A Day In The Life Of Emma Rose

If you follow me on Instagram Stories you might have seen me chatting about Emma sleeping 12 hours straight recently. I got SO many questions from you guys. “What do you do!?” “OMG that’s amazing!” “What’s her schedule?” etc… I was hesitant to share her “schedule” here on the blog, because the last thing I want to do is stress anyone out. As moms, we have enough anxiety as it is. When we see another blogger’s “perfect baby schedule” it doesn’t make it any easier (don’t worry… our’s isn’t perfect, and I hate the word schedule!) For reference Emma will be 5 months old in a week (time is flying!).

Even though I was hesitant to share, I had so many of you requesting that I do. So before I dive into her “schedule” I want to make something clear. Don’t let this blog post stress you out. As a matter of fact, let it do the exact opposite. Take a deep breath. You are an amazing mom. The fact that you’re even reading this post means that you’re an amazing mom. Toss out those strict schedules you have written everywhere around the house, and breathe. You’ve got this!

With Emma, everyday is slightly different, and we don’t follow a strict schedule. There is definitely a pattern to her day, but it’s not the exact same times every single day. I honestly hate the word “schedule” when it comes to young babies so I left that word out of the blog title. I like to use the word “loose schedule”. The reason for this is because I don’t want you to stress out if your baby wakes up an hour later one day from that “schedule” you find on google. I don’t want you to stress out thinking “Oh crap! I better wake her up because I have to start on the schedule I found on google!” NO!! Please don’t wake her up. She can start the “loose schedule” when she wakes up.

When I had my first baby I was a freak about those damn “schedules”. I would google them all night long. I would make notes in my notepad with sample schedules that I was going to try the next day. I would wake him every couple of hours during the night to feed him, because I thought that’s what I had to do. I was literally a ball of stress, and it was exhausting. I spent more time googling those damn schedules than I did sleeping. And I really needed the sleep!

When Emma was born I decided I was going to do what I wanted to do. I was going to listen to my baby, and follow my intuition. I was going to let her lead me, and do what felt right for her. I wasn’t going to follow a strict schedule, and instead I was going to pick up on her patterns. Those patterns ended up leading me to a “loose schedule”. For example I know that after she wakes up in the morning she’s usually ready for her nap after 2 hours of being awake. She shows signs that she’s tired right around that timeframe.

If you google “4 month old baby schedule” it says something about 4 naps a day. If I tried to make her nap 4 times during the day I would be spending my entire day getting her to nap. She’s been taking between 2-3 naps during the day and it’s totally fine. It works for her.  Babies are human, and they don’t stick to the same “schedule” as every other baby. I like to find what works for her, and then stick with it. Rather than trying to force her to mold into a random “schedule” I found on google or inside of a book.

Okay… so I’ll share her “loose schedule” now. I wrote this down the other day because I wanted to take notes for you guys. The next day it was a couple of hours different. And then the day after that it was a different too. Although it was slightly different it followed the same pattern, and that’s what’s important.

A Day In The Life Of Emma Rose

7 am Woke up for the day & nursed

9 am Went down for a nap (I nursed her for about 5 minutes in her glider before she fell asleep, and I laid her down drowsy after feeding)

11 am Woke up from her nap

11:45 am Nursed

1:30 Went down for a nap. I walked her around a little bit before this nap, and laid her down drowsy. She fussed for about 5 minutes, and then fell asleep

3:30 Woke up and nursed

6:45 Nursed again, and then I put her to bed

She woke once around 8:00 pm, I did a little dream feed (basically nursed her while she was drowsy), and put her back down. She slept until 6 am the next day.

So that’s an example of one of her recent days. She usually sticks to a similar pattern, and somedays she will take a 3rd nap (especially if she wakes up earlier than 7 am. Some nights she will sleep through the night, and other nights she will wake up somewhere between 1-2 times. I will go into her room, change her diaper, and nurse her in the glider. Then I’ll lay her back down. I also put on a thick layer of diaper rash cream (when I remember) in the evening before she goes to bed. I use the Beauty Counter one, and you can find it HERE. I feel like putting on the cream is helpful because it works as a protective barrier between any wetness and her skin (maybe it helps her stay asleep!?).

This post was written to share what works for us. This exact “loose schedule” won’t work for everyone, and it doesn’t work for Emma everyday. She usually follows the same pattern, and that’s the important thing to remember. Follow your intuition and your babies lead. Be confident in yourself. You know your baby better than anyone on the internet!

Now, let’s all kick off our shoes, put on a pair of comfy joggers, and pour a glass of wine. Cheers mama!

XO,

Lee Anne