How to be flexible and follow a routine
Let me paint a picture for youโฆ
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ (๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ), ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฑ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ต/๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ด, ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด, ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ธ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
Be reassured that it is VERY COMMON to feel this way - especially when youโve worked so hard to help your little one be a โgood sleeperโ and as a result, everyone in the household is better rested. You donโt want to rock the boat and I get it - believe me.
Pictured: A recent Let's Sleep family who got out for a fun day at the snow with their 6 month old baby Lillian and had the best time!
Getting out and about and making plans is so beneficial for you, your partner and your little one/s. The more you get out and about, the more you realise how good getting about and about makes you feel.
If youโre feeling anxious about committing to activities or trips away, start small. Book in a swim class or a playgroup in between naps and practice getting out and about for that activity first.
Then one day you could try offering the morning nap on the go (in pram car or carrier for example) - roll out with the pram 15/20 mins before nap time to allow baby time to unwind for sleep. Take along their sleep props such as a white noise machine. If the nap is shorter than usual - that is okay, just offer the next nap a bit earlier.
If youโre doing a day trip to the zoo, keep an eye on how long theyโve been awake and offer them a nap in the pram or carrier when theyโre ready. The naps will likely be shorter than it is at home and that is totally okay. Compensate with an earlier bedtime if needed.
The 60:40 rule is how I talk about flexibility with routine. As long as your little one is following their normal routine and napping in their cot/bassinet 60% of the time, the other 40% of the time you can have flexible days.
If you have a flexible routine day once a week and spend the whole day out and about and your little one has a couple of short naps and goes to bed at night a bit overtired - they will be absolutely okay. Being flexible some days will not lead to your baby's sleep falling in a big heap.
What I enjoy so much about my role as an Infant and Child Sleep Coach is that parents feel so empowered with knowledge after sleep support finishes that they know how to navigate the day regardless of what happens. If baby skips a nap for some reason - they know what to do. If baby has a short nap for some reason - they know what to do. Having plan A, B, C and D for navigating your little one's sleep helps you to feel confident and enables you to say YES to the fun stuff like zoo visits, coffee with friends or beach days.
Life is for living and you don't want to feel trapped at home all day every day!
You got this folks!
Keen for sleep support with your little one? Book in a free 15 minute chat with me or book a sleep package directly via the website. I can't wait to hear from you.
