6

Weeks One to Two

Starting the Routine

When moving on through the routines, it is important to remember that your baby’s feeding and sleeping needs may not automatically fit straight into the feeding and sleeping times of the next routine. Don’t start the next routine until your baby is following the routine he is in at present. However, some babies go through a stage of needing one routine for feeding but a different one for sleeping.

The following checklist will help you decide if your baby is ready to move on from feeding every three hours into the 1–2 week routine:

Your baby has regained his birth weight.

He is happily going three hours between feedings. The three hours are calculated from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of the next feeding. This means that if a feeding has been taking around one hour, there is only a two-hour gap between feedings.

Your baby shows signs of wanting to go longer between some feedings—you have to wake him for some of his feedings.

He is staying awake happily for a short time after some of his feedings.

If your baby is showing all of the above signs, you can confidently start to implement the 1–2 week routine. The 1–2 week routine is not so different to the every-three-hours routine, except that it starts to establish proper nap times, in particular the lunchtime nap. It is also when you start to introduce a proper bedtime routine and a longer sleep after the bedtime bath.

Your baby will still need to be fed every three hours during some parts of the day, but in the 1–2 week routine there is a split feeding at 10/11:15 a.m. in the morning, which helps establish the lunchtime nap. This routine also includes a split feeding at 5/6:15 p.m., which will help encourage a longer sleep between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Routine—1–2 Weeks

FEEDING TIMES	NAP TIMES BETWEEN 7 A.M. AND 7 P.M.
7 a.m.	8:30–10 a.m.
10 a.m.	11:30 a.m.–2 p.m.
11/11:15 a.m.	3:30–5 p.m.
2 p.m.
5 p.m.
6/6:15 p.m.
10–11:15 p.m.	Maximum daily sleep: 51⁄2 hours
Expressing times: 6:45 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.

7 A.M.

Baby should be awake, diaper changed and fed with a bottle or breast no later than 7 a.m.

He needs up to 25–35 minutes on the full breast; then offer 10–15 minutes on the breast from which you have expressed 3 oz.

If he is fed at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m., offer up to 20–25 minutes from the second breast after expressing 3 oz.

Do not feed baby after 8 a.m., as this will throw off his next feeding.

He can stay awake for up to 1¹⁄₂ hours.

Make sure you get some breakfast—have some cereal, toast and a drink no later than 8 a.m. while baby plays on his mat.

8:15 A.M.

Baby should start to get a bit sleepy by this time. Even if he does not show the signs, he will be getting tired, so check his diaper and draw sheet and start winding down now.

8:30 A.M.

When he is drowsy, settle baby in his bed, fully swaddled, no later than 8:30 a.m. He needs a nap of no longer than 1¹⁄₂ hours.

Wash and sterilize any bottles and expressing equipment.

9:45 A.M.

Unswaddle baby so that he can wake naturally.

Prepare items for changing and dressing.

10 A.M.

Baby must be fully awake now, regardless of how long he slept.

He should be given up to 25–35 minutes from the breast he last fed on, while you drink a large glass of water.

Lay him on his play mat so that he can have a good kick, while you prepare equipment for expressing.

10:45 A.M.

Express 2 oz. from the second breast.

Wash (diaper area and face) and dress baby, remembering to cream all his creases and dry skin.

11/11:15 A.M.

Baby should start to get a bit sleepy by this time. Even if he does not show the signs, he will be getting tired, so check the draw sheet, change his diaper and start winding down now.

Offer baby up to 15–20 minutes from the breast you last expressed from.

When he is drowsy, settle baby in his bed, fully swaddled, no later than 11:30 a.m.

If he doesn’t settle within 10 minutes, offer him up to 10 minutes from the fuller breast. Do this with no talking or eye contact.

11:30 A.M.–2 P.M.

Baby needs a nap of no longer than 2¹⁄₂ hours from the time he went down.

If he wakes after 45 minutes, check the swaddle, but do not overstimulate him with lots of talking or eye contact.

Allow 10 minutes for him to resettle himself; if he’s still unsettled, offer him half his 2 p.m. feeding and settle him back to sleep until 2 p.m.

NOON

Wash and sterilize expressing equipment, then you should have lunch and a rest before the next feeding.

2 P.M.

Baby must be awake and feeding no later than 2 p.m., regardless of how long he has slept.

Unswaddle him and allow him to wake naturally. Change his diaper.

Give him up to 25–35 minutes from the breast he last fed on. If he is still hungry, offer up to 10–15 minutes from the other breast while you drink a large glass of water.

Do not feed baby after 3:15 p.m. as it will throw off his next feeding.

It is very important that he is fully awake now until 3:30 p.m., so he goes down well at 7 p.m.; if he was very alert in the morning, he may be sleepier now. Do not overdress him, as extra warmth will make him drowsy.

3:30 P.M.

Change baby’s diaper.

Baby needs a nap of up to 1¹⁄₂ hours. This is a good time to take him for a walk to ensure that he naps well and is refreshed for his next feeding and bath.

Baby should not sleep after 5 p.m. if you want him to go down well at 7 p.m.

5 P.M.

Baby must be fully awake and feeding no later than 5 p.m.

Give him up to 25–30 minutes from the breast he last fed on, while you drink a large glass of water.

It is very important that he not doze while feeding and that he waits for the other breast until after his bath.

5:45 P.M.

If baby has been very wakeful during the day or didn’t nap well between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., he may need to start his bath and next feeding early.

