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We are going to experience 24 hours with a 1-month-old. This is a real day and a real schedule. I try to base my day somewhat on the Babywise schedule. It is never perfect, but each day we are working on trying to make it better.
Let’s jump right into it. We are going to start with the morning wake-up.
Baby’s Morning
8:25 am wake up change diaper
We do not yet have a consistent wake-up time. This is something we need to start working on. It is just hard though when you are so tired. You will take any sleep you can get. Ideally, if you pick a consistent wake-up or start time then your day will fall into a better routine. This will also help with the evening schedule.
8:30 – 8:45 nurse. Burp halfway through.
If you find your baby stops nursing try giving them a burp. It usually helps!
8:45 burp again
8:50 bouncer seat to sit up for a bit
I am not a big fan of putting my baby in seats. After a feeding though is one time I am open to it. A bit of an incline can help reduce spit-ups.
During the time in the bouncer, we are hearing a lot of farting. Typically within a few minutes of a transition, such as waking up or feeding, they dirty their diaper.
While in the bouncer I am keeping them awake by filing their nails and talking to them.
9:10 start to fuss in bouncer-time to get out
9:10-9:25 talk to baby, smile, say their name
We are getting to the point of being awake for an hour.
Around this time you want to start watching for cues they are getting tired. Some of these may be yawns, moving arms in irritation, less eye contact, and closing their eyes.
Wake time was from 8:25 – 9:25
9:25 diaper change, swaddle, rock to put down for the first nap.
9:35 left the room
The First Nap
I have found the first nap to be the best.
It is the easiest to get them down, typically the longest nap, and the most consistent on timing. You want to put them down right when they are ready. Don’t rush them, but also don’t wait too long. Typically you are going to put them back down after 60 to 90 minutes of wake time.
During this nap do not rush in if your baby stirs around 35-50 minutes into the nap.
They are transitioning into a new sleep cycle. On average a baby’s sleep cycle is 45 minutes. With some babies, you can literally watch the clock and know exactly when they will wake up.
This is why you will often find naps to be 45 minutes or 90 minutes.
Hopefully, they can stay asleep into the next sleep cycle. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it does not.
9:35 – 11:12 first nap
This nap was just over 90 minutes. Part of that time might have been them stirring in bed before actually crying out.
11:12 wake up, no diaper change – I decided to wait because they will likely poop in the next 15 minutes.
11:15 – 11:35 Nurse and burp halfway
Major poop while eating.
When I went to burp half way through I notice a complete blowout.
I would like to note I have blankets on everything. I had a blanket over my nursing pillow. I don’t use an actual nursing pillow; it is just one off our guest bed. I keep a blanket in the bouncer. Putting receving blanket on everything prevents you from having to wash large items as frequently.
It is much easier to wash a receiving blanket than to take apart pillows and seat covers.
11:40 outfit and diaper change
11:45 burp more because we got interrupted earlier by the blowout
11:50 bouncer
Baby’s Afternoon
12:10 started to fuss so got out of the bouncer
Noticing signs of tiredness
12:20 rock to bed for nap #2
12:25 left the bedroom. Only took 5 minutes of rocking this time.
Also, notice first nap ended at 11:12 and we went back to bed at 12:20 so once again about an hour of waketime.
12:25 nap
1:30 started stirring, but not fully fussing.
1:50 woke them up
No diaper change
1:55 nurse burp nurse until 2:15
2:15 while finishing up burping I hear a poop happening
2:20 diaper change
2:25 – 2:45 bouncer
2:45 tummy time on pillow – mom watching
2:55 started falling asleep on their belly
2:55 hold them, talk to them
3:05 swaddle and rock to sleep…sort of
Ok, I didn’t want to get up. I haven’t been feeling well today.
I should have gotten up at 3:05 to swaddle and rock them to sleep, but I just couldn’t get off the couch. As much as I would love to hold them for their nap I really need to get them into their crib so I can lay down for a nap. Like I said I haven’t been feeling well and really could use the rest.
Update: Not long after this happened I ended up in the hospital with an infection-now I know why I was so exhausted!
3:20 I finally got my butt up off the couch.
3:20 swaddle and rock to bed
4:10 wake up
4:15 nurse burp nurse burp 4:35
4:40 wake time
5:15 diaper change, swaddle, rock
I rocked them a bit longer here because I find this nap more difficult. As the day goes on it seems to get tricky.
5:28 left room
Instant crying. Fail!
5:30 reentered room
Rocked 5 minutes, seemed very sleepy
5:35 left room
5:42 Crying. Fail!
Got them up and tried rocking them in the living room and transferring them to the bouncer. Complete fail!
Nap fail all around.
You can’t win them all. If you feel your baby truly is tired and needs sleep this might be an opportunity to run an errand so they take a car seat nap or wear them around the house in a Moby wrap.
Baby’s Evening
6:20 nurse burp nurse burp 6:35
6:40 swaddle rock to sleep
Definitely harder to get to sleep this time of day
6:50 left room
7:05 woke up-rocked again
7:10 left room
7:40 pm woke up we are going to call that a short nap at 30 minutes.
Cuddle time with dad
8:35 – 8:50 feed and burp
Cuddle time with dad
9:45 diaper change, swaddle, rock
Baby’s Bed Time
10:00 bedtime
10:03 crying rock again
10:05 decide to feed them to top off for the night and hopefully settle better
Kept the swaddle on which I normally don’t do
12-minute feed plus burping and rocking
10:22 put down
10:30 woke up, rock again
10:40 pm down for bedtime
Clearly we have not perfected our night time routine yet. it will get better and develop over time. I am showing you a real and raw day. This is not a prefect schedule, but rather a day in the life of a one month old and what actually happens.
Baby’s Night Wakes
1:52 am woke up
1:55 unswaddle, feed, burp, rock
2:30 put down-fail
Rock 2:35-2:48 put down and fail again
Rock some more
3:10 put down
3:30 we are up again
I was tired at this point and shipped them off to dad in the master bedroom.
They were with dad from 3:35 to 6:40
Our baby has done perfectly fine with gaining weight so no we are not concerned about a long stretch between feedings at night.
Dad brought them back to me at 6:40 when theywoke up ready to eat.
6:45 am feed burp about every 5 minutes.
Because it was a long stretch my boob was crazy full and it can cause my baby to choke a bit so we take lots of breaks to burp.
7:05 burp at the end again
7:20 swaddle, rock, down-nope fail
They seemed ready to be awake for a bit and start the day
We took off the swaddle and just hung out and talked.
7:50 am swaddle, rock
8:00 down for the first nap of the day
Conclusion
As you can see we are far from perfect. I want to share this so you moms that are struggling know that trying to follow a schedule doesn’t just magically happen.
It takes time and work.
Evenings and nighttime are the most difficult. Some nights are going very well while others are a struggle.
Just for some context, I am sleeping in the baby’s room on a twin bed currently. So when I shipped the baby off to dad I was able to be alone and get some sleep.
I chose this arrangement so my husband can get sleep and I can quickly and easily get to the baby for night feedings. Probably around the 3-month mark, we will change up the arrangement.
We also are not setting any alarms or reminders for nighttime feedings. Our baby is in the 90+% for height and weight. We do not have any concerns as far as growth. If your baby is struggling to gain weight you may need to be waking them up at night.
Remember every baby is different. Do not try to force the schedule on your baby all at once. Take small steps to create consistency. Something we are going to start working on soon is a consistent wake-up and first feeding.
What are you currently working on with your baby? Leave a comment!
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