Parentpedia

What Experts Say

Perhaps one of the toughest things about having a newborn is that any former sense of order to your life goes right out the window. Forget about following a routine -- for those first few weeks, babies eat and sleep at totally random times, and there's no way to judge when you'll be able to catch a little shut-eye, or even shower or eat. But once your baby is a month or two old, there are steps you can take to establish some semblance of a schedule.

The first step is to make sure your baby doesn't have his days and nights mixed up. If your baby is spending most of his days sleeping and most nights awake, try to reverse the process by setting specific day and night moods.

During the day, open the shades and turn on lights and music to stimulate your little one. At night, make the house quiet, dark, and calm.

According to Louis Borgenicht, M.D., co-author of "The Baby Owner's Manual," you may also need to start waking your baby up if he slumbers for long stretches in midday or the afternoon. Keep him stimulated with play or with a feeding, so he'll move his longer periods of sleep to nighttime.

Once that is squared away, use mealtimes as the cornerstone of your child's schedule. According to Richard Ferber, M.D., author of "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems," if your baby is still feeding every hour, try to increase the time between meals -- even by just 15 minutes -- until he's up to two to three hours in between. This sets the stage for healthy sleep and eating rhythms.

At around 3 months of age, your baby should have a fairly predictable pattern of feedings and start to nap more regularly. Be sure to work in play sessions when your baby is awake and not hungry, in addition to one or two short periods when you read together. These will stimulate your baby and help him stay alert during the day. By keeping his mealtimes, playtimes, and bathtimes consistent, his sleep is likely to become regular as well.

Keep these facts in mind as you establish your baby's schedule.

• Follow a consistent bedtime routine and put your baby to sleep at the same time each night. Similarly, put your baby down for naps at the first sign that he's tired. (Remember, at 4 months old, babies take two to three naps a day; at 6 months, most babies take two naps -- one in the morning and one in the afternoon.)
• Make sure you aren't keeping your baby up too late. In fact, according to Marc Weissbluth, M.D., author of "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," parents who keep their infant or child up too late at night are to blame for most abnormal sleep schedules, since overtired kids have difficulty falling -- and staying -- asleep. While the ideal bedtime for a baby varies, most experts recommend not keeping him up past 8 p.m.
• Expect even the most rigid schedule to go out the window when your baby is sick or if you're traveling. Do whatever you must to comfort your baby when he is ill.