Scheduling a Newborn

I've been reading so much conflicting information on scheduling a newborn.  Some sources say it's necessary for a future school routine.  Some sources say that any schedule established in newborn life will long be history by age 5.  It's best for the newborn for a parent to just respond as needed.  If there's a schedule to keep, the newborn's body will keep it. We have no schedule here yet.  I also have a hard time getting him to take his naps due at around 12-1 for at least two hours and again at 5-6 for at least two hours.

I feed on demand. My pediatrician informed me (when he was two months old) that he wasn't able to learn how to anticipate events at that age. I'd have to just go with the flow until he showed signs of understanding that events can happen again with some time delay.  I'm getting only some signs of this lately. He seems to be able to judge what's about to happen by noticing what room we just walked into - which either calms him down if he wants that event (like feeding or changing) or gets him upset if he doesn't want that event.  I've also noticed that he now understands what a bottle looks like from a distance and he will calm down if he witnesses me pouring milk into it.

Afterall, we are talking about someone who doesn't yet understand that if he chokes from drinking too quickly and pulls his head away from the nipple that the nipple won't be in his mouth when he stops coughing. He has to put it back into his mouth. 

July 18, 2007