Newborn To 4 Months Routine

Our daughter slept through the night from 6 weeks until she was 4 months. Once she hit 4 months I threw her into her new routine far to quickly for her to adjust to it, along with teething and developmental changes she has rarely slept through since then. I’ve been asked if we had Mia in a routine and what her routine was for her to be sleeping so well so I’m sharing her routine with you.

When Mia was born she slept and ate when she wanted for just under 2 weeks and then once we got to around 2 weeks I wanted a bit more structure to our day because we also had a toddler that had his own routine.

At 2 weeks old I started a 3 hourly routine which consisted of playtime for an hour and a half then a nap for an hour and a half and feeding every 3 hours. I didn’t have this on a timetable it all depended when she woke up in the morning, that time would be when her 3 hourly routine would start. I never got stressed if it didn’t quite go every 3 hours so if you choose to start this routine and your baby wakes up a bit earlier or needs feeding a little sooner, don’t worry they’re just babies and they need what they need. Just start it again, it’s more of a rough guideline that got Mia used to routine and it was great as it fitted around my toddlers usual routine as well.

Here’s an example of what a day may be like on a 3 hourly routine:

7am – Wake up & feed, then play

8.30 – Nap

10 – Wake up & feed, then play

11.30 – Nap

1pm – Wake up & feed, then play

2.30 – Nap

4 – Wake up & feed, then play

5.30 – Nap

7 – Wake up & feed

7.45 – Bath

8.15 – Feed

8.30 – Bedtime

When Mia had her nap at 5.30 that was when I gave Mason his dinner so he had my full attention. The bedtime routine was the same for Mason so they had quality time together and it was much easier for us to do it all at once.

After 2 weeks roughly of Mia being in this routine her body naturally adjusted and she went from 2 night waking to 1 night waking for a feed. Then another 2 weeks went by and she started to sleep all the way through and would wake up anywhere between 6 and 7, this was when she was 6 weeks old.

Once she turned 4 months her sleeping and feeding needs changed so transitioning slowly to the next routine is best than like me and doing a different routine straight away. For example add 10 minutes to their awake time and another 10 minutes between each feeds and gradually increase this every few days.

Just remember this is just a guideline, you know your baby best and some days they may need to sleep a little longer or feed more often, so you can always press restart on the routine. Once they are happily settled into a routine, any changes within a day really won’t make a difference. Life happens and babies are their own little people so they will let you know when they need more sleep or milk!