I used to be a person who loved and thrived with a rigorous routine. I liked to schedule out every hour in my planner and ensure that even if I had a free hour, it was marked ‘free time’. As a new mommy to a three month old, I imagine I would get a lot more things done in a day if I made a schedule and upheld it, but something in that feels so “un-fun” these days.
I don’t want my day—and my daughter’s day—to look like never-ending recess, but I kind of want it to feel that way. I want to get things done while having fun with her, and allowing her to let me know when she’s hungry, but I also want a bit of structure, too.
For a while, I wondered what other three month old baby’s schedules looked like and if mine was just completely wack. My daughter doesn’t sleep solidly through the night, and neither do I yet.
Is this bad, I wondered. Other moms tell me their babies were sleeping through the night by 10 weeks. Well, I researched a typical three month old schedule for a breastfed baby and guess what?! It wasn’t too different from our “schedule”. And, it’s typical for breastfed babies to wake up from 1-3 times per night for a feed for a year or more because breast milk is easily digestible.
In an effort to ease your wandering mind, and maybe help you feel not so alone, here’s what my daughter’s schedule looks like at three months. I, for the most part, breastfeed on demand, but I also have to supplement with 5 ounces of formula a day, so I do schedule those bottles in. I didn’t make this rigorous schedule. Over time, I realized our day was naturally kind of falling into place Here’s our not-far-from-the-sleep-experts schedule:
Breastfed & Supplemented 3 Month Old Baby Schedule:
5:30-Nurse & Sleep
7:45-Wake & Play
8:30-Nurse
9:30-Cat Nap
10:00-Wake & Play
10:30-Nurse & Nap
12:30-Nurse & 2 oz Bottle Supplement
1:30-Wake & Play
2:00-Nurse
3:00-Cat Nap
3:30-Nurse, 1 oz Bottle Supplement, & Nap
5:30-Nurse
6:00-Wake and Play
7:00-Nurse, 2 oz Bottle Supplement
8:00-Cat Nap
8:30-Wake & Play
9:00-Nurse and Sleep
10:30-Nurse to “Fill the tank” and Sleep
+- 1 to 3 night feedings: mostly this is a quick 15 minutes and she’s back asleep
Here ya go, mama. This is the “schedule” we have naturally fallin’ into. Some days it doesn’t feel like a productive “recess” and other times it does. It’s not always exact and it may seem cRaZy, but it works for us. Be at peace— If your schedule is working for you and your little one, who cares if it doesn’t fit the norm. A wise mama told me that often times we forget how normal abnormal really is.
By Holly M.
BabyChatter Contributor
