A Typical Day With Camden

When Camden turned a month old (or maybe 5-6 weeks old), we started implementing a very loose schedule for him and let's be honest, for my sanity as well. I'm very type A, so I knew I wanted some sort of structure and shortly after starting it I could tell that he seemed to benefit from it. Ok, we ALL have benefited from it! I really really believe in having a routine..I think it's good for babies, especially having set wake and bed times.

Now that we've been following it for awhile (he pretty much set it himself, but we just filled in nap times and such), I think it's helped us keep Cam more satisfied and happy (for the most part) because we never have to question his cues like if he's hungry or overtired. We put him down for a nap before he starts yawning (because then you are a little late!) and we try to have his bottle ready before he gets too hungry. He's like clockwork in that he wants to eat every 3 hours, so filling in the other spots to his schedule was pretty easy. We follow the eat-play-sleep recommendations and it has worked wonderfully for us. Pretty early on I learned the hard way that I was keeping him up WAY too long throughout the day (sometimes I would spend 30 minutes or more rocking him to sleep because he was just fighting it from being overtired), and found that he is normally ready for a nap 90 minutes after he wakes up. By knowing that, I normally make sure that he is down for a nap at that point and he typically falls asleep pretty quickly.

All of this being said, obviously he is a baby so things may change and not one day is ever the same, but he honestly sticks to this routine almost all the time.

645am-I wake up and go downstairs to pump before we wake Cam up so that I have it done and out of the way. On the weekends, I normally nap when Cam has his first nap or if Billy watches him then I go back to sleep for a few more hours.

7am-Cam's wake up time! We say good morning to him (you don't even want to hear my voice at this point-it's so cheesy), change him, and feed him. He is happiest in the mornings and is so smiley. For the days I am home with him, after he eats I will put him in his bouncy seat while I eat breakfast and clean up the kitchen.

730-830am-play time. I try my best to interact with him as much as possible during these times. We practice tummy time, he plays on his activity mat, I read him some books, etc. Sometimes we even have a little dance party to get our days goin'. ;)

830-10am-first nap of the day. I swaddle him (we're just recently trying to leave his hands out of the swaddle), rock him for a few minutes then lay him down in his rock and play. It can range from 45 minutes-an hour and half depending on how tired he is and how well he slept the night prior. I almost always try to get him to nap for at least 45 minutes.

10am-eat! he typically eats 4-5 oz. during the day.

1030-1130am-play time again, or often I will run errands during this time. Sometimes it will just be quick errands or I will stay out until his next bottle at 1pm, but only if he is napping while I'm out. I'm a stickler about him getting his naps during the day because he sleeps better at night when he is well rested (and I skip the last nap before bed-read below about that)

If I'm at home and not out then I give him another nap from 1130-1pm. This nap normally lasts a little longer than his first one, about an hour or so. I also pump again at this time.

1pm-eat!

130-230pm-play, when it's nice out I normally try to get outside during this time. I take him for a run or a walk in the stroller or just lay him outside on a blanket in the grass and take some toys out with us.

230-4pm last nap! normally he sleeps the longest at this nap, about an hour and a half. Sometimes less, and some days it could be longer if he didn't nap well at the other times.

4pm-eat again!

430-7pm-we do our best to keep him awake during this time. We play with him for the most part and let him relax in his swing when he gets a little tired. I do follow his cues though and if he is more tired one day then I give him a nap but usually don't let it go longer than 30 minutes. I pump again around 5-530pm.

7pm-bedtime routine! we give him his bath, baby massage, and put him into his pj's then give him his bottle. We give him a bath every single night because he really likes them, but we don't wash his hair each time. Maybe every other or every third bath. Typically Billy gives him his baths so that I can start cooking dinner or take Rocky for a walk but a lot of times I end up joining him because I hate missing out on the fun, haha. He is normally asleep by 730-745pm. In the beginning, we thought keeping him up later would mean that he would sleep later. So wrong! It made him wake much earlier and he was impossible to get to sleep. I've read so many articles about this that talk about how sleep begets sleep. An earlier bedtime normally means they will sleep longer, even though it seems so counter intuitive. On the days that I work, it seems like I hardly get any time with him before getting him ready for bed but we know that an early bedtime is good for him and it also gives me and Billy time together.

 

{if you want to see one too many snapchats of him: username is katiewkrysh}

Once he is asleep, we eat dinner and catch up together.

10-1030pm-dreamfeed! (we pick Cam up out of his bed, still swaddled, and give him another bottle-typically an oz. more than normal to keep him fuller longer then put him right back to sleep!) I pump one more time before going to bed. Sometimes Billy will do the dreamfeed while I pump.

My days spent with him are some of the most exhausting, but also the most worthwhile. Life has changed so much since becoming a mom. Some things that used to be spontaneous now have to be planned out far in advance, but all the adjusting has been so worth it. He is SO worth it. I love being his mom.

This is just what works for us, but thought I would share because I love reading posts like this. 

Note: Sometimes his feeding times do not fall exactly on the hour, so if he eats 30 minutes early or 30 minutes late, for example, I will just push up or move back the next feedings to get them back on schedule. Also, if it's a day I don't have to work and he's not awake at 7am then we let him sleep until whenever he wakes up and adjust the other feedings accordingly. Hope that make sense! I'm not one to wake a sleepy babe... :)

Happy Thursday friends! Don't forget to enter my giveaway from last week, if you missed it!