Do routines really work?

When having my first baby I read every book I could get my hands on about routines. It all sounded so easy. My baby was going to sleep for 16 hours a day. She would have set wake up and sleep times.

How was I going to kill all those hours at home? Having just finished up in a full time job managing a team of 15 people, I wondered what would I spend my days doing. I'd have hours to mop the floors, wash the clothes, and enjoy my little bundle of joy. What were all these parents complaining about? All babies did was sleep and play.

Boy was I naïve.

Sadly, neither of our newborns had read the same books I had. They did not seem to know they should sleep till 7am and want to feed as per the book. They also disagreed about going to sleep. I could (and still am with our 9 week old) spend an hour just to calm them to sleep only to hear them screaming ten minutes later.

What am I doing wrong?

A rare moment: Em sitting happily

It seems sadly that babies are never like in the Johnson & Johnson commercial. My babies have never looked that happy, and I have never had time to look like that mother with my make up and hair done rolling around blissfully on the floor with our baby. If they aren't screaming then I am taking two minutes to run to the loo or prepare the next meal.

Do these angels exist? Or is it a marketing ploy by companies to trick us into having babies so they can sell us more stuff? Of course I would have had babies regardless. The joy outweighs the moments of sheer hell. But I think we need to be honest. No one had ever let onto me how hard being a mother can be. I knew everyone said it was hard work, but there was no indication of what that meant. Mothers tend not to talk about how hard they find it for fear of being judged or seeming like they are not a good parent.

But back to my initial thoughts. Do routines ever work? Are they a miracle cure like they are advertised to be?

We have recently decided to put our 9 week old on a routine. So far it is not working. She does not sleep the required length of time and by the time she is finally deep asleep it's time to wake her for the next schedule feed.

So, do we perservere? Do we give up? Will this eventually suddenly solve all our problems. The book has promised me it will.

What are your experiences? Do you use a routine? Does it work? As for me, stay tuned… I will let you know.