Allow baby a good kick without his diaper while you prepare things needed for his bath and bedtime.

Baby must start his bath no later than 5:45 p.m., and be massaged and dressed by 6/6:15 p.m.

6/6:15 P.M.

Baby must be feeding no later than 6:15 p.m.; this should be done in a quiet, dimly lit room with care taken not to overstimulate him with lots of talking or eye contact.

If he did not finish the first breast at 5 p.m., give him up to 5–10 minutes from it before putting him on the second breast. Allow up to 20–25 minutes from the second breast.

It is very important that baby is in bed two hours from when he last woke.

7/7:15 P.M.

When drowsy, settle baby in his bed, fully swaddled, no later than 7 p.m.

If baby hasn’t settled well, offer him up to 10 minutes from the fuller breast. Do this without overstimulating him with lots of talking or eye contact.

8 P.M.

It is very important that you have a good meal and a rest before the next feeding.

9:45 P.M.

Turn up the lights fully and unswaddle baby so that he can wake naturally. Allow at least 10 minutes before feeding to ensure that he is fully awake and can eat well.

Lay out items for the diaper change, plus a spare draw sheet, burp cloth and receiving blanket in case they are needed in the middle of the night.

10 P.M.

Give baby up to 25–35 minutes from the breast he last fed on, or most of his bottle-feeding, change his diaper and reswaddle him.

Dim the lights and, with no talking or eye contact, give him up to 20–25 minutes on the second breast or the remainder of his bottle-feeding.

IN THE NIGHT

During this week, it is important that breast-fed babies are not allowed to go too long in the night between feedings.

A baby weighing less than 7 lbs. at birth should be woken at around 2:30 a.m. for a feeding, and a baby weighing 7–8 lbs. should be woken no later than 3:30 a.m.

A formula-fed baby who weighs more than 8 lbs. or a baby that weighed more than 8 lbs. at birth, who has fed well during the day, may be able to go slightly longer, but not longer than five hours.

If you are in doubt as to how long to allow your baby to sleep between feedings in the night, please seek advice from your pediatrician.

Changes to Be Made During the 1–2 Week Routine

Sleeping

Depending upon how long your baby sleeps after the late feeding, you can choose one of the following options:

If your baby feeds well and settles well and then sleeps until after 2 a.m., then feeds well in the night and sleeps until closer to 6 a.m., following the routine and having him awake for an hour at the late feeding is fine.

If your baby feeds well and settles well after being awake an hour at the late feeding, but then wakes before 2 a.m. and then wakes again before 6 a.m., I recommend splitting the late feeding to eliminate the twice-a-night waking. It can take at least a week to establish this split feeding so do not get disheartened if you do not see immediate results. For the split feeding to work well, you should start to wake your baby at around 9:45 p.m., and by 10 p.m. start the feeding. Give him as much as he wants, then allow him to play on his play mat. At close to 11 p.m. take him to the bedroom, change his diaper, then offer him the second part of his feeding. If he is formula-fed, I advise that you make two bottles.

Most babies in the early days can stay awake happily for up to two hours before needing a nap. This does not mean they must stay awake for the full two hours, only that it is important that they do not stay awake for longer if overtiredness is to be avoided. So if, during the early days, you find that your baby is only staying awake for 1–1¹⁄₂ hours at a time, you do not need to worry as he is obviously a baby that needs more sleep, and as he grows, he will start to stay awake longer.

Feeding

When your baby wakes in the night, it is important that he eats enough, so that he sleeps well until close to 6/7 a.m. You should not restrict the amount he wants to drink at this stage; by doing so you could risk him waking at 5 a.m. looking for another feeding. At this stage you are aiming to feed your baby well enough so that he only needs to feed twice between 7 p.m. and 6/7 a.m.

Depending upon what time he fed in the night, your baby will probably wake between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., but he should always be woken at 7 a.m. If he wakes at 6 a.m., this means that you can give him most of his first morning feeding (treat this as a night feeding) and then offer him a top-up feeding at 7 a.m. He may then need a small feeding at 8:30 a.m. before his next nap.

During this routine I suggest that you always offer the baby a top-up feeding at 11/11:15 a.m., or just before the lunchtime nap. This will hopefully avoid him waking hungry during the middle of the nap. However, should he wake before 2 p.m., I would assume that hunger is the genuine cause and offer him a bottle or the breast before trying to settle him back to sleep. If he will not settle back to sleep, then it is best just to get him up, and then offer him two shorter naps at around 2:30 p.m. and 4/4:30 p.m.

Moving On to the 2–4 Week Routine

By the end of the second week, you should be able to advance on to the 2–4 week routine.

The following signs will help you decide whether your baby is ready to advance on to the 2–4 week routine.

Your baby should weigh more than 7 lbs., have regained his birth weight and be gaining weight steadily.

He is sleeping well at nap times and more often than not you have to wake him from his naps to feed him.

He is feeding more efficiently and often finishing a breast within 25–30 minutes.

He is showing signs of being more alert and managing to stay awake easily for 1¹⁄₂ hours at a time.

If you find that your baby is happy to go longer between feedings but still needs to sleep more than the 2–4 week routine suggests, then you can still follow this routine for feeding and continue to follow the 1–2 week routine for sleep until he shows signs of needing less sleep. Remember that a baby who needs more sleep will be sleeping well at night as well as during the day. If your baby is sleeping well during the day, but starting to be more wakeful in the middle of the night, it might be a sign that he needs to be awake more during the day.