For the majority of my youngest son's life (now 6 months old), I have just done things as he wants them. I feed when he acts hungry, I let him sleep whenever he falls asleep and play whenever he wanted to play. That is great for him, but I can never get a schedule for myself. I can't get cleaning done, laundry is a disorganized thing, and I feel the house is in chaos. I know this is my fault for constantly holding Zach when he was so young. I have him trained to think that he needs me there but his side 100% of the time.
So, do I put him on a schedule? Feed him at certain times? put him to bed for nap at certain times? Will that help? There is only one way to find out and it is to do it. What if he hates it? What if I can't stick to it? What if it is a big disaster? What if it works?????
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThings do get easier! I'll admit to being a bit anti-scheduling, but that's more because I tend to use them as a crutch and I hate to fall back into those habits. As Zach gets older, he WILL get more independent. You being there for him when he is little will set the stage for that independence. My baby is now 1 year, and despite my attempts to NOT schedule him, he does things just about the same time every day. There is a flexibility in NOT scheduling that you can't achieve if everything is too rigid. Maybe try encouraging sleep and feeding within certain time frames if it will help get your life back in order, but just remember that they grow so fast!!