Hi there,
My baby girl, Karlesha is now 4 months old, and she is getting to the time where i think she needs to be put on a routine.

She was on a routine from 2weeks old till 2n1/2 months then everything got away from me and i fed her when she wanted, (which i did not like doing)

She is on formula, and is supposed to have 4-5 feeds aday (200mls)

So if anyone at all could help me out just a bit it would be great,

Thanx
Lori xox
smile

Hi there,
My baby girl, Karlesha is now 4 months old, and she is getting to the time where i think she needs to be put on a routine.

She was on a routine from 2weeks old till 2n1/2 months then everything got away from me and i fed her when she wanted, (which i did not like doing)

She is on formula, and is supposed to have 4-5 feeds aday (200mls)

So if anyone at all could help me out just a bit it would be great,

Thanx
Lori xox
smile

The best routine is one that works for your baby and that includes demand feeding, what is on the formula tin is just a guide and no baby drinks 200mls 4 -5 times a day, it varies from feed to feed, one feed might be 150, the next 180 or 120. Some babies will have 6 or 7 bottles a day. None of my kids ever drank 200mls in one go till they were around 8 months old. You do have to let her appetite guide you but I do think its a good idea to have a routine around sleeping - but you have to also go with the flow as sometimes one day sleep might be longer than another, sometimes they will be tired sooner or later but for night time I think you can do the same bedtime every night. I always made bedtime 7pm from a very early age, so last feed would be 6.45pm so that they were in bed by 7pm. With my youngest I did a dreamfeed at 10pm (so get up and feed, burp and straight back to bed without disturbing baby too much - keep lights off and dont talk). It worked well with her, by 4 months she was only waking once in the night and then a month or so later stopped waking and slept through till around 7am.

The more they feed during the day the less they will want to feed during the night so its better to feed say 3 hourly (but it doesnt have to be exact).

They have growth spurts and developmental leaps and these things change their routines and behaviour as well so just when you get into a pattern it often changes again, you have to keep adapting to their needs.

All I'd do at this stage is try for a 7pm bed time and I found from doing that it set us up well, that and the dreamfeed is the only things I found good about Tizzie Halls routines - the rest of it was too rigid, you cant just apply a blanket routine for all babies because they are a particular age, because they are all different.

Hi there,
My baby girl, Karlesha is now 4 months old, and she is getting to the time where i think she needs to be put on a routine.

She was on a routine from 2weeks old till 2n1/2 months then everything got away from me and i fed her when she wanted, (which i did not like doing)

She is on formula, and is supposed to have 4-5 feeds aday (200mls)

So if anyone at all could help me out just a bit it would be great,

Thanx
Lori xox
smile

I agree with 3girls, you have to let your bub lead you to a certain degree. I try to start the day at roughly the same time - so a feed at about 6:30 or 7 depending on her natural waking time- to give me some chance of an idea of what the day could look like, as well as a consistent bedtime.
Work on a feed, play, sleep routine, so she's going to sleep tired, but awake, not relying on milk. I think mine were awake for about one and half hours at that age before starting to show tired signs. You'll just need to watch her and see how she goes. If she's only having a short nap then put her down say 15 mins later.
My kids are breast fed, so only ever last 3 hours between feeds, which might be different for bottle fed. My DD day is pretty much bf, play, sleep for 45 - 90 mins. If she has a shorter nap in the morning she'll have a longer one at lunchtime. She's 7 months now, and still has a little 30 min nap about 4 to get through to bedtime.
As PP said, they do change all the time. I find the above works for me, because if she wants a feed after 2 and half hours, I give it to her, but know the rest of the day might move forward by half an hour. It gives you some ability to plan your day while still meeting your child's needs and generally having a happy baby.

my baby is 1 month old and i tend to demand feed her she has a last botlle at about 9 sometimes earlier sometimes later and she is always asleep for the night by 11 at the latest she will sleep through till 7 most mornings if she does wake in the night then i will change feed and pop her back and she will sleep later in the morning. i just go with the flow i dont have a strict bedtime untill she is sleeping longer night sleeps and then she will be 7 till 7 fx lol

Feed, play, nappy change,feed sleep is our routine and it is all on demand.

I breast feed on demand my 4 month old DD and it works really well. It is determined by her in terms of sleep, but i control the rest.Is very good as she knows what is coming, and it makes it very easy to roughly plan our days.

I get her up, feed her until she has had enough on one boob (in your case, whatever you give her for a first feed, so say 100mls, just half a bottle) which usually takes 10-15 mins, burp her, let her have tummy time, time in her jolly jumper, let her play with her toys etc just whatever. If she is on the ground i let her have free nappy time which she loves smile
When she starts getting grumpy, which can be up to an hour after she has been up, i put a nappy on her, get any other burps she may have out and then put her on the other boob. Burp her after her feed, give her her dummy then pop her in bed.

After her first sleep cycle finishes, she will wake up and i just go and put her dummy in and she usually goes straight back to sleep, sleeping up to 2 hours. When she wakes, i just start again. Feed her, burp her, let her play until she starts to show tired signs, feed again, burp, dummy then bed. I never have her up longer than 2 hours, otherwise she becomes over tired and won't go back to sleep.
If she doesn't go back to sleep after her first sleep cycle, i get her up and start the routine again, but don't let her play for as long, as she usually is a little grumpy because she didn't sleep for long.

For night time (if she wakes up,we have been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks), i just cut the play out. So up, feed, burp, nappy change, feed, burp, dummy then bed. Takes no longer than an hour, usually half an hour.

Feeding on demand i fine is much better. You have control, but not full control. It is more relaxed i believe.

Hope you find what your looking for. Good luck smile

Hi, my DS is also 4 months old and has 5 bottles a day. Here's a sample of our day:
7am Wake up and feed (1)
9.15am Sleep
11am Wake and feed (2)
1.15pm Sleep
3pm Wake and feed (3)
5pm Nap for approx 30/45 mins
6pm Bath
6.30pm Feed and book (4)
7pm Bed
10.30pm Dreamfeed (5)