Newborns can be unpredictable and don’t always adhere to set sleep cycles, so it is best to go with their flow and remain flexible!
Structure can make their day more comfortable and provide them with consistency – particularly around nap times, feeding times and play time.
Structure
An effective daily routine for babies can provide them with structure in their day, supporting development in key areas like language acquisition, cognition, gross motor and fine motor development.
Experts often advise creating an “eat, play and sleep” baby schedule to teach infants how to sleep independently of the caregiver and reduce awake time. The key is creating an “eat, play and sleep” cycle where feeding and sleeping occur separately so your infant can learn to fall asleep without you. This schedule may also help reduce awake time during daytime hours.
However, baby schedules can be extremely flexible; therefore it is crucial that you read your child’s cues about when he or she needs sleep, food or play time. Babies will change often as they grow causing disruptions in routine; therefore it would be helpful if there were several alternate plans that you could rely on as back up plans when these occur.
Flexibility
Routine is an invaluable way to organize your day, but you should remember it won’t run smoothly all of the time. Your baby needs to eat, nap and play according to his/her biological clock and may not always adhere to an established routine.
Your baby may become hungry or sleepy at various points in the day and it is essential that you respond promptly when they cry out for attention. Crying can indicate hunger, discomfort, overtiredness or fear; quickly you will learn what each cry means from them!
Experts often advise parents to stick with an “eat, play and sleep” baby schedule; however this can be challenging since not every activity leads to sleep for your little one. Instead create a more flexible routine that responds to their cues.
Feeding
Feeding routines are one of the most critical parts of a baby’s day; they provide vital nutrition that allows for their healthy development, growth and learning.
Newborns don’t yet understand how to distinguish day from night, making it hard for you to follow an exacting schedule such as “eat, nap and feed.” Therefore, instead you should establish an informal routine tailored specifically for your newborn’s cues.
Example: Most newborns need a brief nap after lunch – an ideal opportunity to play with your toddler or relax. At night, offer your newborn a dream feed around 10pm in order to help him or her sleep longer stretches – plus this gives you time to cuddle! They may require another feed around 7pm.
Naps
An infant schedule is sometimes unnecessarily rigid; but building some flexibility into your daily routine is an easy and cost-effective solution that will pay dividends down the line. Your goal should be to devise a schedule that complements your lifestyle while still enabling you to take your child with you on adventures and trips.
Keep in mind, however, that even with a rigid nap schedule in place your baby may still experience growth spurts or become sick – be prepared to allow some flexibility if tiredness or hunger arise.
Your baby should nap in their crib or bassinet daily for optimal sleeping results; this consistency will allow them to easily fall and remain asleep. However, other places such as family members’ houses may provide enough restful resting environments if your infant has had enough restful restorative restful rest.
Play
Play routines provide your baby with invaluable opportunities for interaction with others and development of important gross motor skills, like reaching for toys and pulling themselves up to standing.
At this time, ideally your toddler will want to join you and play along. Reading together is an enjoyable way of spending time together while encouraging their love of books. Also use this time as an opportunity to try some new activities – like getting covered in paint! Creating a predictable daily schedule helps your baby understand what to expect; however it may change due to illness, growth spurt or something else unexpected happening that disrupts their regular schedule.https://www.youtube.com/embed/L_xrDAtykMI