Baby Boot Camp-Day One

Italo reminded me about an Oprah yesterday (sorry to out you for watching Oprah babe) we watched several years ago about having a baby merge into your schedule and lifestyle instead of merging your schedule into the babies. I have been thinking about it for the last few days and I realized that my basic approach to Maggie's arrival has been very different than Annabelle's in that I was much more determined to get Annabelle on a schedule than I have been to get Maggie on one---well now it is catching up to me! The main reason for the change is because I have just been in survival mode and was mostly concerned to go a few hours without someone crying in my house rather than trying to get everyone on a schedule----needed but not really the approach that will work for us long term as a family.

There are two basic approaches to the early days of kids that are floating around in the world today-one is to let a baby build a schedule that fits them best and the other is to teach a baby a schedule that fits into your lifestyle. With Annabelle I remember the first few weeks of her arrival being EXHAUSTING and I have been wondering why I have not felt that way with Maggie. I thought it was that I was more used to being a mommy and used to schedules but now I realize I have been really just letting Maggie do what she wants to do in terms of sleeping. I have been waking her to eat at designated times, but she sleeps most of the day except for right after she eats---and I have just been letting her. BUT-she does not sleep well at night as a result. What I remembered last night in the height of my frustration that Maggie only let me sleep for about 1 hour was that babies sleep when they get bored---so I had to make sure that Maggie was only sleeping when she was tired during the day and not just because she was bored. That way she was actually tired at night so she will sleep more than 2 hrs at a time!

So today we started Baby BOOT CAMP! Just because I want to remember what I did-I will be journaling how it is going and what I am doing. The basic premise is to get Maggie Eating, Sleeping and Playing on a schedule that fits our lifestyle instead of what comes naturally for her. I am kinda middle of the road when it comes to schedules in that I believe the schedule needs to have some input from the natural cues of the baby rather than 100% dictated by the parents so I will start the process with a day where I pay extra close attention to Maggie's preferences and cues. After today's "Observation", I will determine her schedule and then try to stick to it for a few days. The only changes I made to her natural inclination today has been to wake her for feeding times and to play with her until she is tired after each feeding.

So far here is how the day went:

8am-Eat for 45 minutes
8:45-9:45-Play on the activity mat, holding her and singing, playing with Annabelle etc.
9:45-10:30-Sleep
10:30-Eat for about 30 minutes
11:00-11:45-Activity Map, Bath
11:45-12:30-Sleeping
12:30-1:00-Woke on her own and played on my lap
1:00-1:30-Eat for 20 minutes-from a bottle this time-we were in a movie :)
1:30-3:30-Sleeping on my chest in the movie---NOT ideal for boot camp but needed for Mommy!
3:30-3:45-Eating from a bottle after the movie-she did not really wake up...dream feed in the middle of the afternoon
3:45-4:15-Sleep
4:15-5:30-Playing ball with Annabelle and other fun activities
5:30-6:00-Nap
6:00-Getting ready to feed her--with a clogged milk duct-----OUCH-I hope she helps me work it out!

So-I will let you know how the rest of the day unfolds and how she does tonight. I hope she will be tired and ready for a good long slumber with minimal wake up tonight!