https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:18:36 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-637494 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:02:07 +0000 edelweiss 637494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: i was kind of a monster about not letting LO fall asleep in visitors' arms because, like you, i didn't want to get in the habit. i know babies don't form habits that early, so i could have been more lax about this at the beginning, but i just kept remembering my pediatrician saying that while babies don't form habits during the first few months, adults do. and how are you supposed to tell when you hit the magic time where habits do form? is it a day? an hour? a week? i saw how much my husband was liking LO to fall asleep on him, and i put my foot down about stopping it early. i know, i was pretty anal.</p> <p>as for visitors, i made clear that when i thought he was ready for sleep, away he goes. my parents and MIL were generally respectful of that. i said things like "let me know when he yawns because then i'm going to put him to bed" so they knew it was coming. like i said, i could have been more relaxed about this, especially with visitors who were only coming for a one-time or occasional visit (as opposed to my parents who live nearby or my husband), but i don't regret what i did either. </p> <p>ditto mrs. wagon re: baby connect! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-637101 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:57:22 +0000 Kemma 637101@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: just on the whole "visitors" thing, don't ever bed afraid to say no to somebody holding the baby. My LO had a traumatic delivery and we found that new people were way over stimulating for her and keeping her happy was more important than keeping the visitors happy so sometimes people just had to look but not touch :-)</p> <p>One of the best things my midwife told me was to not have any expectations, just take everything as it comes! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-637065 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:44:36 +0000 irene 637065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>hahahahaha! This post cracks me up!!</p> <p>Tell me about it! I went through the whole newborn / baby / breastfeeding stage, and I am still clueless how does it actually work!!</p> <p>So yes, basically when your baby was a newborn, you feed him whenever he cries and shows signs of hunger (fist to mouth, smacking lips..etc.) and it does take forever for him to finish. Then you wind him for 10 minutes (or worse case he cries cuz of colic / acid reflux for 20-30 minutes), then after the change and all, you put him down for 20 minutes, and it is allover again!</p> <p>I thought it got more confusing when he passed the newborn stage. When he grows a bit (3+ months) and you start nailing down a schedule that works, it is more confusing when things change. For example, the baby starts staying up for longer periods of time. He went down on his nap when he was supposed to be breastfeeding. And people say don't wake them and let them sleep up to 2 hours for naps. And there are times like this that there would be 4 hours that the baby hasn't eaten, your breasts engorged, and you just wonder what am I going to do? Is he going to be ok when all books say he supposed to be eating every 2-3 hours? That was so confusing. We passed that stage, and I am still confused! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636852 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:49:00 +0000 Cherrybee 636852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: Brilliant!!! Thank you!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636788 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:34:56 +0000 mrs. wagon 636788@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: they have a web app! Just go to their website! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636755 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:29:38 +0000 Cherrybee 636755@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: @littlebittyhouse: Oh no, they don't do it for Window's phones. Sob sob. Oh well, I love spreadsheets anyway... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636576 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:43:37 +0000 littlebittyhouse 636576@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: @Cherrybee: I LOVED baby connect so much! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636537 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:31:00 +0000 mrs. wagon 636537@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: I had a VERY similar action plan for our wedding. clipboards for all with everyone's personalized schedules and phone list and everything. Haha. </p> <p>btw, you should DEFINITELY get baby connect for your smart phones. If you are anything like me you will absolutely LOVE that thing. I kept track of everything in an excel spreadsheet before baby connect came along. Now it's probably my #1 used thing on my phone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636528 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:28:19 +0000 Cherrybee 636528@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlebittyhouse: I appreciate the novel! Thank you! </p> <p>@mrs. wagon: I'm such a stress head! you should have seen the 12 page, minute by minute action plan all wedding party members and parents were given for my wedding day!! The good thing about this is that nothing is ever as bad as I think it's going to be! Even if we get the fussiest, most difficult baby ever, I will be pleasantly surprised!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636336 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:25:17 +0000 littlebittyhouse 636336@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>All awesome questions!</p> <p>I felt really prepared in some ways because I had 'read up' on EVERYTHING and am a baby person. In other ways I was like why isn't this happening the way I thought it would?!</p> <p>This is a great link on newborn feeding: <a href="http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/" rel="nofollow">http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/</a></p> <p>We did lots of skin to skin which helped my milk come in on day 2! I woke him every two hours during the day to eat and it would take about 30 - 45 min. At night he would cluster feed until about 10pm and then do a nice sleep stretch (4ish hours). I would go to bed at that point to get some extra sleep.