

I am by nature a person who loves routines; getting up at the same time, eating the same breakfast, doing things in a particular order... very methodical. So when I became a mom, I tried to get my daughter Camila on a schedule as soon as possible.

The key to getting a child on a schedule is consistency. If I'm not willing to do the same things every day, get my child to bed at the same time for naps and bedtime every day, she won't be able to follow a schedule. A schedule is sacrifice but the payout is big.

Here is what our day looked like before Camila turned one-year-old...

7:00 a.m. Baby woke up (I was awake earlier. Showered and ready to go by the time Camila woke up)

                

7:15 a.m. Feed Camila

7:30 a.m. Floor exercises - I stretched her legs, put her on her belly, moved her little arms around.  (Bragging right -- by three months my little Tarzan baby girl could come to a standing position by pulling herself up by my two index fingers!) 

8:00 a.m. Dance time! 

8:20 a.m. Reading time! Even as a little baby Camila loved to listen to me read and would fix her eyes on brightly colored books. It's never too early to start reading to children! 

8:45 a.m. Change baby, ready room for nap. 

9:00 a.m. Bottle and nap time. 

11:00 a.m. Wake up from nap, change and feed baby.

11:15 a.m. Playing on the floor in her little floor gym. 

12:00 p.m. Read a book or two while pointing to pictures and asking her questions about the book. (I loved listening to her babbling responses!)  

12:30 p.m. Time for a walk around the neighborhood! 

1:00 p.m. Change baby, listen to music and play on the floor with her. 

1:15 p.m.  Nap time again! 

3:15 p.m. Wake from nap, change baby, give her a bottle. 

3:45 p.m. Park time or play date

4:30 p.m. Head home

4:45 p.m. Change baby, give her a bottle.

5:00 p.m. Nap time again! 

6:30 p.m. Wake up, change, give her a bottle. 

7:00 p.m. Tummy time. 

7:15 p.m. Ready the bath, bathe her and let her play in the water a little.

7:45 p.m. Dress, read a book.

8:15 p.m. Ready the room and baby for bedtime. Give her a bottle and sing to her. 

8:30 p.m. Bedtime. 

10:30 p.m. Bottle. (She drank a bottle every two hours through the night). 

I was very blessed to have a baby who took three naps a day for a long time, because I was pregnant with my son and so, so tired all the time! But Camila only drank two ounces of milk at a time and fed every two hours around the clock until she was 7 months old! Her pediatrician told me I couldn't stop feeding her at night because she was a thin (though healthy) baby, but when she was seven months old (and I was five months pregnant) I couldn't take it anymore. We let her cry it out through the night for two nights and she started sleeping 12 to 13 hours straight. Ahhhh. She also started eating more during the day and was eating solids by that point, so her she didn't lose weight or anything. 

As she got older, we went out a lot more, usually had a park play date in the morning and stayed home in the afternoons, reading, dancing, and singing. But our schedule was pretty much the same until her brother was born when she was 11 months old. After she turned one, I started implementing art projects into our day; finger paints, regular (washable!) paint, Play-Doh, and she started taking swimming lessons (my husband and I agree it's a crucial skill for all ages). I also cut out pictures from magazines and let her make collages or just rip them (babies love to rip paper!). 

Some of my family and friends thought (or think) I was crazy and inflexible because her schedule was and is my religion, but that schedule keeps me happy and sane. I know when she is doing what, and most importantly, I know when she was going to sleep at night and I get to have a little bit of downtime with my husband or by myself. That makes me a happy mommy and a happy mommy makes happy babies.