Routines

Posted: January 17, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Catching up from the weekend? Check out the posts below:
10 Things Pregnancy Taught Me / Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe / Eating Well

I also decided to revisit Self-Love Reflections topics once/week on the blog. Topic 1 = Confidence. Check it out; share your thoughts; be confident this week!

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Things are still going smoothly around here. I haven’t gone a night without at least 6 hours of sleep and during the day we have slowly been getting into a groove. Getting into a routine is so important to me. I believe children thrive on routine…and I know I do too. Knowing (somewhat) what to expect during a day helps tremendously.

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When I was pregnant with Makenzie, I read a book called Babywise. The book discusses helping infants get into a routine and it quickly became controversial. I took what I wanted from the book and adjusted it to fit us well. I will never rigidly place my own routines over baby B, but I can do things to help him fall into one on his own.

I focus on keeping him awake to take a full feeding each time he eats. It is beneficial to his health because he gets more of my quality, heavier milk. It also helps him go longer stretches between feedings. This helps him fall into a natural eating schedule of every 2-3 hours. I still feed him when hungry, but I can also tell around what time he will get hungry based on when he last ate. So important!

For sleep, I try to keep him awake briefly after each feeding. This is so when he naps, which is a LOT as a newborn, he isn’t used to being held, rocked, etc in order to fall asleep. I hold and rock and cuddle him plenty, but when he tries to sleep…he gets to fall asleep on his own. Which he does easily.

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I used these ideas with Makenzie and very rarely did we have issues with them. I believe it helped her feel more secure to know what to expect in her little world. It helped me more easily go about life and be able to take her places. You certainly have to be prepared to go with the flow as a parent, because the unexpected always waits around the corner. However, you can still have some order with a little practice, patience, and persistence.

Please note: These are my personal beliefs on what works best for me and my family. Every mother knows her child and her own needs best. I never judge anyone for doing/believing differently. I hope the same courtesy can be extended to me as I know, from past experience, that these topics can sometimes get heated.

Question of the Day – Do you thrive on routine or does it stifle you?

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69 Comments to “Routines”
  1. I’ve been trying to follow babywise LOOSELY as well with the whole feed, wake, sleep cycle. But it is way to hard at this point to have her on a rigid schedule!

  2. routine is SO important for me. when my routine gets thrown off, i feel off. not to the point where i can’t function, but i definitely feel more “me” when i’m in my routine!

    i hope i can get my kids into a routine (once i HAVE kids). i definitely see the benefit in routines for them AND for your sanity! 🙂

  3. Shayla says:

    I absolutely love and thrive on routines! And thank you for posting these helpful tid bits on what works for you and your beautiful family….I know I will look to your tips to help me out when we get pregnant and start a family! I’m really looking forward to your body after baby posts as well!

  4. I am most definitely a routine person. That’s so wonderful that baby b is in at least a bit of a routine, or a schedule that you know. I look forward to hearing more about how it goes with your cute little family.

  5. Caroline says:

    I absolutely thrive on a routine! Since I’m so busy with school, work, research, going to the gym, oh and that thing called a social life, if I don’t do things when they are penciled in, they simply can’t get done. I think it makes perfect sense to keep your family on a routine – for their sanity and yours!

  6. Jess says:

    I am DEFINITELY a routine gal, as you know, but trying SO hard to be a little bit less scheduled, rigid, etc. So far in 2011, I’m getting there with the resolution of getting out of that routine a little bit more 😉

  7. Hilary says:

    I just caught up on all of your posts from the weekend and you seem so happy and that you’re adjusting well to having baby number 2 at home! My mom also was a stickler about having my brother and me on a routine and I definitely agree! To this day I do much better with a routine schedule.

  8. Melodie says:

    What adorable pictures!! I always thrive off routine, and when my boys were little, we stuck to it as much as possible. I love schedules!!!!

    You have a great routine down it sounds like! I have never read that book! I wonder if it was around 13 years ago? It would have come in handy for sure 🙂

    You guys look great!

  9. I love the way you think about not having the baby fall asleep during a feeding! That is such great advice!

  10. Karen says:

    I thrive on routine and so do my kids! I totally agree with you that kids thrive on routine. I don’t like to plan every minute of the day but I do like to have a general idea of how the days are going to go. It’s a lot easier to get the kids going when they know what to expect each day!

    • Tina says:

      Exactly! I don’t have things always planned out to a tee, but overall a general outline makes things much easier.

  11. Sarah says:

    Your family is super adorable 🙂 You all look so happy!!

    I personally thrive on routine and I get incredibly flustered when my routine/schedule is ruined. I’m way too type A to be spontaneous!

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