Why We Live and Die by the Four Hour Schedule for 4-9 months!
Every baby is unique and different. This is true! But they aren’t so different in their core needs as a living breathing human. The grass is green, the sky is blue and babies needs are too!
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We swear by a 4-hour schedule from 16 weeks, it’s most effective for meeting baby’s needs, aligns with their wake windows and needs for sleep and simply MAKES SENSE.
Balance through the Day / Wake Windows - your schedule needs to flow well. Generally speaking, you do not want baby to sleep more than about 2-2.5 hours during the day at once. .
What is the Ideal Schedule? A 4-hour block will align with their wake and sleep needs for the next 4 months. You’ll feed every 4 hours and then have awake time, the remaining block will be a nap time. Ex: at 4 months baby will Wake, Feed and be up for 120 total minutes, they’ll then take a 120 minute nap = 4 HOURS.It flows!
Daytime Calories- Eating every four hours allows a whole extra feed during the daytime feeding block between 7-7 or 8-8, whatever you are doing. Any longer stretches during the day will likely impact calories and impact how long baby can stretch overnight. You’re losing an entire feed. I always say that a stretch during the day takes away a stretch overnight.
Ultimately it’s your choice! But the 4-hour schedule is the GOLD STANDARD at this age!
Harmony Baby Concierge is a full service Newborn Care + Postpartum Support Agency based in Dallas, Austin and Houston, Texas.. We have a well-rounded team of Newborn Care Specialists, Night Nurses, Postpartum Doulas, Newborn Night Nannies and Baby Nurses. We provide lactation support, newborn care, night nursing, gentle sleep training and parent education to families of newborns. We serve all families with love, warmth and care. Serving: Dallas, Austin, Houston, Highland Park, University Park, Kessler Park, Lake Highlands, Lakewood, Plano, Frisco, Celina, Prosper, Fort Worth, Southlake, Westlake, Irving, Preston Hollow, Park Cities, Grand Prairie, Carrollton, Houston, Manvel, Galveston, West University, Austin, Barton Creek, Round Rock, Houston, Denver, New York City, Greenwich CT, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Englewood Colorado, Cherry Hills Village CO, and Surrounding Areas.