Scheduling

As only a 5 week old baby, especially if an only child, there is no way of telling when she will want to eat last at night or how long she will go. The nice thing is that they can't tell time so it is simply whenever you and her get around to it. If you want to make a bedtime routine just start... when she gets hungry at night, feed her, then always do the same thing after that, whether it be a bath, or story, or whatever, then as she starts drifting off to sleep put her in bed for the night. The older she gets the better you and her will be able to judge about what time all the stuff happens but her tummy is too little to be predictable.

You are very blessed to have such a good baby. Don't worry about her bed time, yet. You can work on that around 5-6 months. She will develop her own pattern and soon be eating more or less at the same time each night. If she is happy and you are too, don't stress about a couple hours.

my 4 1/2 mnth old son seemed like he would never sleep through the night... i swear, he eventually did! At about age 6 weeks old he started sleeping 1am til 8am. what finally got us started into a routine was that we let him sleep on his hanging table insert... i was he only hing ha gave him comfor... i brough he inser and pu i on he full size bed we kept in his room. He wanted his nookie so i would re-insert his nookie whenever it fell out. i figured once he had a good night sleep, he'd be okay... and finally, i got him to sleep... they say you can't spoil a child until 4 months so do whatever it takes to get your child to sleep through the night.

Morning, B.! My daughter is almost 5 months old now and I was an "on demand" feeder as well until about where you are now. It was so hard (and still is) to get used to a schedule because her appetite was/is changing and then shifting around with breast feeding, formula, and now real food..... it's a lot to grasp!! However, when I finally started feeding her every 3 to 4 hours regardless of how hungry she acted, she adjusted very well. Now, I can't go beyond 3.5 hours before she is letting me know it is time. This also helped me get her to sleep through the night. I put her down at 9:30 and she sleeps until about 5:30. Granted, there are times when she's a little fussy in the middle of the night, but I don't give her a bottle cause I don't want her to get used to it. I could get 24 ounces (6 ozs/4 feedings) in her during the day and that was enough to sustain her. Of course now she's eating 8 ozs per feeding and we're onto real food.

I guess to sum it up, she appreciates having a flexible schedule and in turn, so do I! (BTW- I was spoiled with her sleeping through the night and now she's teething!!!! UGH!!!!!! rough.) Hopes this helps and good luck!

B.,

Don't fix it if it's not broke. She is only 4.5 weeks old. Go ahead and write down the times that you feed her, for how long and believe it or not I bet there is a schedule. If she does not have one yet one will soon emerge on it's own.

She sounds perfect, enjoy.
D.