oh Nanny De.....

[Heidi]

With birth thru three months (newborn) I try to WORK toward this schedule but often they are just too little to go that time. Now that I know she is twelve weeks I'm thinking that the six ounces is a LOT. I do about an once per feeding for every month. So if she is three months... I would be doing three to three and a half ounce feedings.

Try working her in fifteen minute increments closer and closer to the 9-12-3 feedings as long as you are certain the parents are feeding right before care. Once she hits four months you should be there.

What I do with newborns is have them feed the LAST thing I do before the kids go down for a nap and the FIRST thing I do when the kids are waking up from nap. So here I would have her START the bottle at twelve and then give the next feed 2.5 hours from the END of the noon bottle. So if she finished eating at 12:15 then I would give the next bottle at 2:45.

I do belly time right before the feeding... a good ten/fifteen minutes when she is getting worked up for being hungry and then do a hold/walk/rock to get her settle down before the feed. After nap time if she wakes up early I would do the same... have her do a rousing round of belly time before the next feeding.

YMMV on newborns... you have about a month before she hits the four month mark. By then you should be able to have her on the other kids schedule. I've used this system for 20 years and it works with every kid. I am always working towards ALL kids down during nap but the newborn timeframe interupts that. I know with every new baby that they will need to be worked into that. I also like the one to one time with them during nap to get to know them.

thanks Nan! I will consider this. It's just so wierd that she is suddenly so erratic and "hold me". Until this week, she amazed everyone with her ability to play contently for long periods.

[frgsonmysox]

Babies tend to go through a change/growth cycle about every 2.5 months for the first year. They shuffle their needs for food and sleep. If you don't fight it, it is usually short lived.

Keep in mind I am very child led (so take this advice how you like) but I would go with her needs. She needed sleep and you read her just fine. Usually two or three days of shuffle and you two will find balance again.

For the record, 12 weeks, and even 16 weeks is way too young for solid food. The earlier you start food, the more likely food allergies. Do some research about that before you recommend it to parents.

Finally someone talking sense!

Also, feedings are from the beginning of one, to the beginning of another, not from the end to the beginning. Any child care "expert" should know that.

As for when to feed a baby? When they are hungry. Babies are not all alike. Some may need to eat more frequently and sleep more frequently. Hell, how many adults need to eat and sleep at the exact same time as other adults?

[nannyde]

Finally someone talking sense!

Also, feedings are from the beginning of one, to the beginning of another, not from the end to the beginning. Any child care "expert" should know that.

As for when to feed a baby? When they are hungry. Babies are not all alike. Some may need to eat more frequently and sleep more frequently. Hell, how many adults need to eat and sleep at the exact same time as other adults?

This expert gets a 2.5 hour nap break day after day... year after year... decade after decade. happyface

[Heidi]

This expert gets a 2.5 hour nap break day after day... year after year... decade after decade. happyface

Yeah...that is a motivation for me too.

BTW, after the day I whined here, she has been back to her happy-go-lucky self. I dont know what was going on those couple days. We'll see how she is Monday. Mom was going to try really hard to keep her on our schedule.

Instead of 9-12-3, I am doing 8:30-11:30-2:30, which has been working great. She has a bottle at home at 6:15-6:30, but since she is sleeping 10 hours through at night, I think she is just hungrier in the morning. So, 8:30 for the first bottle is where we are both comfortable. I did have to do a little pacifier and distraction to get her to 8:30, but she was just fussin' a little, not all-out crying, so I think we're doing fine.

Her naps have been 9-10:30, then 12:00-2:30, even 3pm, which is I D E A L. She gets another cat-nap at 4:30 until pick-up, then a bottle as soon as she gets home, a bottle at 8, then bed. She's happy, mom's happy, I'm happy. Next project: more tummy time! Thanks again for your input.

[Heidi]

Finally someone talking sense!

Also, feedings are from the beginning of one, to the beginning of another, not from the end to the beginning. Any child care "expert" should know that.

As for when to feed a baby? When they are hungry. Babies are not all alike. Some may need to eat more frequently and sleep more frequently. Hell, how many adults need to eat and sleep at the exact same time as other adults?

You don't have to agree with everything Nan says, and I don't always either, but a woman who was a licensed nurse and now has 20 some years experience in the field is an expert, not an "expert".

[nannyde]

Yeah...that is a motivation for me too.

BTW, after the day I whined here, she has been back to her happy-go-lucky self. I dont know what was going on those couple days. We'll see how she is Monday. Mom was going to try really hard to keep her on our schedule.

Instead of 9-12-3, I am doing 8:30-11:30-2:30, which has been working great. She has a bottle at home at 6:15-6:30, but since she is sleeping 10 hours through at night, I think she is just hungrier in the morning. So, 8:30 for the first bottle is where we are both comfortable. I did have to do a little pacifier and distraction to get her to 8:30, but she was just fussin' a little, not all-out crying, so I think we're doing fine.

Her naps have been 9-10:30, then 12:00-2:30, even 3pm, which is I D E A L. She gets another cat-nap at 4:30 until pick-up, then a bottle as soon as she gets home, a bottle at 8, then bed. She's happy, mom's happy, I'm happy. Next project: more tummy time! Thanks again for your input.

awesome possum

She's still a fresh mook so you are going to have some bumps in the road. I highly recommend belly time from the go. Now's the time before she starts to flip. My babies spend a good amount of their pre flip months on the belly.

Rotational grazing: back for sleep, belly, eat, sit UP, belly, sit up for rides in stroller, belly, eat, sit up, belly, back to sleep, belly....