10 
Routine—8–12 Weeks
| FEEDING TIMES | NAP TIMES BETWEEN 7 A.M. AND 7 P.M. |
| 7 a.m. | 9 a.m.–9:45 a.m. |
| 10:45/11 a.m. | noon–2/2:15 p.m. |
| 2/2:15 p.m. | 4:45 p.m.–5 p.m. |
| 5 p.m. | |
| 6/6:15 p.m. | |
| 10/10:30 p.m. | Maximum daily sleep: 31⁄2 hours |
| Expressing time: 9:30 p.m. | |
7 A.M.
Baby should be awake, diaper changed and feeding no later than 7 a.m.
He should be given up to 20 minutes from the first breast and then offered up to 10–15 minutes from the second breast.
Do not feed baby after 7:45 a.m., as it will throw off his next feeding.
He can stay awake for up to two hours.
Have some cereal, toast and a drink no later than 8 a.m. while baby amuses himself on his play mat.
Wash and dress baby, remembering to cream all his creases and dry skin.
8:50 A.M.
Check baby’s diaper and draw sheet.
9 A.M.
Settle baby in his bed, half-swaddled, no later than 9 a.m. He needs a nap of no longer than 45 minutes.
Wash and sterilize bottles and expressing equipment.
9:45 A.M.
Unswaddle baby so that he can wake naturally.
10 A.M.
Baby must be fully awake now, regardless of how long he slept.
Encourage him to have fun on his play mat.
10:45/11 A.M.
Baby should be given up to 20 minutes from the breast he last fed on and then offered up to 10–15 minutes from the second breast, while you drink a large glass of water.
11:45 A.M.
Regardless of what baby has done earlier, he should now be winding down for his nap.
Check the draw sheet and change his diaper.
Settle baby in his bed, half-swaddled, no later than noon.
NOON–2/2:15 P.M.
Baby needs a nap of no longer than 21⁄4 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 10–20 minutes for him to resettle himself; if he is still unsettled, offer him half of his 2 p.m. feeding and settle him back to sleep until 2/2:15 p.m.
Wash and sterilize bottles and expressing equipment if you didn’t do this earlier, then you should have lunch and a rest.
2/2:15 P.M.
Baby must be awake 21⁄4 hours from the time he went down, regardless of how long he has slept, and he must be eating no later than 2:30 p.m.
Unswaddle him and allow him to wake naturally. Change his diaper.
Give him up to 20 minutes from the breast he last fed on. If he is still hungry, offer him 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 4:45 p.m., so he goes down well at 7 p.m.
Change baby’s diaper and offer him a small drink of cool boiled water no later than 4:30 p.m.
He may have a short nap between 4:45 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Baby should not sleep after 5 p.m. if you want him to go down well at 7 p.m.
5 P.M.
Baby should be fully awake and feeding no later than 5 p.m.
Give him up to 15 minutes from the breast he last fed on, while you drink a large glass of water.
5:45 P.M.
If baby has been very wakeful during the day or didn’t nap well between 4:45 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 items needed for his bath and bedtime.
6 P.M.
Baby must start his bath no later than 6 p.m. and be massaged and dressed by 6:15 p.m.
6:15 P.M.
Baby must be eating 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 minutes from the second breast.
It is very important that baby is in bed two hours from when he last woke.
7 P.M.
Settle baby in his bed, half-swaddled, no later than 7 p.m.
8 P.M.
It is very important that you have a good meal and a rest before the next breast-feeding or expressing.
9:30 P.M.
If you have chosen to replace the late nursing time with a bottle, then express from both breasts now.
10/10:30 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, so that he 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.
Give baby up to 20 minutes from the first breast or most of his bottle-feeding; change his diaper and reswaddle him using a half swaddle.
Dim the lights and, with no talking or eye contact, give him up to 20 minutes from the second breast or the remainder of the bottle-feeding.
If your baby is nursing before 5 a.m., eating well and losing interest in his 7 a.m. meal, it would be wise to try settling him with some cool boiled water. Remember, the aim is to get him to take all his daily requirements between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. As long as he is gaining weight steadily, he can be encouraged to go through to 7 a.m. without a milk feeding (see core-night method in Chapter Sixteen, Problem Solving in the First Year).
