Spying on my little life: My "2months-turning-3months" routine

Alright.

I'll blog.

Miss me right???

and of course i will blog about my splendid stay in Paradise Hougang.

Before i was born, Mommy read this book by Jools Oliver, (wife of the famous Jamie Oliver).

Its her little journal of her pregnancy with 2 of her gorgeous girls, Poppy and Daisy. (one after another almost immediately)

She wrote about her attempts to "train" her baby into sleeping throughout the night.

Its a lovely book. Mommy read it 3 times!

If you are already a "Mommy", you will know about this book, THE CONTENTED BABY by Gina Ford.

At Kinokuniya, in my beloved Daddy's arms.

Mommy has heard of many negative reviews that Gina Ford's method were a little too harsh and rigid for a newborn infant who needs plenty of love. In this book, the routines were so strict that its almost down to the very specific timing that u have to draw the curtains to "make the baby sleep" and "no eye contact" with the baby while giving her the last feed before bedtime.

But people who diligently tried her method really swore by it that their babies have a routine and somehow make their little lives a little more predictable and less insecure.

Mommy bought the book too when i was about 2 months old, hoping that we would all benefit from it.

She read through it and couldnt really bear to do it. She took some of the advices though, like making sure that the room is dark when I couldnt get into deep sleep and become cranky.

This way, I learn that a dark room means that I can safely dift off to sleep and Mommy will come to pick me up when i stir, and then feed me milk without fail!

Mommy thought that it was too cruel to "train" a innocent sweet young thing like me. (I added those description myself)

So she delayed and put off this routine thingy time and again....

Honestly, its because she cant wake up at 6am lah!

Lets take a brief look at the INFAMOUS routine.

7am

baby should be awake, nappy changed and fed no longer than 7am

do not feed after 7.45am, as it will put him off his next feed. He can stay awake for up to 2 hours.

8am

have your breakfast and drink by 8am.

wash and dress baby

8.50am

check his nappy and draw sheet, close the curtains

9am

settle the drowsy baby, half swaddled and in the dark room with door shut, no later than 9am

he needs a sleep of no longer than 45mins

wash and sterilise bottles

9.45am

open the curtains and unswaddle baby so that he can wake up naturally

10am

baby must be fully awake, regardless how long he slept

encourage him to have a good kick under his playgym

10.45am

feed while you have a large glass of water

do not feed after 11.30am, as it will put him off his next feed

11.30am

if baby was very alert and awake during the previous 2 hours, he may start to get tired by 11.30am and would need to be in bed by 11.45am

11.45am

regardless of what he has done earlier, he should now be taken to his room

change his nappy

close the curtain and settle baby, swaddled and in the dark room with door shut, no later than 12 noon

12 noon

have lunch and take a rest

2.30pm

baby needs a nap no longer than 2 and a half hours

baby must be awake and fed no later than 2.30pm regardless how long he has slept

open curtains and wake him naturally. change nappy

do not feed after 3.15pm as it will put him off his next feed

its is very important that he is fully awake now till 4.30pm so that he goes down well at 7pm

if he was very alert in the morning, he may be more sleepy now. do not put too many clothes on him as extra warmth will make him drowsy

lay him on a playmat and encourage jhim to have a good kick

4.15pm

change his nappy and offer him a drink of cool boiled water

this is a good time to take him for a walk to ensure that hhe sleeps well and is refreshed for his bath and next feed.

5pm

baby must be fully awake now

feed baby

5.30pm

allow him a good kick without nappy while preparing things needed for his bath

5.45pm

he must start his bath no later than 5.45pm and be massaged and dressed by 6.15pm

6.15pm

feed no later than 6.15pm and this should be done in the nursery with dim lights and no talkin or eye contact
it is very important that baby is in bed 2 hours from whenhe last woke

7pm

when he becomes drowsy, settle him fully swaddled and in the dark, with the door shut, no later than 7pm
if her doesnt not settle within 10-15mins, offer him 10mins from the fullest breast. Do this in the dark with no talking or eye contact.

8pm

it is very important that you have a very good dinner and rest

9.45pm

turn the lights on fully and wake up baby naturally. Allow at least 10 mins before feeding to ensure that he is fully awake, so that he can feed well
feed baby and chnage diapers
dim the lights and no talking or eye contact
this should not take longer than 1 hour

After some weeks, baby should be able to sleep throughout the night and wake up at 6am the next day according to the book.

When i was 2 months odd, i miracly skip a feed in the middle of the night..that means i went without milk for a 6 hours stretch! Mommy was surprised and credit that to the full feed she gave me the night before.

Mommy figured out from the book that if Baby Tan gets all her nutrients needed during the day and has a big feed before bedtime with clean diapers and warm blankie, i MAY sleep till the birds chirps in the early morning.

Sometimes, I still wake up and interrupt Mommy's sleep and ask for my milk milk... But Mommy never gets frustrated nor annoyed cause she believed that Im genuinely hungry and cuddle me with plenty of love as she feed me.

I will then drift back to sleep independently with my Daddy's melodious snores...

So i adopted my very own little schedule and Mommy wrote it all down so that I can still have my familiar routine at my Por Por's place.