Schedule
I read a great book when I was pregnant with Tyrus that, I believe, is responsible for the great baby that we have today. It is called Baby Wise. When I was pregnant with Mary I skimmed through it trying to just remember certain things. The last two days I have started trying to implement some of the things that the book says. The main thing that it stresses is that you should never let a baby fall asleep during or right after eating unless it is in the middle of the night. During the day a baby should eat, have wake time, and then sleep. Mary has really fallen into this schedule nicely. She eats every 2 to 3 hours and then naps after staying awake for a little while. However, there is usually one sequence where she doesn't nap and just stays awake until her next feeding. I'm hoping that as her wake times become more active that she will start naping druing that time. Like I said earlier, last night she ate every 3 hours and went right back to sleep (with the help of the soothie).
Another things it stresses is to minimize snacking. This is especially important for breast feeding mothers because it is so easy to stick a boob in their mouth. It explains that just because a baby crys doesn't mean that he/she is hungry. If it is not time to eat then you should try to soothe the baby in other ways. If nothing works then you should feed that baby, but always try and make sure that the baby gets a full meal.
I know that a lot of people do not think a baby should be put on a schedule or they may not see the importance in one. I really do not have a choice because I have to go back to work in 12 weeks. My goal is to have Mary sleeping through the night by then like her big brother was doing. Actually, I think that when I went back to work Tyrus was waking up maybe once a night, but it didn't last very long. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in bottle fed babies and breast fed babies.