Routine for 9 week old baby?

My 9 week old daughter is very happy and contented and in a reasonable pattern of feeding but she has a late feed around 11.30pm and doesn't go upstairs in her moses basket until after then (which is usually around 12.30pm/12.45pm as she is very sleepy taking this feed and it takes ages to wind her - if you don't she will wake about an hour or so later and be quite unsettled).  After this late feed she is sleeping until around 7.30am and then feeding 5-6oz four hourly during the day.  She often only cat naps throughout the day but every few days she seems exhausted and sleeps most of the day having to be woken for her feed. 

Should I begin a bedtime routine at this age by putting her to bed after her 7.30pm feed  and then if she wakes in the early hours give her a feed (I assume if she did this at some point she would stop waking and just go through the night or is tht too optimistic?)  or is she too young to expect her to settle as early as this - quite often she is awake downstairs until 9.30pm/10.30pm although she is quite settled. 

 She is so happy and content that I don't want to risk upsetting her but at the same time I want to make sure she gets into a bedtime routine at sometime.  It would also be nice for us to be able to get to bed earlier some nights as well!

Any advice gratefully received!

Definitely start a routine. When my 5 month old was at that age she settled herself into going to bed around 8 every night. But as this just was the time she fell asleep, and not set in a routine, as the weeks went on she started staying awake later and later. Now we have a routine she goes to bed around 9 and sleeps until 7/7:30.

Admit your daughter may get upset for a little while as she gets used to the routine, but in the long run a good sleep pattern will benefit her, and you.

Hope ive helped. Em x

Hi Carole,

I was the same as you exactly. Like emma, My son is now 5 months old and sleeps for 12 hours from (7.30 till 7.30) At about your daughters age my HV sugested I put him to bed at the beginning of the evening and then gave him a feed at about 11.30 as usual, it meant waking him up for what is known as a 'dream feed' (a nappy change is not always necessary either). He then slept till morning. For a little while he woke at 5 ish but we gave him a dummy and tided him over till 7, then he just kept to that.  When I introduced solids at 17 weeks I missed out the dream feed and he did indeed sleep through, i kept putting off trying it as was worried he would wake at an early hour but it was fine!

Thing is, at some point you get your evening back and you can go to bed at a more reasonable time and that is lush! Sounds like you are on the right track tho as you're thinking about it and that tends to be the way really, you know best x

Hi Carole,  my little boy is now 5 months but like you I used to give him a late night feed about 11pm and then put him down in his cot.  Some nights it was a job to get him to take the feed as he was virtually asleep and it'd take ages for him to finish it so I wasn't getting to bed till late every night and I had another little boy of 20 months who'd be awake by 7am every morning and that I'd possibly have to get up to and settle in the night.  I was already following a bathtime routine with both kids, so when the baby was 9 weeks old I decided to skip giving him his 11pm feed and I'd get up in the night when he woke to be fed - at least that way I could have an early night.  The first night I did that I put him down at 7.30 pm - awake, he fell asleep by himself after about 5 mins and then slept right the way through until 7am the next morning!!  And he has done so ever since!!  It appears that I was waking him at 11pm when he didn't need it.  I'd give it a try if it doesn't work after a week you can always readjust.  Good luck x

Thanks everyone for your advice.  I like the sound of what Katy's son did from the first night!  I favour trying that intially, i.e. cutting out the late feed rather than trying a "dream feed" as I'm sure she will be sleepy and we will have the same problems.  My question arising from this that I need advice on now is: if baby sleeps for approximately 12 hours at 9 weeks how many bottles are they having during the day?  My daughter will usually not take more than 5oz (sometimes only 4oz) at a feed and my health visitor told me she should be having 23oz a day (she weighed 10lb 7oz this week and is 10 weeks old today).  I can't get 23oz into her with only four feeds.  Yesterday she only had four feeds and went 5 hours between one of them and she still didn't take any more and had a total of 21oz all day.  She had her last feed at 10pm and was in bed at 11.10pm ( a great improvement but I am keen to get it earlier).  She woke at 4am but I left her and she settled herself back to sleep.  I got her up at 7am for a feed when she was stirring but I think she would have gone back to sleep if I had left her but I was concerned that if I did the first feed too late I wouldn't get enough milk into her again by the end of the day.  Today she will have 5 feeds  as I have been bringing each one forward by approximately 15 minutes (waking if necessary) so last feed should be around 10.30pm.  My health visitor said that if she goes a long period at night she will make up for it next day but I don't think that is the case with her as she rarely cries for a feed and is so happy and content that she will just wait for it.  As I say, if she goes longer than 4 hours she still doesn't seem to want any more at that feed.  Also, she is always slow taking the first feed of the day - possibly an indication that she could go longer from earlier in the evening and may not have had enough sleep?  As I say, she seems to like her moses basket and will settle herself if she wakes so I think she would possibly go all night from early evening but how do I get enough milk into her throughout the day so that she can go to bed at a normal time?  I know it is trial and error with babies but if anyone can give me any advice as tothe best thing to try I would really appreciate it.  Thanks.

