How to Get Baby on A Schedule?

[Anonymous]

What age do yo put your kids on a schedule and start teaching them to self-soothe? My son is 8-weeks-old and I would love to start with teaching him to self-soothe and get him on a bedtime routine. He does go down sometimes without issue and other times he needs to be rocked to sleep. We also want to transition to his crib for naps and night sleep. We have a set bedtime at 8pm and he has 1-1.5 hour awake times but that's it. He sleeps well at night ( 8-4, eat, and then until 7) but I would like to not have to rock him to sleep for 30 minutes each time. When did you start?

[Anonymous]

No advice but I have a 4 week old and I’m so happy to hear that by 8 weeks she *may* only wake up once a night!

[Anonymous]

I learned from my nanny with over 20 years infant experience was to put the baby down for scheduled morning nap.

[Anonymous]

and then a scheduled afternoon nap

[Anonymous]

I'll get flamed for this as always, but strongly recommend BabyWise. My BabyWise baby is 7 months, thriving, and has been on a schedule since two weeks old.

If you want a good resource, www.babywisemom.com. This site has been a game changer for me.

[Anonymous]

We never rocked to sleep. I put DD down drowsy but awake every time. I would say not really on a schedule until 3-4 months though.

[Anonymous]

Around now might start to work. Agree that getting first nap in (after only 45-60 minutes awake) is key.

[Anonymous]

Read touchpoints.

An infant is always responded to. Your baby is too young for a schedule.

[Anonymous]

My 8 month old had a night schedule from day 1 (“bed time” at 7, “wake up” at 7). Everything in between then was treated as night wake ups. But he had no real day schedule until he was at 4 consistent naps and sleeping through the night. So maybe around 8 weeks? Basically whenever you can reliably keep him up 1-1.5 hrs without him just passing out wherever he is.

[Anonymous]

At 12 weeks you can start with a bedtime and nap routine, aim for the same bedtime every night. Around that time baby should be on 90 minute wake times, just watch the clock and catch them when they are ready for sleep. At 16 weeks from due date you can sleep train.

[Anonymous]

I have had 3 kids and got all 3 on the same sleep schedule around 4ish months. All 3 kids had this sleep schedule from 4 months until we dropped the second nap around 12-14 months:

7:30am - wake up
9-10am - first nap
1-3pm - second nap
6:30ishpm - bedtime

All 3 kids slept through the night 12-13 hours by the time they were 4 months old.

[Anonymous]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006K26BPU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I had an older version of this book and it was a lifesaver! The closer I got to these schedules, which change as a baby grows, the happier baby was!

He slept thru thu the night at 6 weeks. I was always ahead of his hunger by using the book.

He's a strapping 6 food young man now.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you want to get your baby to sleep independent of you, which is absolutely possible at this age. A schedule - which in my mind is fixed times for naps, eating, etc - may be possible too, just be prepared for it to change a few times before it settles into something very predictable.
You can put your baby down drowsy but awake every time you put him down for a nap or the night. Basically you soothe them until they're calm, but let them fall asleep on their own.

The other thing you should have is a bedtime routine, to signal the difference between night sleep and day. You can start something simple - bath, nurse, book or some such - now if you haven't already.

[Anonymous]

https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Hours-Sleep-Weeks-Step/dp/0525949593

[Anonymous]

Don't be frustrated if drowsy but awake doesn't work for your baby, it only worked for one of mine. Some kids just need a lot more support.