Am i doing it all wrong or....

qwertytlk

Hi all
basically i started this thread to get some more opinions on my routine with my baby.

Someone from the extended family, i won't say who as i know they use this site, made a comment about the routine , or more lack of routine in their opinion, we have with our son who is a week shy of 6 months.

My little guy has been a fantastic sleeper from about 6 weeks, in that he would sleep through,except waking for a bottle in the the middle of the night, but would go back asleep..

.Now at almost 6 months he still sleeps through, which is a full 12 hours of sleep, only waking the odd time for bottle, but he will go straight back asleep after that.

The problem is that he doesn't sleep from 7pm or 8pm until 7am or 8am because alot of nights he won't go to bed until 9 or 10pm which has him waking at 9 or 10am. Or on odd nights he won't go down until 11pm to 12am which obviously has him waking at 11am or 12pm the next Morning. Now i dont interfere with this as he is teething and can be in pain so il leave him to get his full 12hours sleep. Also, i dont stay in bed even if he is sleeping late. I will still get up at 8 or 9 every morning and start house work etc and prepare his feed for when his wakes and do other such things. The rest of the day consists of the usual - us dressing him, giving him a bottle and some solids, then playing, maybe going for a walk etc. Then dinner, a bath, more paying and a bottle etc.

So thats our typical day!
Does anyon else think there's a 'lack of routine' etc here? I think the family member who made the comments was mostly referring to bed time/waking time.
Is there anything wrong with the bed time, he needs 12 hours of sleep so sometimes he doesn't go to bed till late, hence he wakes late?
I just thought he was still a bit young for 'keeping him awake' and missing daytime naps etc so tha he wud be tired at 7 or 8pm to go to bed then so he could wake at 7 or 8am? Even if he.s not young to do this, i still dont feel comfortable with it as i feel that he will work it out himself as he gets older.

So there's my story, not sure if im doin things wrong or if its ok the Way it is, but according to this family member 'that no type of routine to bring a child up with', 'having them up till all hours and in bed half the day,....blah blah blaaaaaaaaah'

opinions needed please! Thanks

slarkin123

Pay no attention to what others say. He does have a routine which i think is very important for babies. You are the parent and must do what feels right for you. Though i would add have you thought about what will happen when he starts school. That's the reason I got mine into the habit of an early bed time cause i would feel terrible having to wake them. But i will say you're doing nothing wrong so tell anyone interfering to p#%s off.

How Strange

Are you doing it all wrong? Of course not! It's your family do you do what suits you. I think it's easy for people to criticise other people's routines. We never had a routine as such when I was on maternity leave except for bedtime as I thought there was plenty of time for routines once I went back to work.

If it suits you to put your baby down at 9 or whatever and let him sleep 12 hours then continue doing it and ignore what other people say. I can see a great advantage for you as you get up in the morning, have a shower and breakfast in peace and get a bit of housework done.

You'll know when/if it's time to change things so until then enjoy how it works for you now.

Winnie

Your routine is very similar to mine and if it works for your family as it works for mine, then there is nothing wrong with it. Other people who make comments like that dont live with you to see how it works for you and your baby. People can only comment if they think you are really doing something wrong or have some helpful advice, you are doing fine.

cynder

Whatever works for you.

If your happy and baby is happy thats all that matters, if its not broken dont fix it.

Just because the sleep patterns are as they are now, doesn't mean in 3 months or 6 months they will be the same. As they get older the sleep patterns change. Don't be worrying that the sleep patterns are going to be the exact same until the child is 5 because they wont! His only 6 months when the naps during the day lessen he will start falling asleep earlier.

wmpdd3

We were the same, she used to go to sleep at 10:30 and sleep until 11:30 am. It was brilliant, I'd get up have my breakfast and make the house warm before she got up.

She was like this from about 7 months to 1 year old but now she's in bed at 7 pm to 7am, gets a bottle and goes back for a snooze till 10am. Perfect.

She put herself into a routine, I never really did anything to change her. The only time I go against her is to take her out of bed at 12:45 to go to creche.

Other than that she does the same thing at the same time everyday. My sisters kids were a bit out of sync, but as the older guy is now in school now, they both go to bed at 8pm and are up at 7am. This will help when the little one needs to go to play group.

milkandsugar

My eldest girl is three now and she goes to bed at 9 and wakes between 8.30 and 9 which suits me fine. I know next year she will have to go to bed a little earlier in order to be up for play school but at the moment i am at home with her and it suits us and our family. I say do what seems to suit you and your family. Just because your not doing the same thing as someone else doesn't mean that you are doing something wrong.