Do some babies take to a set schedule more easily than others do?

Yes, says pediatrician Cheryl Hausman, medical managing director of the University Metropolis Principal Care Middle at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Many babies will naturally fall into a predictable eating and sleeping schedule or suit fairly easily to a parent-led routine. But babies vary in terms of how consequent they are.

Co-ordinate to Hausman, this has a lot to exercise with your baby'southward individual temperament. "Some babies similar routines and some don't," says Hausman. "All babies aren't going to be able to follow the exact aforementioned schedule, simply all babies should be able to follow a schedule."

Keep in mind, all the same, that medical and developmental factors can affect your babe's ability to follow a gear up routine. For example, premature babies, low-birth-weight babies, and babies with severe reflux may stay comatose for shorter durations and feed more often. E'er bank check with your baby's medico if you accept questions about your baby's schedule.

Will my baby'due south schedule be disrupted by a time modify, such as a different time zone or daylight saving time?

Probably. But if you lot're talking nearly losing or gaining an 60 minutes thanks to daylight-savings time, the adjustment menses is typically brusk-lived. For instance, if your baby normally wakes at 7 a.m., you may exist dismayed to find her waking at 6 a.yard. subsequently the "autumn back" time alter. Only wait anywhere from a few days to a week and your infant will likely be back to her later wake-up time. This isn't e'er truthful, of course – after the "bound frontward" change, some babies make the later time their permanent bedtime – so yous may accept to get with the menses.

Still, you can endeavor to avoid the fourth dimension-change adjustment period past putting your baby to bed x to fifteen minutes before or later, depending on the time of yr, for the week leading up to the alter. The aforementioned advice applies to switching time zones. You can slowly move things dorsum or upward, depending on where yous're traveling, during the week before your trip. On your return, just reverse the procedure, and be patient as your baby adjusts her internal clock.

I style to help your baby through a bigger time alter is to give her cues well-nigh when it'due south daytime and nighttime. So have lots of walks and playtime outdoors during the mean solar day, and and so tranquility things downwards and lower the lights in the late afternoon or early evening to ready her for sleep. See more expert advice and parent tips on treatment fourth dimension changes.

illustration of baby in car seat

Will a vacation – even one in the same fourth dimension zone – mess with my baby's schedule?

Not all vacations are schedule-busters. If you're spending the calendar week kicking back in the same time zone, then chances are you'll exist able to re-create a lot of the nap, feeding, and play routine you savor with your infant at home. The major aligning for your babe will be getting used to unfamiliar surroundings and a different sleeping identify.

But if your vacation involves lots of sightseeing and activity, and your baby is napping in her car seat or stroller every mean solar day, staying out late, and eating on the go, and so yous might find it takes her longer to become used to the regular routine once you're dorsum abode. Expect her to take anywhere from iii days to a week to re-acclimate. Until then, you may have to bargain with extra periods of fussiness.

Is information technology easier to get a formula-fed baby on a schedule than a breastfed baby?

There'southward disagreement on whether formula-fed babies sleep for longer stretches than breastfed babies (and whether this means they're more than consistent in their schedules). Some doctors say it's a myth: "Information technology's absolutely not truthful that formula helps babies sleep better or longer," says pediatrician Daniel Levy, president of the Maryland chapter of the American University of Pediatrics and clinical banana professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland. "When you lot're careful to empty the breast, the baby will go the hind milk that'due south heaviest in fat and helps satiate them," Levy adds.

But author and pediatrician Tanya Remer Altmann points out that while formula and breast milk accept the same calories per ounce, breast milk is naturally more digestible and so tin travel through a baby's digestive system more quickly. Many parents do written report that formula-fed babies go longer stretches between feedings than breastfed babies.

Either way, this shouldn't touch your baby's ability to follow a general schedule or a more ready, parent-led routine.

Is it okay to alter my baby's schedule sometimes, say to accept her to an activity that'south smack in the eye of naptime?

Not a skilful idea, say most experts. If your baby is missing one or two proficient hours of slumber that she normally gets each solar day, she likely won't be in the frame of listen to actually relish the activity anyway.

Plus, you're setting her and yourself up for a challenging afternoon and evening. If information technology'due south the morning nap you skip, then your infant may be so overtired that she's difficult to settle for a nap when yous do become dwelling. If you push button that afternoon nap to a later time, she may skip it completely, meaning she'll be completely exhausted and cranky past bedtime. Or, she may crash and then difficult or start her nap so late that she's not tired when you endeavour to put her down for the night. Of course, you know your baby best, and accept to take her patterns into account when weighing these decisions. Some babies will happily settle downwardly for a nap at a unlike fourth dimension than usual, while others will be thrown completely off rails.

And of course, sometimes your baby just has to miss her nap, whether it's because Grandma is in town visiting or it's the only engagement time the pediatrician had bachelor. These once-in-a-while occurrences shouldn't throw her off too much.

Read more:

  • Baby schedule nuts: Why, when, and how to first a routine
  • How to create a parent-led, baby-led, or combination schedule
  • Vii keys to creating a successful baby schedule
  • Sample baby schedules for your child's first year
  • Poll: What kind of baby schedule works for y'all?