If he wakes at 5 a.m., give him one breast and, if needed, 5–10 minutes from the second breast.
If he wakes at 6 a.m., give him one breast and then the second at 7:30 a.m.
Keep the lights low and do not overstimulate him with lots of talking or eye contact. Only change his diaper if absolutely necessary or if he is too sleepy to eat fully.
Changes to Be Made During the 8–12 Week Routine
Sleeping
Most babies who weigh close to 12 lbs. can manage to sleep through the night from the late feeding at this age, provided they are getting all of their daily nutritional needs between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. They should also be sleeping no more than 31⁄2 hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. A totally breast-fed baby may still be waking once in the night, hopefully closer to 5 a.m. or 6 a.m.
Cut back your baby’s daily nap time by a further 30 minutes, to a total of three hours. The morning nap should be no more than 45 minutes, but if he is not sleeping well at lunchtime, it can be cut back to 30 minutes. The lunchtime nap should be no more than 21⁄4 hours. It is around this stage that the lunchtime nap can sometimes go wrong. The baby comes into a light sleep usually 30–45 minutes after he has gone to sleep. Some babies will wake fully, and it is important that they learn how to settle themselves back to sleep to avoid the wrong sleep associations. For more details on this problem, refer to Chapter Sixteen, Problem Solving in the First Year.
Most babies have cut out their late-afternoon nap by now. If your baby hasn’t, do not allow him to sleep for more than 15 minutes, unless for some reason the lunchtime nap has gone wrong, and then it should be slightly longer. All babies should only be half-swaddled, and particular attention should be paid when tucking in the baby.
One reason many babies of this age still wake in the night is because they move around the crib. If this is happening with your baby, you might purchase a light summer-weight sleeping bag. They are so lightweight that you can still use a sheet to tuck your baby in, without the worry of overheating.
Feeding
Your baby should be well established on five feedings a day now. If he is totally breast-fed and has started waking earlier in the morning, it may be worth trying a top-up from a bottle of either expressed or formula milk after the late feeding. If he is sleeping regularly until 7 a.m., gradually bring the late feeding forward by five minutes every three nights until he is feeding at 10 p.m. As long as he continues to sleep through to 7 a.m. and eats a full amount, you can keep pushing the 10:45 a.m. feeding back until it has become an 11 a.m. feeding.
Once your baby has slept through the night for two weeks, the 5 p.m. feeding can be dropped. I would not recommend dropping the split feeding until this happens, as a larger feeding at 6:15 p.m. could result in your baby taking even less at the last feeding, causing him to wake earlier in the morning. With many of the babies that I have cared for, I continued giving them a split feeding until solids were introduced to ensure that they were getting enough milk during the day. Once you eliminate the 5 p.m. feeding and your baby is taking a full feeding after his bath, he could cut down dramatically on his last feeding of the day, which could result in an early waking. If this happens, it is advisable to reintroduce a split feeding at 5–6:15 p.m. until your baby is fully established on solids and sleeping through to closer to 7 a.m.
If you are considering introducing a further bottle-feeding, the best time to introduce it is at the 11 a.m. feeding. Gradually reduce the time of this feeding by two or three minutes each day and top up with formula. By the end of the first week, if your baby is taking a 5–6–oz. bottle, you should be able to drop the breast-feed easily without the risk of serious engorgement. Bottle-fed babies should continue to have their 7 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. feedings increased first during the next growth spurt at around nine weeks. Increase the amount of milk in the bottle-feeding to suit your baby’s needs.
Moving on to the 3–4 Month Routine
As long as you are not exceeding your baby’s daytime sleep and he is following the 8–12 week routine at night, then you can move on to the next routine. However, if, despite following all the advice, your baby is not sleeping as long in the night as the routine suggests, stick with this routine and try to improve the night sleeping. It might be worth dropping the late feeding for a short period to establish a longer period of sleep from 7 p.m. onward. Once a longer period of sleep becomes established, the late feeding can be reinstated, and hopefully, the baby’s longer spell of sleep will then happen between 11 p.m. and 6/7 a.m. Once this happens, you can then move on to the 3–4 month routine.