</p> <p>You'll see when they first latch they are usually ravenous and sucking really fast to make the letdown happen. Then you'll hear a 'cah' sound as they are swallowing. As the feeding goes on they will swallow less often and then usually fall asleep. I read somewhere that if they go 5 breaths without sucking they are done and you can pop them off. 8mo later and that trick still works for us as my LO would stay latched forever I think!</p> <p>Breastfed babies don't need to be burped as often but if they fuss mid feeding and/or pop off, it is usually gas (I didn't know that until like 2 months in!)</p> <p>In arms is totally fine and preferred (I think) by newbies. They don't learn sleep associations until about 12 weeks so before then.</p> <p>The book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child really helped me to know what was normal and how much sleep LO should be getting at any given time. The book is broken down by age so you don't have to read the whole thing!</p> <p>Happiest Baby on the Block is another really great read.</p> <p>I would change his diaper to wake him up more, feed him, and then let him sleep. I would take advantage of his 'quiet alert' time to talk and sing to him.</p> <p>Anytime he would cry I would offer to nurse him and most of the time that made him happy (still does!). </p> <p>We did a lot of babywearing those first few weeks and that is what helped me have lunch, soothe the baby, etc.</p> <p>I think the biggest thing I learned was to just roll with it. There will be times that it just isn't going the way I thought it would and it is worse if I try to make the round peg fit in the square hole!</p> <p>OMG so super long - sorry for the novel! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-636063 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:44:14 +0000 Ms.SK 636063@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also loved control, until I had kids. It did help me that my LC told me to expect the babies to feed constantly from 7pm-11pm. She said just pick a movie to watch early in the day, get a snack, a few bottles of water and the remote and settle in for feeding time. I nick named that time feeding time at the zoo! She also told me to expect the babies best sleep to be from 7am-12n and not plan to do anything during that time. If anyone wanted to visit, I needed to go out, or the babies needed a Dr. appointment to schedule it after 1pm and before 7pm. Just knowing that really helped, even if it didn't always happen. Outside of those times, I had to just be comfortable to go with the flow. I hope this helps you! I would pay attention (don't keep track of things, it will drive you nuts) over the course of 5 days to see if any of this would apply. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635934 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:56:46 +0000 mrs. wagon 635934@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: I chuckle at you, but only because I never bothered to even think about let alone ask these kinds of questions and I really wish I had!!! I was so shocked and overwhelmed with my first!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635933 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:56:18 +0000 mrs. wagon 635933@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: another excellent question!! Basically visitors will have to wait to hold the baby (and expect the baby to be taken away from them) so the baby can eat. Otherwise you can let them hold the baby while the baby sleeps during the day. In the beginning especially, they will do nothing but eat and sleep. VERY little awake time. If you have visitors who expect to be able to hold the baby for hours at a time, you might want to warn them that it won't be possible because the baby needs to eat and be changed regularly! </p> <p>In the beginning, you can try to get them used to sleeping on a flat surface, but if you want to accommodate for visitors that might not be very possible. Basically you have to decide what your priority is. Honestly you can't spoil a newborn and they can't really get "used" to anything until they're at least 6 or 8 weeks old so in the very beginning you can just let people hold them while they sleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635868 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:20:32 +0000 Cherrybee 635868@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sera_87: Great.... thank you. I'm beginning to see a plan forming I think! </p> <p>I love how all the experienced moms are chuckling at me! This time next year, I'll be doing the same to other naive parents, you watch!! :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635858 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:12:11 +0000 sera_87 635858@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: lol. Basically they don't form habits for the first 3-4 months. And if they do "wake" when your visitors hand off, usually a spot of nursing will get them right back to dreamland. </p> <p>And trust me, there will be times when your LO will refuse to sleep anywhere but your arms, best efforts be damned. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635847 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:02:32 +0000 Cherrybee 635847@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: Great, thank you! I will pop it into DH's Amazon basket now!! I've already got "Wonder Weeks" in there!!! He wont mind.....!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635845 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:01:21 +0000 Cherrybee 635845@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sera_87: Ahh, so it's okay to let the baby sleep in people's arms? I was planning to get the baby used to sleeping in his/her crib/moses basket right from the beginning.... I take it I don't have to be consistent in the early days, then? Will it wake the baby if, when they're ready to go home, I put the baby in his/her basket? I don't want to interfere with magical all-healing sleep!