Was/is your newborn on a structured nap routine?

I voted no, because I didnt put them into a routine, they kind of found their own way. DS1 was a great sleeper and I bf him on demand which was every 4 or so hours and that suited us, ds2 was the total opposite, he fed constantly, even when we switched to formula he was fed every 2-3 hours for months so there was no routine there at all as working with a constantly hungry and screaming baby and a 14 month old toddler, we just did what we had to when we had to. Evie again was an on demand baby, bf didnt work out with her at all but she still didnt settle into a 3-4 hour routine until she was a few months old, she was a hungry baby and when she wanted to be fed or chatted to, she let you know about it, at the top of her lungs, but again, she found her own routine eventually.

We never had a routine with Isabelle - partly because she had untreated reflux (didn't realise until too late) and it wasn't until she'd grown out of that somewhat that a 'routine' of sorts asserted itsself... As she's got older the nap/food routine got stronger and more important...

I've no idea what will happen with this baby, I can't remember how many daytime sleeps a baby needs or anything! But some sort of vague routine for the baby would be good for both the baby and also Isabelle so she knows what's happening when...

Dont think i ever had a routine for any of mine when newborns, i just fed them when hungry and did my best at getting them to sleep when they looked tired lol, ollie is already on his second cold at just under 5 weeks so not really good for settling into a rountine, we co-sleep, bf on demand which can be hrly at times up to 3 hrly if hes feeling generous. He will occasionlly self settle but thats rare, he usually feeds to sleep or sleeps in the swing or sling. Sometimes i do have to just leave him to cry tho if im dealing with one of the older 2 but its generally led by him atm til hes a bit older anyway.

Mich

yes, yes and yes for all 3 of them, they all demand fed but apart from that they had good routines that worked really well and now they are great sleepers. As soon as we got home from hospital we started the bath feed bed routine and it worked, Gracie went straight into her routine (apart from the first couple of nights) and as a result settles herself to sleep all the time and during the day they have all napped in their cots not downstairs . This worked for us but wouldn't be for everyone. xx

None of my 3 had a structured routine at first. They were all on demand and slept when they were tired. They all eventually fell into a routine though so I just stuck with that.

mine were each very different.
Taneli really needed a routine. he made one for himself and as long as we stuck to it, he was an angel he was a baby who got very easily over stimulated and overtired, so to avoid those the routine was amazing.
at about 3 weeks we started to realise what he liked and found ways to ovoid over stimulation and overtiredness, and at about 8 weeks we organised his routine so it was on a more structured 2.5 hours awake time routine. he ate every 4 hours from birth (big baby), i only ever woke him in the day at nap 3, otherwise he was 'self regluating' and he slept through from about 6 weeks.
With Boo i thought 'wow' i've got this in the bag' and really tried to get him into a similar routine, but to no avail!!!!! 1. he was avery different nature, and 2 he didn't eat well, so everything was always a little pear shaped. by a few months old he was in a very vague routine, again dictated by him, but he just wasn't bother by things in the same way taneli was.

so basically i think the first month or 2 are for getting to know your baby and finding what sort of charactor they are and what sort of routine works for them.
i have recently read the baby whisperer and really like the vagueness of the routine with no times in, so perhaps thats an idea for next time