Sleep Schedule - West Mifflin,PA

I think it may be too early to start a schedule but I see no reason why you can't the baby down at 8:00 too. It may mean you need to get up once or even twice a night. With my second and third child I always put them to bed when the older children went down. Time for you is important too! I did have to make up at least once to feed them but in my opinion, it was worth it!

I think now is a good time to start THINKING about it, but don't expect a lot of changes until she is probably 3 months old. I would suggest start developing a routine (lotion, cuddles, songs, books, etc.) and start implemetning that over the next month, and every few days put her down 15 minutes earlier. By 3 or 4 months hopefully have her in bed by 8pm, and my personal opinion is even earlier, so hopefully by 5 mos have her in bed by 6pm.

It is FANTASTIC that she is going 6-7 hours already -- that is amazing! As you put her down earlier, do expect her to get up a least once in then night, as up to 6 mos they likely still need to eat every 5 hours or so (not sure if your nursing or bottle, latter of course keeps tummies full longer). So say you're getting her down at 8pm, normal for her to wake again at 2am for a quick small meal, then put her down again and say good morning at 7am! (ideal world of course!) Good luck!!!

Hang in there, it will get better. When my son was that age I slowly start to put him to bed earlier and earlier until he was going to bed at 8 PM. Targets night time lotion seemed to help us. I would say all you can do is try and hope for the best. Good luck ...

Hi, L.S.

We hear stories about how tough it is to raise children. We really don't know what it is like until we experience life with raising children.

Hang in there. It will get better. Try arranging your schedule to fit the babies until they get in a system on their own. You will need to be with your husband with the children so it can be a family affair.

Get your rest. That is number 1 priority.
Good luck. D.

If you are open to trying a book, Baby Wise is the book that really helped me get my twins on a good sleep schedule at 2-3 months. It didn't have a really strict set of rules, just really enforced the importance of the daytime routine to encourage good nighttime sleep. My twins are 12 months now and I still go back to that book when we get off our routine! Good luck and congratulations :)

You can try... but I think all bets are off until they reach 3-4 months! I know it is tough, but you will survive. I think you do what your baby needs until about 3-4 months and then work in a schedule. A schedule is a wonderful thing nce they are ready. I read that before 12 weeks or something like that they really have no memory, so it's not like they can "learn" from last night. I read all the books, I really thought the most helpful was Sleepeasy Solution. Very practical. babywise also had some practical ideas but made you feel a little like a failure if your baby was not as perfect as all the babies in the book. My personal opinion.

Your 7 week old sleeps 6-7 hours at a time already? Please consider yourself very very lucky. If you search posts about infant sleep, you'll find that many babies don't sleep that long until much much later.

You can try putting her down earlier - rocking her in a quiet room after you put your toddler to bed. But she almost surely won't sleep through until 4 if you put her down earlier. So you may end up getting up at 2am instead of 4 or 5. I think that would be harder than your current schedule. And it's too early for sleep training, IMO.

But you can get a little down time/time with your husband if you plan it. If you have a trusted friend or relative, you could start having a weekly date night with your husband for some time to reconnect. And/or have your husband watch the kids for an hour once a week while you get some down time (my favorite thing to do is take some kind of class at the community college, because having a set day and time means that it actually happens, and doesn't get pushed aside all the time). I know your baby is still very very little, but you'll both be ok if you're apart for an hour if you feed her just before you go.

The 1st 3 months are hard, but remember how fast that time went by with your first child. This is a phase, it will pass, and you'll miss these newborn days when your baby is 3!

At 7 weeks, most infants are still waking every 2 hours to eat, 24 hours a day, with the occasional 3-4 hour sleep stretch. Sleep scheduling isn't possible until at least 3-4 months of age. Babies aren't physiologically ready. When it is time to try, start making notes on when baby is sleeping, how long they sleep for and the method used to get them to sleep. You'll see a pattern there. You can then begin to adjust the patter in 10-15 minute increments, as needed.

I understand your frustration, as I'm a mom of 2 (5 1/2 yrs and 20 months) as well. As for down time... ask Dad to watch the kids for 30min-1 hour each day. It makes a world of difference. Alone time with Dad - sometimes you have to sneak it in. ;-) These things get better as the baby gets older. Mostly you learn to work with or around your kids schedules and you find the time.

To the mom who recommended "Baby Wise":

Babywise has been linked to the DEATHS of infants and toddlers. The feeding schedule has caused malnutrition, and death. The sleep schedule is inappropriate. The Ezzo's, who wrote the book are religious fanatics. They are NOT pediatricians, doctors of any kind, nor are they child psychologists or similar. They have zero qualifications to produce a book of this nature. This book has no basis in science.

As a Lamaze instructor, I council our parents to avoid this book, specifically.