10 Week Old Baby Schedule

10 weeks old is way to young to get her on a schedule, in my opinion. You can try, but you'll drive yourself crazy. You can set up a "routine," but you have to be flexible. Their needs are ever changing. Try to let her establish her own schedule, working from her cues, and work from there. My guess will be that once you go back to work, things will have to be more structured, and you can work from there. However, don't expect her to be in compliance with your schedule. And as for sleeping through the night... this is a major milestone that most babies don't reach until around or after 6 months. I have a friend with a 2 year old that still doesn't sleep through the night. I hate to be a downer... but just trying to be realistic.

You can try bumping up the amount she eats before bed. Increase the frequency and/or the amount. Babies like to "tank up" before bedtime. We always found that the better our daughter nursed before bedtime, the better she slept at night. We were lucky enough to have her sleep through the night at about 3 months old. Just in time for teething to start, and then it was all shot all over again! =p

I'd recommend feeding her before you leave for work in the morning, that way you get some quality time with her before you leave. Then let the sitter feed her the rest of the day.

Try not to stress about it too much. Good luck!

J.-

I went back to work when my daughter was 10 weeks old as well. I was breastfeeding and she was still up 1-2x per night. Although I did not have a set schedule, I tried to feed her once before going to work whether it be 4, 5 or 6 am. Then becuase she was home with daddy during the day, I let him feed her when she woke up. I would not worry about putting her on a schedule. She's still not ready for it! Good luck!

Well I disagree with some of the others, I think a 10 week-old baby CAN start getting into a schedule, it probably depends on the kid. Maybe was BIG which helped, but she was sleeping 7-7 at 12 weeks. One thing I did relatively early on, around 6-7 weeks I think, that helped was set her wake up time. I wanted it to be 7 so I woke her up at 7, regardless of when she was last up to eat. Then the day's routine started from there. Eventually she adjusted to want to eat and wake up at. Now we push it to 7:45 and she's fine because she's very used to the routine (she sleeps from 7:30-7:45), but she's much older. Oh and the reason we picked that time was so that when I went back to work, it would fit with our schedule. Anyway, that would be my suggestion, start helping her get her routine set and it will come as she gets old enough to sleep through the night.

Hi J., first off, every baby is different so certainly don't get too frustrated. My daughter didn't start a routine or schedule until she was 6 months old BUT our son who is now 4.5 months started sleeping through the night (10pm to 6am) at 10 weeks and has a great routine. Where as my daughter was up and down in terms of a schedule. We started waking him up, if he was asleep, right at 10pm to give him his last bottle and amazingly enough he was sleeping until 6am and now he is sleeping until 7am. If he/she isn't ready to eat at 6am when you are up getting ready then get yourself ready and go from there. My daughter did the same thing in that she wouldn't be ready to eat until right before I had to leave. I just started getting up a tad bit earlier to get myself ready and then woke her, if she wasn't already, and fed her right before I left. I know this is a hard time because babies are so unpredictable at this age. Good luck to you and let me know if you need anything else!

It is not to early to get your baby on a schedule. I was only able to take 5 weeks of maternity leave, and so I started trying to schedule from the very beginning. I get my son up every morning at 6 and feed him. When he woke up earlier, he would always be able to wait a while longer if I gave him a pacifier and cuddled with him for a while. He started sleeping through the night at 7.5 weeks. He eats at pretty much the same time every day now (he is 3.5 months). I found the book "Becoming Babywise" to be very helpful to me. I did not schedule with my daughter, who is now 3, and I found that this makes my life SO much easier!!!

actually, your baby is on a schedule...feeding at 4am, then again at 7:30/8am is a definite schedule.....just not the one you want. Welcome to the World of Parenting!

In my daycare, I have both fed the 1st bottle & dressed the child. It's not a big deal - but I do prefer that the child is not brought in hungry & crying. I think this creates a hardship on the child, the parent (guilt), & the other children in my care.

I do truly appreciate the Moms who take the time to either feed at home or feed when they get here. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Moms who do this....& I also have no problem with that 1st feeding to be done by Mom here in my home. I don't think of it as the Mom doing "my job"....I think it's Mom getting one more chance to be with her child. I have also worked with Moms who come in at their lunch hour & feed....or Moms who come in after work & feed before heading home. My #1 rule is that I am the babysitter & Moms are the parent...they take precedent.

(the disclaimer would be: I do not allow behavior which disrupts the wellbeing or schedule of the other families - kids brought in screaming/leaving screaming, parent/child power struggles, fast food brought in for just one child, etc.)

J.,
As a mom and a daycare provider, I believe as the others have indicated, it's too soon to expect much of a schedule. Some kids comply. Others don't.

As a provider I would like to suggest a couple of things. Please try and feed the baby something even if only a couple of ounces before you bring the baby. One thing that can be really hard on providers is to be in the middle of trying to get their own family up, kids ready for their day, breakfast for the older kids, husband off to work, answer the phone when other parents need to call about being late or something else, and then a long comes baby that has been awake 30-40 minutes and has not yet been fed. They come in screaming to beat the band and need fed right now no matter what else is going on.

If the baby is not awake before you leave for work, then instead of feeding the baby something before you leave, then make a bottle right before you leave so that it will be warm and ready to go when you get to the providers house. This way the provider knows that you at least tried to make her life just a tiny bit easier. Now don't take that wrong. I know you pay her to take care of your child. It's not really your job to do her job for her. It's just a matter of respect and trust me, your provider will LOVE you for it.

You may also discuss with your provider if she is willing to dress the baby for the day if it even matters to you. I always dressed my little ones in clothes that was comfortable at any time, sleeping, playing or whatever. I never cared if they were in pj's when they were this young. Some providers seem to act like it's a terrible thing to have to dress someones child. I personally enjoy it when the children come to me just barely awake so that I can ease into my day a bit. They are often so tired they will go right back to sleep. Even if they only sleep for a few minutes or if they are just calm enough to watch Between the Lions or something like that, it gives me time to do the 25 little things I must do to start our day.

Suzi