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635842 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:58:38 +0000 JoJoGirl 635842@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Love reading these comments! @Cherrybee: I JUST finished reading this book a few days ago: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Baby-Whisperer-Connect-Communicate/dp/0345479092" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Baby-Whisperer-Connect-Communicate/dp/0345479092</a> and feel MUCH less overwhelmed now about 'routine', especially since most of the responses in this thread advocate the same approach as she recommends. It's a relatively quick read so if you can get your hands on it, I think you'll like it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635832 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:42:08 +0000 sera_87 635832@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: they are awake for a little bit each cycle. And everyone loves holding a sleeping newborn. ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635812 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 05:59:02 +0000 heartonastring 635812@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cherrybee: hahaha! Don't feel bad. I'm 36 weeks and told DH in the last few days that I'm not really sure what to do with a newborn :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635793 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 05:21:21 +0000 Cherrybee 635793@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ahh, I'm so glad other bees are befitting from this thread too and thank you @mrs. wagon: for saying it was a good question - when I wrote the thread I thought it was, like, the dumbest question anyone has ever asked! I mean, who gets to 5 months pregnant then realises you have no idea what to do with a baby?!!! Me, I guess! </p> <p>@hummusgirl: Thanks for the video. I can't wait to show DH! We will get this down, I'm sure of it!! @Mrs. High Heels: Loving the quick glance guide! This is the kind of thing I need - lists!! Lists everywhere around the house!! So I can at least feel like I'm in control!! </p> <p>So here's a question - if the baby is either eating or sleeping (which is very important), at what point do you allow visitors to hold the baby? Everyone wants "cuddles" - where in the schedule-that's-not-a-schedule does that fit neatly? (and I promise this isn't a mother-in-law moan, I'm genuinely trying to work out how it will all fit together!). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635782 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 04:59:23 +0000 illumina 635782@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Subscribing! Don't know how I'll cope being on someone else's schedule! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635619 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:04:28 +0000 Boheme 635619@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Commenting to subscribe! Helpful info here! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635592 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:34:40 +0000 JessiBee 635592@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My first response: "hahahahahahahahaha schedule."</p> <p>I have a 4.5 week old baby, and for the last little bit of time, she's been on a pretty predictable schedule of going 2.5-3.5 hours from the beginning of one feed to the beginning of the next (during the day. Nights are different.) So, you can imagine my feelings today (I am also a likes-a-schedule kind of girl) when she decided she was going to wake up after 45-60 minutes of sleep all.day.long. </p> <p>My "schedule" includes lots of deep breaths and scrapping the nap time to-do lists...anything that gets done is a bonus! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635577 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:28:52 +0000 cheert16 635577@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Subscribing to this- @Cherrybee: so glad you posted this cuz I feel the same way!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635574 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:24:23 +0000 heartonastring 635574@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Commenting to subscribe. I really need this kind of super helpful info! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635546 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:09:36 +0000 Beehive 635546@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Wagon: I love how you put it - like studying for finals. It definitely had that "in it together" feel for me too. DH and I also always got up together, and I think that made it a lot more fun and took away any loneliness there could have been in the middle of the night.</p> <p>@Cherrybee: Don't worry about the lack of order right in the beginning - you'll be able to start your LO on a schedule before you know it, and then it becomes quite satisfying for people who like organization. I always get excited when a day goes pretty much according to my "ideal" schedule for the LO (and I try not to get too frustrated when it doesn't). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635487 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:45:05 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 635487@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hummusgirl: Haha, I completely agree! I sent it to a new mom friend of mine and she said it changed her relationship with her LO and made her less frustrated through the newborn days. </p> <p>I even took a few notes while I was watching so I could do a quick glance and figure out what cry is what. This is what I got for anyone who's interested:</p> <p>The 5 types of baby cries:</p> <p>neh = hungry<br /> owh = sleepy<br /> heh = discomfort<br /> eair = lower gas<br /> eh = burp</p> <p>Only applies to babies 0-3 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635482 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:42:32 +0000 hummusgirl 635482@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: It's the best right? My husband made fun of it because the babies in the video have these perfect, enunciated cries and our LO's weren't near as "textbook." But still it was pretty useful... better than nothing for a couple of clueless first-time parents, at least! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/talk-to-me-about-a-newborns-schedule-when-you-are-breastfeeding-on-demand#post-635453 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:29:44 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 635453@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hummusgirl: I just rewatched that video yesterday! </p>