On Routines

"A lot of my friends who also have kids have routines. Their kids go to bed around the same time every night, eat their meals the same times, and always have a bath before bed. Am I the only mom who lets her kids stay up till their tired, and eats when we're hungry not when it's lunch time?"

-Just wondering

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since my son was a few months old we have been on a routine, not necessarily a feeding schedule as it is a little different with breastfeeding, but definitely a sleep routine. As our children grow older, the more they need routine and schedules. It's easiest to do this as early as possible. It is good for both you and your child. If you haven't yet, I'd start!

Anonymous said...

My daughter has been on a routine since she was born. As the parent I decided when she ate (breastfeeding) and when she would take her naps. At 2 moths she started sleeping through the night. She is now nine months old and takes two 2 hour naps each day and continues to sleep 11 hours at night. I believe this is due to the schedule we started from the beginning. I found it in a book called Babywise. Although it is difficult for the mother in that flexibility is limited for you, I wouldn't have done it differently. She is a very healthy, happy baby who is rarely fussy.

Anonymous said...

We don't have a set routine for the day, but we do have routine around certain aspects of the day like meal time and bedtime. Meals and sleeps don't always happen at the same time everyday but every meal and every sleep runs the same way and that's always worked for us. I think it's important to have some structure so that your children know what's expected of them, but to have your day schedualed down to the minute is a bit of overkill in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

we have routines in our house we don't go out of our way to make sure things happen at the same time but more or less it is a routine. but now she gets hungry around when we usually eat supper or looking for her books when it is close to her normal bedtime.

*Candace* said...

yeah i'd say summer has a routine ..but not a time schedule ..she does everything in the same order everyday but not usually at the exact same time everyday ..for instance if she wakes up later than usual then her breakfast is pushed ahead and her first nap is a bit later ..and so on ... as for eating ..when i have meals i sit her at the table to eat with me.. if she won't eat then i don't force her too and she can have small snacks in between meals if she's hungry ...but that is most likely because she's a toddler and likes everything her way instead of what mommy would like ....

Anonymous said...

I also have a routine here...although its not carved in stone. My children have gone to bed at the same time since they have been able to sleep through the night. It will only make life easier on you as your child gets older.

Anonymous said...

I love that my baby is on a routine!! It makes the day so much easier. We read the book the Baby Whisperer and that helped alot. It is hard to be spontaneous because of the schedule but she thrives on it so we do it.