Nannyde: Newborn Routine

[sahm2three]

I have heard you talk about your newborn routine. Can you explain it in detail? I have a newborn starting in December, and I know already he is a handful. Mom has said that she has to sleep in a rocking chair with him at night or he won't sleep. So I am nervous. I would appreciate your expertise very much!

[cheerfuldom]

sleep in a rocking chair?!?! oh goodness!

[Oneluckymom]

Sleeping in a rocking chair? This sounds dangerous. Mom is also setting herself up for a lot of sleepless nights.

[nannyde]

can you tell me the age of the baby when you get her and bmilk or form?

[Sunchimes]

I'm very interested in this too. I'll be getting a 6 week old after the holidays. I've never had one that young (I only have step-kids, and they were far past infancy when we met!), and I'm very nervous. If I didn't already have his sister, I would have declined.

[KEG123]

I'm alsoi curious how you do it. I have my own 4wk old right now and it's hard to get her to sleep anywhere but my arms which makes it hard for daycare... mine is bf'ed

[cheerfuldom]

I'd like to know what you do that differs for breastfed babies, nan.....staying tuned to this thread....

[nannyde]

With newborns age six weeks to three months I usually do a two hour cycle.

REQUIRE that the baby be fed right before coming to care in the morning.

Put the baby to bed at arrival for nap
Around nine a.m. do BELLY time. I like a good belly time before a feed. I have the baby on the floor or on a little baby boppy. Let them get worked up when they are hungry....
Then have a good ten minute hold and rock to settle baby
Feed two to three oz. Burp halfway between that.
Have baby sit UP as close to a ninety degree angle after last burp.
Rock... lovins... if they get fussy in seat and then put back into upright seat.
About an hour after they have FINISHED eating put them on their back for a nap or to just lay out.
Then at the two hour mark (that's two hours from the STOP of the bottle... not two hours from the start of the previous bottle) start belly time.... then hold... then feed...

rinse and repeat

My goal is to get them close to the last morning feed as close to nap as possible. They finish the feed at around 11:30 and do their sitting up. Then to bed at 12ish

I don't do another feed until around 2 so I get a good break from noon to two.

As the baby gets older the ounces in each feed increases. I increase about two teaspoons every week or so. My goal is to get a full 2.5 hour nap WITH the kids. It takes a couple of months to make that happen if they come in at six weeks.

When they get fussy between feeds if it's been a good hour since stop of last feed I do a cycle of belly time... then back... then hold... then belly... Belly time gives them a good workout.

Once they are old enough to go outside I feed right before they go out and then they ride in the stroller sitting up.

So in a nine hour day I do about three feedings. 9 11:30 2:00 then they go home. If they are here till 4:30 - 5:00 they get a fourth feed. As they get older they go down to three feeds. When they get to around eight months they go down to two feedings and two meals. 10:30 bottle... 11:30 lunch... 2:45 bottle and then another food feeding after bottle.

YMMV per kid but this works for us.

I do NOT play about them having first bottle at home. If I find the baby needs fed right away when they arrive I conference with the parents and then do a DAILY question of when did he eat last and what amount. If I find they are bringing the baby without doing a pre-daycare feeding or "topping off" .. meaning giving a smaller ounce feeding right before they leave then we have problems.

I do not "finish" a morning feed. I do not accept ANY excuses for why the baby didn't eat. I don't do the "he refused" and then have the baby chow a bottle for me 15 minutes later after the kid arrived. I can TELL when a baby has eaten recently. Just by walking them up and down the stairs I can tell by the sound if they have eaten recently. If I find the parents are just doing a middle of the night feeding or early morning feeding and NOT doing a right before daycare feeding then I deal with the parents.

I do NOT want a baby walking in the door who I have to stop everything and hand feed. I have my arrivals to do and I don't want to do an up and down start and stop feeding. It lands you with a very fussy baby. I want the baby to go down for a nap right when they arrive so their feed/sleep cycle meshes with the outdoor walk and the lunch - nap schedule of the other kids. The only way I have found to do that is to have first feed at HOME.

My parents are super great about feeding their kids first breakfast. I think this is in large part to the fact that they started out as infants DOING morning time with their kids so as the child aged they already had a great morning routine. I don't allow the "pull the kid from bed and put in car seat" deal. They have to spend TIME with their kids in the morning if they have to do a hand feeding.

I've heard every excuse in the book for the parents not doing first feeding and I tell them this at the interview. I litterally go thru EVERY single excuse I have had and how I manage it with past parents. When they KNOW that whatever excuse they could come up with I have already heard... they don't even try it.



I love me some newborns so I'm not that strict about them being up at nap. This is the one time I have them to myself and I keep them upstairs with me for the first few weeks at nap if they aren't good snoozers. My kids saw a LOT of Bravo TV when they were newborns.