The Theory of Scheduling

Anybody who's had a baby knows that there are a million and 1 opinions about how to raise a child, and everybody is eager to convince you that their method is the right way. Every book has fundamental conflicts with every other book, so it's impossible to take everybody's opinion to heart. Carrie read dozens of books getting ready for Cassie's arrival, and the one that made the most sense to us was Gina Ford's very influential (and equally controversial) Contented Little Baby Book. The essence of the book is to put babies on a strict schedule to help them establish a routine and healthy sleep schedule. We're in week 7, and Cassie's daily schedule looks like this:

• Wake up at 7:00am
• Major 5oz feedings at 7:00am, 10:45am, 2:30pm, 6:15pm, and 10:30pm
• Minor 2-3oz snacks as needed at 5:00pm and between 3:30-4:30am
• Scheduled naps at 9:00am-9:45am (in stroller), 12:00pm-2:30pm (swaddled in crib), and 4:15pm-5:00pm (swaddled in crib)
• Bath time at 5:45pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
  
• Bed time at 7:00pm

At her last doctor's visit, she weighed 11 pounds, 6 ounces. The typical guidance is that babies should get 2-3oz of milk a day per pound of body weight, so we have 31oz of daily feedings scheduled for her. At 7 weeks, Gina Ford's regimen enforces no more than 4 hours of nap time during the day to encourage good sound sleep at night from 7:00pm to 7:00am with only minimal interruptions for feedings.

Overly strict and regimented? Many people think so. But by the fourth week, Cassie had fully embraced the schedule to the extent that when we deviated by 30 minutes one day, she freaked out and was upset all day. We like knowing that we can have regular meal times for ourselves each day. It's nice to know that Cassie is at her happiest in the morning (when we scheduled the photo shoot) and that she's in bed by 7:00pm every night (when we tell friends it's too late to visit her). Knowing when the baby is going to be eating, sleeping and times she's likely to be fussy (just before a feeding), makes it infinitely easier to schedule doctor appointments, figure out when to go to the store or the gym, and when to have visitors.

We're not willing to swear by the book yet, Cassie could just be a coincidentally good baby. But we've enjoyed the structure and guidance it's helped us establish.