The Schedule

Okay, so I'm a bit of a control freak. By "bit" I mean I'm totally a control freak. I like things done my way. I have been able to release some of that when it comes to the babies, but I still like to plan. The latest thing I have compiled for all parties that babysit my children is a schedule of their daily activities. I thought you all might be interested in that:

7:00 – 8:00 a.m. (although sometimes it's closer to 6:30)
Wake up and eat!
All babies will wake up by now. If they are not up by 8, wake them up. Upon awakening, they should get a bottle. They will take between 4 and 6 ounces of formula/breast milk during this time. It varies from day to day and baby to baby. Abby usually has eaten all night, and she only wants 4 ounces. Marie, however, usually sleeps 12 hours and may want 6 ounces.
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Play time
The babies can sit in chairs and play, have tummy time, or whatever else. Just keep them busy with toys.
9:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Breakfast
Mix formula/breast milk with oatmeal cereal. Each baby usually has about 3 ounces of milk with cereal in it. The consistency should be slightly thicker than soup, but it should not be thick like oatmeal. You can add mashed up ripe banana to it or fruit flavored baby food (Level 1 or 2). They usually have baby prunes after oatmeal to keep them regular. Each baby will have about ½ of the prune container, or they can all split one.
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.
Get ready to face the day
Clean up the babies with a warm washcloth and get them out of their pajamas and dressed in day clothes. If you have breast milk, put it in warm water during this time to have it ready.
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Bottles and off to dreamland
The babies should be getting drowsy (i.e., cranky) by now. Feed whoever you have a 6 oz bottle. The baby will probably fall asleep in the middle of this feeding. Save the rest of the milk for when he/she wakes up. Abby tends to fall asleep later-closer to 11.
Note: Will likes to nap on his belly. Marie needs to be on her back to find her thumb. She may cry a little to fall asleep. If it continues more than 5 minutes, pick her up, give her more bottle, and try again. Abby is tough. She’ll probably fall asleep taking her bottle. If she falls asleep over your shoulder, put her in the crib on her belly. If she falls asleep being fed, place her on her right side very close to the crib bumper.
10:30 a.m. – noon
Babies sleep (if you are lucky)
Will typically sleeps 1 ½ - 2 hours for his nap. The other two’s naps vary a great deal. If Abby wakes up right away, try to rock her back to sleep. Marie is somewhat of a cat napper and might fall asleep between naps, but only for about 15-20 minutes at a time.
12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch time
If the baby has leftovers from the last bottle, feed it when they wake up. For lunch, they will have 1 vegetable and 1 fruit each. If there is leftover fruit from lunch, you can use it as the fruit for this meal. If after eating baby food at this meal, the baby is still frantic, feed more bottle.
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Play time again
More fun time-tummy time, chairs, play mats, exercersaucer, etc. Sometimes we go out for a walk during this time if the weather is nice.
2:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Bottles and sleep again
Same procedure as the morning nap. Usually, if they did not sleep well in the morning, they will do better in the afternoon. They may also get tired earlier if the morning nap was crummy.
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Nap
This nap is usually shorter than the morning one, which is fine because we want them tired at night. If they have leftovers from their before nap bottles, you can feed it to them when they wake up. If they don’t have any leftovers and are hungry, give them a 6 oz bottle.
Note: If a baby does not fall asleep for this nap, do not let him/her fall asleep after 5 p.m. This makes getting them down at bedtime a nightmare. Just keep him/her up. He/she will be cranky, but it’s well worth it when 7 p.m. rolls around.
4 – 5:00 p.m.
Play time
5 – 6:00 p.m.
Baths and pajamas
Babies should take a bath during this time and get changed into their pajamas.
6 – 6:30 p.m.
Dinner
It’s time for baby food again. They should have the same as lunch-1 vegetable and 1 fruit.
7 p.m.
Bottles and good-night!
Prepare a 6 ounce bottle for each baby and follow the same nap procedures.
Overnight
-Abby typically wakes up about every 3 hours. She will cry her brains out immediately upon awaking, and she will need a bottle. Prepare 3-4 overnight bottles for her, each with 4 ounces. She likes sleeping on her tummy. If she will no go down in her crib, she may need to go to your bed. She loves snuggles. She’ll sleep forehead to forehead with you or will roll onto her belly but will be right up against you all night.
-Marie should give you a solid 10-12 hours of sleep. She moves around a lot in the crib and stirs, but she rarely wakes up. If she does awaken, feed her, and she’ll go right back to sleep.
-Will is a wildcard. Lately, he has been waking up around 11 p.m. and again around 2 a.m. He takes a bottle and goes back to sleep. Sometimes he wants to go back to sleep on his belly, but he may pee through his diaper in this position so make sure you check him after he sleeps on his belly. Sometimes he makes a little grunting/groaning noise at night. Don’t get him unless he starts crying. He sometimes groans to get himself back to sleep.
-I don’t usually change anyone’s diaper until after 5 a.m. because it wakes them up too much. The only exceptions are if they have peed through their diaper/pajamas and/or if they poop.

Additional Instructions:
-Before naps and bedtime, make sure you go to a quiet place to give the babies their bottles. They can be rocked or just held and snuggled with during this time, but keep distractions down to minimum. They like some background music and a dark room.
-Diaper changes as needed throughout the day
-Even if you get them off schedule at night, please try to get them back on the next day. This saves us a lot of trouble when they get home.
-Will likes to have his little green binky to sleep with during naps and at night. He chews on it at first and then will rub his face against it.
-You can use teething tablets if you think their little gums are hurting. Take each little pill and hold it under their tongues until they dissolve. They can do 3 at a time.
-Baby Tylenol dosage for them is now .8 mg/cc.
-Baby Benadryl dosage is ¼ tsp
-Abby takes 5 drops of Bio Gaia in one of her bottles every day
-Marie and Will currently need to be nebulized with just Xopenex 2-3/day