babywise update

the last time i wrote about promise's schedule she was not quite 3 months old.  now that she's almost 5 months old, i guess it is time to update!

our schedule has changed quite a bit over the past 2 months. really, its changed a lot over the past 2 weeks! now that she seems to be through the wonder week she is up for a lot more waketime than before.  so here's what a typical day for promise looks like (or at least what we shoot for):

my morning sunshine

700 - wake and eat
720 - diaper change & get dressed and ready for the day
   - feed the cats
   - play with toys in the bumbo while mom gets
     ready  
  - blanket time with mom
810 - nap routine
815 - nap




1030 - eat
1050 - diaper change
       - independent play (approx. 20-30 minutes)
       - reading/playtime
1140 - nap routine
1145 - nap

getting ready for our walk

200 - eat
220 - diaper change
    - play time with daddy (this is a much more variable time of day.
      we often run errands here)
320 - nap routine
325 - nap



500 - eat
520 - diaper change and put on hat, jacket, etc.
530 - go for a walk
610 - play time
630 - bath
645 - bedtime routine
700 - eat
730 - bed


MOTN feeding usually around 200am, but extremely variable.

so, it almost never happens exactly like this. but its a good outline for us.  when we go out, we try to do it after her 200 feeding. that nap is the sketchiest of the day, so if we have to miss a nap i prefer it to be that one. sometimes if we are out that time of day she will sleep in the carseat... but that's pretty rare these days. she is so alert and aware that she very rarely sleeps on the go anymore.

on days she misses the 3rd nap or has a bad 3rd nap she might doze a little on our walk. this happens more if i take her in the carrier than in the stroller, but even then it usually only amounts to about 10 minutes.  also on those days i move the 500 feeding to 430 and move bedtime up by 1/2 hour as well.  this makes a big difference with her night sleep!  she is sleeping great at night. we are finally over the witching hour! praise god! she goes down awake at bedtime  and we don't hear from her until she wakes to eat around 200.

so why the middle of the night feeding? well, she's small for her age, so she still really needs at least 5 feedings a day.  we used to do a "dream feed" at 10ish, but lately that has been disrupting her nighttime sleep - it was getting very difficult to wake her and then she would sleep fitfully afterwards.  so, we compromised on only 1 nighttime waking.  we'll hopefully drop that night feed when she gains a couple more pounds.

happy girl

i'm about halfway through reading babywise II.  so far its a lot about introducing solids and table manners.  i haven't decided how to introduce solids yet, but i am leaning towards "baby led weaning" rather than purees. i definitely plan to do vegetables before cereals, and i plan to wait until 6 months. even so, i will implement a lot of babywise concepts with mealtimes - especially manners!

the second half of the book is about wake time activities, independent play (which we already do and i will write about soon!), and schedule transitions.  i will probably review the book when i'm done and let you know how we plan to move forward with babywise.  one of the biggest lifesavers for me is the babywise google group that i belong to.