Anyone who knows me will tell you about my love of routine, especially when it comes to my children. Shortly after Roo was born there was a fantastic series on the TV (Channel 4 I believe but I can’t remember the name of it). The series highlighted four different types of parenting styles, the good and bad points of each.
Watching the programme with Mr Boo it was apparent which parenting style I favoured, in fact it was almost as though they had shared hidden camera footage of me looking after Roo. The parenting style? a 1940’s mum… Ensuring that routine is set up and adhered to, from regular feeding patterns, to how you hold your baby for feeding and how to hold them for cuddles. A slice of fresh air everyday, controlled crying etc.
Whilst I would like to hope that I wasn’t as regimented as they lady who depicted a 1940’s mum on screen, there were key things that I could easily identify with.
After having an emergency Cesarean with Roo we were in hospital for almost a week afterwards. As breastfeeding was not establishing for us I opted to bottle feed. So by the time we had left the hospital I had gotten her into a four hour feeding routine, 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm, 11pm and 3am. So much so that if my mum would call at 7pm I would explain that it was feeding time and to call back. Roo was a very lazy feeder and would often take up to an hour to feed, so we would sit her on a cushion on our laps and feed her that way.
As Roo has grown older we have established a bedtime routine and adding Tigger to our family has meant that he too has had a routine established. Both Roo and Tigger are early risers, they always have been, so when I tell people that they go to bed at 7.00pm they say ‘no wonder they are up early’. Sorry to burst your bubble but no matter what time they go to bed they are up by 7.00am every morning. We have tried sending them to bed later in the evening, no only do they get up the same time in the morning but by mid afternoon they are grumpy bunnies. So for us an established bedtime works.
To give parents a hand with negotiating developmental milestones, Nick Jr. has launched a new campaign -Step-by-Step Explore with Dora, which will help parents navigate key developmental stages and teach their children key skills with help from Dora the Explorer.
To access a whole range of Dora themed assets to encourage and reward children on their developmental journey
www.nickjr.co.uk/stepbystep
Today a live web chat was broadcast shown via Studiotalk.tv, featuring Jacqueline Harding, child development expert and Jess McGlynn, parent blogger from Catch a Single Thought. Unfortunately I missed the broadcast I was at work today but hope to catch up with it on demand later this week. I am interested to hear the different approaches to parenting, the pros and cons from those with a parenting routine and those without.
Do you live by a routine, or do you prefer to live as it happens?
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