Yay! I'm so glad to say we have a routine established! Well, sort of... It changes a little some days but it's still pretty good! I still get confused in the evenings and try to play by ear, just making sure Em goes to sleep before 9.30! So here's our EASY routine so far:
7am: (E) Feed
7.45am: (A) Give Emma a body wipe and diaper change. Talk and play with her while she lies on the change mat. She's really happy in the mornings and will laugh, smile and coo back at me when I play with her. I do this for about 10 mins then if she looks content, I quickly dash into the shower for a quick morning rinse myself. After this, I take her with me while I make breakfast and sit her on my lap facing me while I eat. All the while singing and talking to her. She loves it!
8.30am: (S) Naptime. Emma routinely gets quite sleepy about 1.5 hrs after she wakes so around now, I start rocking her and putting her to sleep. She'll usually fall asleep around 9 for about 45 mins. This is when I have "ME" time (i.e the Y for "you" in "EASY"). Sometimes I nap as well if it's been a bad night, or I quickly get some work done or do some light housekeeping.
10am: (E) Feed (Emma usually automatically wakes from her nap on cue so I rarely wake her)
10.45am: (A) Diaper change and sometimes a morning walk. This part is really hard to drag out till the next nap time because I kinda run out of songs to sing and things to say without boring myself.
11.30am: (S) Naptime. If we are out in the stroller, Emma usually will stay awake and content in her stroller until its about this time before she will fall asleep.
1pm: (E) Feed
1.45pm: (A) this is where I kinda run out of things to do with her cos by now I'm also a bit sleepy myself. Sometimes I'll wash her hair, sometimes just sing and play with her.
3pm: (S) Naptime - usually I will nap during this time too.
4pm: (E) Feed - usually I will have to supplement this feed with a little formula as I start to dry up.
4.45pm: (A) walk around the house, play and sing with her.
5.45pm: (S) short catnap while we quickly eat dinner
6.30pm: (E) feed - this one is usually a full bottle feed plus both boobs too just to "tank her up" for the night.
7.30pm: (A) bath time - Em loves her baths!
8.30pm: (S) sleepy time for the night! I'll start rocking her and singing to her and usually she'll be asleep before 9.30pm.
These days, Em sleeps right through till about 1am when she wakes for a feed, then at 5am again. Each time I'm usually able to put her straight back into the bassinet and she will keep sleeping. This is a massive change because previously she would awaken and then cry to be picked up. As much as I love sleeping with Em on my chest, it's nice to be able to sleep on my belly without holding onto anything too!
Hopefully soon we'll be able to get rid of the night feeds or reduce them to just 1 a night. Baby steps!
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