Consistency

Let me start by saying that if you are not at all interested in Caleb's schedule (I'm sure this is most, if not all, of you) stop reading now and come back another day when I have something more interesting to talk about. But I am thrilled to death that I now have a predictable schedule for Caleb and know that I will want to look back at it once I have other children. So this is more for me than for you.

If you have children, you remember that when they were babies you were asked all the time, "How is he/she sleeping?" I have been asked that question countless times and many people seem surprised when I tell them that Caleb has been sleeping well from the beginning. Of course, he ate every 3 hours at first, but by 6 weeks he was sleeping 6 hours straight at night, and then it progressed to 7, then 8, 9 and now 10 hours between nursing.

Don't get me wrong, we have had our struggles. Nights when he woke every few hours, or days when he woke up before the sun rose, but generally speaking, he has been a great sleeper. And I attribute it to the routine we started from the very beginning.

When Caleb first came home we tried to stick to a certain routine. That routine was eat, play, and sleep (in that order). And it worked. Caleb very consistently stuck to this routine and it gave us some predictability in our days, which was nice. But it wasn't a schedule. He didn't eat or play or sleep at the same time every day, it was just always in that order. I wanted a schedule, needed a schedule even. If you are anything like me, you understand, if not, then just trust me, there are people out there who love, and I mean really love schedules. But it just wasn't going to happen. During the first 6 months babies go through growth spurts every couple of weeks, and during those growth spurts they need to eat more often, or sometimes sleep more often. So as much as I tried, a consistent schedule never happened. It may have been consistent for a few days, but then something would come up and it would change.

Now, I can gladly say, we have a schedule, and although it changes slightly from day to day, it is a consistent schedule.

Here is a typical day for us (Monday - Saturday) Sundays are different because of church

7:30 am - Caleb wakes up and nurses
Now I'm going to be honest, even 7:30 is early for me, so if he's not awake yet at 7:30 I do not go wake him up, but he is normally awake by 7:30 (give or take 10 minutes)

8:00 am - Caleb plays in his bouncer
I know some babies would never last 30 minutes in a bouncer, but Caleb loves it.

8:30 am - Breakfast
Right now, he eats 1.5 ounces of oatmeal with 1.5 ounces of banana.

9:00 am - Bath time, get dressed for the day

9:15 am - Nap time
We rock in the rocking chair, listen to the pillow that plays a lullaby and then I put him in his crib. He is almost always asleep by 9:30. He doesn't cry or fuss, but sometimes he does roll around and play before going to sleep.

11:30 am - Wake up from nap, nurse

11:50 am - Reading
I know that probably sounds silly, but Caleb loves books so I try to make sure we read a few books every day.

12:10 pm - Playpen time (he plays in his playpen with some of his toys)
You may be thinking, "What the heck is playpen time?" Well, I think it's important for children, even young children, to be able to play by themselves. I'm sure you've been around children who need to be "entertained" all the time, and I want Caleb to be able to entertain himself sometimes, so we have playpen time. When he gets older this will become room time.

12:30 pm - Lunch
Right now I offer him 2 ounces of applesauce and 1.5 ounces of a green vegetable. We haven't found a green vegetable that he likes at this point, so he doesn't eat very much at lunch. (he may eat an ounce of applesauce and a few bites of veggie)

1:00 pm - Play time
We spread a blanket out on the floor, get out some toys and play together.

1:30 pm - Nap time

3:30 pm - Wake up from nap, nurse

3:45 pm - We may go for a walk (if the weather is nice) or play inside

4:30 pm - Dinner
Right now he eats 3.5 ounces (half orange veggie, half pears) He likes orange veggies much more than green.

5:00 pm - Playpen time or bouncer (while I start dinner)

5:15 pm - Cat Nap
He takes a third, short nap from 5:15 - 6:00

6:00 pm - Wake up from nap

6:45ish - Jammies, story, prayers (Yes, we say prayers every night, even though he has no clue
what we are doing) nurse, bed

He is in bed by 7:30 (at the latest) and goes to sleep within a few minutes.


We are less scheduled once Charles gets home. (around 6:00pm)

I feed him one last time at 10:00 pm. He doesn't wake up for this feeding, he never opens his eyes, but eats well. Apparently he can sleep and eat at the same time, don't ask me how, he just does it. I put him right back in bed and he sleeps until morning.


Ok, that was long ... longer than I intended. But I know I will want this information later, and now I'll have it. If you are still reading, I applaud you, because this must have been painfully boring.