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- week one
- focus: full feeds
- to avoid falling asleep before full feed is complete...
- rub her feet & hands
- wipe forehead, neck & face with wet wipe
- un-wrap during the day to keep alert
- burp thoroughly when changing nursing sides or halfway through the bottle
- to avoid falling asleep before full feed is complete...
- focus: full feeds
- week two
- focus: full feeds + day & night confusion
- to clear up confusion...
- during the day when she's awake and feeding, open windows, turn on lights, and keep things very bright
- at night feed swaddled to communicate she should stay asleep and during the day unswaddle to feed which helps wake her up
- at night, 8:00 pm and later, do all feeding, hugging, cuddling, diaper changing, in very dim or dark conditions
- after feeding during the day, attempt to keep her awake for at least a few minutes by singing, cooing, playing, and bonding
- if she seems fully awake in the middle of the night, try turning on very bright lights which will cause her to shut her eyes
- don’t allow more time than 3 hours between feedings during the day, even if she is still sleeping. Wake her up and feed her again if she continues to sleep.
- at night, feed her whenever she wakes up and is hungry, but let her determine how frequent that is
- at night, avoid stimulating, playing, cooing, singing, or any other behaviors that will encourage her to stay awake
- swaddle tightly at night and during nap times
- to clear up confusion...
- focus: full feeds + day & night confusion
- week three
- focus: teaching alice to sleep on her own
- do this to help her to sleep on her own...
- do not let her become overtired
- avoid frequent fussiness throughout the day
- avoid too frequent and short naps
- no screen time or loud and distracting noises at least 30 minutes before wind down
- perfect the wind down routine
- turn on calm music
- warm bath + lotion
- dim lights
- read scriptures + pray
- diaper change + swaddle
- rock + read until drowsy
- protect her sleep & sleep schedule - do not go out and about if it will overstimulate and not allow her to nap
- put her to sleep while awake but still drowsy. (look for: yawning, doing the “eye roll” or rubbing her eyes)
- create positive sleep associations
- give her a pacifier
- say no to "sleep props"
- do not let her become overtired
- do this to help her to sleep on her own...
- focus: teaching alice to sleep on her own
- week four
- focus: find your routine
- determine the average time between feeds
- start your day at a consistent time - choose a time each morning (7:30 a.m.) and feed her every single day at that time. Soon she will sleep until 7:30 and that’ll be your normal start to the day.
- write down a feasible schedule that allows 2.5 to 3 hours between feedings with nap times in between each feed. At this point, you are just discovering the perfect routine, you're mostly observing and figuring out the best times to nap, play, feed, etc. (example):
- 7:30-8:00 am – wake up and feed
- 8:30 am – down for a nap
- 10:30 am – feed, change diaper, play
- 11:10 am – down for a nap
- 1:00 pm – feed, change diaper, play
- 1:40 pm – down for a nap
- 3:30 pm – feed, change diaper, play
- 4:10 pm – down for a nap
- 6:00 pm – feed, change diaper, play
- 6:30 pm – down for a catnap
- 7:30-8:30 pm – wind down routine, put to bed for the night
- 10:30-11:00 pm – dream feed swaddled, put back to bed
- feed in the night when she wakes up
- focus: find your routine
- week five
- focus: the dream feed
- to accomplish the dream feed...
- alice will not likely wake for this feed since she’ll have had a couple of feeds just a few hours earlier in the night. This means you will wake her, likely right before you go to sleep, and feed her.
- when you wake her, do a diaper change, re-swaddle, and try to feed her as much as she’ll take. If she nods off after a few minutes, use a wet wipe to wake her up and get her drinking again.
- if she won’t wake up, wait 20 minutes and try again.
- feed in a dim or dark room to achieve proper stimulation.
- this feed will be maintained until baby is sleeping fully through the night until morning.
- to accomplish the dream feed...
- focus: the dream feed
- week six
- focus: morning wake time + beginning your schedule
- how to accomplish the morning wake time...
- draw upon the appropriate wake time from your schedule and do not deviate from it whatsoever.
- every morning, aim to feed your baby at this time even if they’ve fed as soon a 1.5 hours before.
- if she wakes earlier than this time but is not crying for milk, cuddle, hold, play with, and rock her until that time comes. If she is extremely hungry, feed baby of course. But still try to get a full feed in at the wake up time and then get back on routine throughout the day.
- remember consistency is key.
- how to accomplish the morning wake time...
- focus: morning wake time + beginning your schedule
- weeks seven to ten
- focus: continuing your schedule
- help her to keep to a schedule. you may need to adjust as time goes by and as you need to leave the house more frequently. but don't allow other activities to distract from her sleep schedule.
- the goal is to have her sleeping through the entire night anywhere from 3-6 months.
- focus: continuing your schedule
- three to six months
- focus: get her to sleep through the night
- 5:00 am - early morning feed (don’t change diaper) just put right back down to bed
- 7:30 am - wake up and feed
- 8:30 am - go down for a nap
- 10:30 am - feed, snuggle, tummy time
- 11:30 am - go down for a nap
- 1:30 pm - feed, activity (go for walk, carry around house to do chores, read, hold baby while you read, etc.)
- 2:30 pm - go down for a nap
- 4:30 pm - feed, play in infant seat or swing while mom makes dinner
- 5:30 pm - quick nap
- 6:30 pm - feed, play
- 7:30 pm - wind down routine, put to bed for the night
- 10:30 pm - dream feed (until she is sleeping through the night)
- focus: get her to sleep through the night
- six to nine months
- focus: sleeping through the nigh + eating solids
- 7:30 am – wake up, feed, solids for breakfast
- 8:15 am – play
- 9:00 am – down for nap
- 11:00 am – wake up, feed, solids
- 11:45 am – play (floor time, practicing sitting or standing, etc.)
- 12:30 pm – down for nap
- 2:30 pm – wake up, feed, solids
- 3:15 pm - play
- 4:30 pm – down for nap
- 6:00 pm – wake up, feed, bedtime snack
- 6:45 pm - wind down routine
- 7:45 pm - quick feed, bedtime
- focus: sleeping through the nigh + eating solids
- nine to twelve months
- focus: less naps + eating for nutrition & for sleep
- 7:30 am – feed, milk and solids
- 9:30 am – morning nap (roughly 45 minutes) - if she wakes early put a few toys or board books in her crib and let her play
- 11:30 am – milk, play
- 12:00 pm - lunch, solids
- 1:15 pm - afternoon nap
- 4:00 pm - wake up, nurse or bottle
- 5:30 pm - dinner
- 6:40 pm - bedtime snack
- 7:00 pm - wind down routine, put to bed for the night
- focus: less naps + eating for nutrition & for sleep
nov 20 2017 ∞
nov 15 2019 +
nov 15 2019 +