Hi.

My daughter is slow taking the first feed aswell. Think its because baby has just come out of long sleep so probably hungry, but just not as quick as they are when more awake.

Dont worry if you cant get 23oz into her very day. That guideline is the general amount, but your baby may just not need quite as much. As long as she is happy, and gaining weight, dont worry. I would never wake a baby for a feed, if they were that hungry they would wake and cry for it. Letting them sleep through gives you more time to relax and the baby a better nights rest.

Em x

Hi Em,

Thanks for your advice again.  I think you're right that I shouldn't worry too much about the 23oz as if she was being breastfed I wouldn't be able to keep track of the amounts.

I am gradually bringing the feeds in the evening forward, this morning she woke at 7.15pm but was quite content in her bouncy chair downstairs so I sorted my other children's lunchboxes and got their breakfast then dropped them off at school and fed Megan when I got back at 8.40am.  She only really started making a fuss when the car stopped at home and took the full 6oz feed in 15 minutes!  That's a record for her and she has had a nap and been her usual content self all morning so I don't think I've been too awful keeping her waiting for the feed!  If she manages 4 hours during the day she will only have had 4 bottles but will hopefully be in bed at around 9.30pm.  I may well have to get up in the night but then again I may not - here's hoping!

As long as there is not another earthquake tonight (that was quite scary as I was still awake!) I will hopefully get a good amount of sleep!

hi ya.my little bot is 9 weeks today and his rountine is 8pm he has a feed then goes to about 430 or 5 am ?? i am ver keen to get this 5 am feed to 7am any ideas ???? x

Hi. My baby is 9 weeks old and he only takes 1 ounce every 2 hours. He was born a good 9 pounds but at 9 weeks he has only gained 1 and a half pound. No matter what i do i cant make him drink more than 1 ounce. Any advise??

my 9 week old goes to bed at 7pm, sleeps till about 10pm feed her again and then sleeps through till 5 - 5.30am, she goes 4 hours through the day but i can only get her to drink 5oz she drinks every bottle. I have tried on several occastions to put her milk up to 6oz but she just messes with it and wont even drink 5oz from them. so has been on 5oz for a while, shes very happy though and putting on weight so trying not to worry that she not taken 6oz, any ideas on how i can try to get her to drink a bit more because she missing a bottle at night and only having 5 bottles throughout the day 

hi my 9 weeks old baby tends to cat nap during the day and wants a feed every 2 hrs his on 150ml at 5pm i bath him give him his bottle and put him dwn just after 6pm and sleeps right up until 10.30pm then wakes up at 2am , 5am 7am his been doing that for about 2 months is it normal for him to be fed every 2 hours please some one give me some advice

Connie,

Everything with babies is a personal choice and what suits one family doesn't work for another. Your baby and you are an individual and therefore listen to all the advice even try it out if you like, but only keep doing something that feels right for the two of you. So taking the above into your mind I would give you this advice... (which in some circles can be considered a little unusual or 'alternative')

A 9 week old baby is still very young and whatever he/she asks for, be it feeding every 2 hours or rocking to go to sleep, or waking up several times a night is totally normal for his/her age. Many of their habits change, daily, weekly and sometimes monthly it all depends on the needs. I know its really hard work when they're that age and they need you such an awful lot that it can take its toll on every mum and dad, but continually responding to his needs for feeds in the nightime will increase your bond and his trust that he can rely on you when he needs you. 

As a guideline research has shown (ask me to provide if you wish) that it is normal for an infant from birth to 2 years old to wake during the night for milk or reassurance from their parents. I know that a lot of advice from books and mums would tell you that babies SHOULD sleep through the night at 6 months and a few may do so by themselves with no encouragement, but the majority will not do this on their own. Some parents choose to enter into sleep training at 6 months to try and gain some control back over their families sleeping habits, a lot of these techniques are controversial in themselves so please do some good research and thinking before you go ahead. However all the people who use and advice these techniques would say don't use them before your child turns 6 months.

As an example, my daughter is now 13 months old and has never slept through the night. She now only wakes once, or occassionally twice and either needs some milk or a cuddle from mum and dad and she's straight back off to sleep. I have no idea when she will sleep through but I know that she won't still be waking when she's 13 so I tend not to worry! Hope that helped a little.