Getting Baby on a Schedule

I have a three year old and a 7 month old. although, my baby is older, this is what i do. my 7 month old goes to bed around 7 or 8 in the evening, and wakes up about 8 in the morning. On their naps they share the same room, so the little one takes a nap around noon and the other one around 1 or 2.

many will tell you "YES! I have the answer!" there are books, etc to tell you how to get baby on schedule.
THEN, there are those, like ME who will say:

Having this baby might be a good exercise for YOU mama! that this creature has her own needs and her own timeline, welcome to motherhood! Hold that baby, follow her cues and ENJOY!!

so yes I am sure you will get answers like: read Ezzo! or read the baby whisperer! or read_______

but I am here to say otherwise...I say read www.askdrsears.com
and I say: follow your baby and THAT is your schedule!! and when baby changes (oh, how they change ALL the time!), then follow baby's lead and SHE will show YOU her schedule :-)
I say ROUTINE is important and ROUTINE can be the same (books, bath, bottle, songs/prayers, bed- just an example)no matter what the SCHEDULE is...
enjoy your baby and get to know HER cues!!!

I also highly recommend "Babywise" or "Baby Whisperer." When my son was 3 months of age, I was at wits end. He used me as a human pacifier and never slept well. After receiving advice from this forum, I read those two books and gave a schedule a try. Within a week was sleeping and eating better, happier (both of us), and much more predictable so I felt far more comfortable going out places. After reading those 2 books, I have continued reading every baby parenting book I can find out there and still feel that their advice works best for me and my child. The key sequence is: eat->play->sleep->eat... Good luck in figuring out your own balance.

the routine will be the easy part because you control that, but the schedule may take some time. I'm not much of a schedule person, but I love routine.
Just try to really keep the differences between what you do at night and what you do during the day very apparent. Like during the day, it's bright, there are sounds, you talk and play and you're in the living room, etc. At night, keep it very dimly lit, as little sound and movement as possible. Don't entertain baby at night, just keep it business, but you'll still enjoy it. Just know that she will pick up on your cues if you start cooing and coddling and will want that time with you. Give her plenty of that during the day so she knows that night is for sleeping. You do the diapers and feedings and then back to bed.
One thing that really helps in my family is the sound machine set to rain. It helps drown out some outside noises and lulls them to sleep. keeping the room dark and a little cool also helps a lot.
Congrats on your new baby!

M., I personally don't believe in "schedules" for babies. They don't work. Babies prefer "routines" instead and there is a difference. A schedule is strict: eat at 8, sleep at 9, up at 12, read book at 1. I think you understand. With a routine, you create a flow. Eat, drink, play, nap. Times don't have to matter but the flow of the events that follow do matter so I would suggest aiming for a routine. If you get up and eat breakfast, then you feed your baby then, rather than looking at the time and stressing that it's past 11 and baby should've have started the nap 2 minutes ago. You may not be this type of regimented person, but I've encountered parents who refuse to do anything outside of this strict schedule and life is not that predictable. With that said, create a routine. As your baby grows older, this routine will also change. Babies outgrow naps, take shorter/longer naps, etc. Some babies are not hungry right at the time you think they should be. Good luck.

You have a 4 year old, so you know that once a baby gets "on a schedule", it all changes....It's a matter of time, dear.

schedules and routines are great for babies, thats what they like...I will agree with the other mother as far as schedules...some mothers are VERY strick with schedules and with the baby being so young its just not going to work. Keep the routine going and its going to fluxuate a bit for the first couple of years...a 10 week old baby sleeping 7 hours a night is GREAT...it sounds like you know what your doing..just be flexable and keep the same routine and you will be fine. Thats what I did with my daughter and its worked great. The baby will let you know when she is tired, hungry, and wet. They are pretty good like that. Trust your motherly instincts, they are always best for the baby. Congrats on the new arrival. They really are miricles.

I was a t a loss when I had my first baby. The best thing I was told was to put her down for a nap 1 1/2 to 2 hours after waking in the morning. If you wait past that time it is too late. Then a nap after lunch. The time that you put her down will depend on her waking time in the morning. Sleeping at a 7 hour block at night is great for her age. Is she sleeping a total of 10-12 at night? She should be. At her age she shoud have two naps a day. Also a good bedtime schedule will help. 7 to 7:30 is good. This worked good for us.

Sounds like you and the baby are already as "scheduled" as you need to be if she's sleeping that long through the night. It's hard to bend our schedules to theirs, but they are the ones that don't fight nature. Babies are amazing. They are born with their own clocks and systems, and while agree they need to have their days and nights straight, we should let their systems tell us what they need from us. Just follow her. Until she's about 7 months, she will not know how to take advantage of mommy, so go with her needs. I think getting on a routine is nice for giving the baby a sense of security and safety. We use a routine in our home, and it just relaxes our 2 little ones before bedtime.

Good luck, and it sounds like you've already got a handle on it. Don't let ANYBODY tell you that you need to have your baby sleep and eat and doing certain things any other way than what your baby lets you know she needs. If she's hungry every hour for a little while, that's great. It means she probably needs to eat to grow. I know some that will make their babies go without food until a certain time, because they've been told that babies should not eat more often than every 2 or 3 hours. Always follow your and her intuition. Sorry to have blabbed so much. Congratulations by the way on your new addition!

If your daughter is sleeping seven hours through the night at this age consider yourself lucky!

Hi M.,
My little girl was on a schedule, starting at 3 weeks and working it through over and over until we had it, adjusting as we needed to. By 10 weeks, she too, was sleeping through the night and so, congratulations to you!

I swear by the book, "On Becoming Babywise" b/c it really made sense and provided a routine we could both live with and yet, be somewhat flexible with too. B/c I am a single Mom who works full time too, having a routine and schedule that let me get rest at night and recharge for the day worked very well for both of us!

Good luck, sounds like you're doing a great job... trust your gut and find something that makes sense to you first!

Good luck, feel free to write me on the side if you have other questions! :)
K.