Establishing Your Baby’s Routine

Day one. There’s no better time to begin thinking about your baby’s

routine. While all the pieces may not fall into place for another three or
four days, you should still be thinking about your long-term strategy now.
Whether you have just one baby or a whole bushel, consistency of care
will establish peace for all. At the heart of this plan lie three basic
activities. Baby is fed. Baby is awake. Baby sleeps. With the exception of
the late-night and the middle-of-the-night feedings when waketime is not
necessary, this order should not be altered.
For the first week, consistently achieving this sequence with your
newborn may seem an insurmountable task. Let’s face it. Newborns are
sleepyheads. You may find that after many of your feedings baby drifts
determinedly back to sleep. Attempts to keep awake this sweet bundle
simply are not successful. This is okay. Wakefulness is a goal to strive
toward. Exercise the effort now toward giving full feedings and by week
two your baby most likely will fall into a predictable feed/wake/sleep
routine. When this happens, you are off and running. With parent-
directed feeding, your baby develops security knowing his parents have
everything under control.
How you first meet your baby’s feeding and nutritional needs says a
world about your overall parenting philosophy. These moments of
nurturing do far more than fill a little tummy. With feeding, you are
integrating life into your child and your child into life. Shouldn’t so
significant a process require a fully developed plan? Whether
nourishment is provided by breast or by bottle, the guidelines which
follow will assist in your success.