Community Questions - Routine disruptions over Christmas.

"It's the first Christmas with our son and he will be 16 weeks old. Any tips for dealing with a change in his routine over Christmas?"

It can certainly feel daunting heading into the festive period with your little one, especially if you have started to establish a consistent routine with their feeding and sleep schedule - this is a concern for many new parents, so please know you aren't alone!!

It's important to be aware that the changes in routine during the festive period are only temporary and although it can feel like a real nightmare, it will pass and your little one will be back in their usual routines very soon. As babies grow, their routine will constantly shift too, whether it's the festive period or not, so this is something to be mindful of and should also help take the pressure off you if you feel that your little one is really out of their usual schedule!

Some tips from the Carol App Team would be :

- You may be surprised that a change in location and a shift in timings may not disrupt your little one too much - it depends on your baby, but some babies aren't bothered by a little change and others are sensitive to the changes, but it may not be as overwhelming as you may expect!

- Trying to stick as close to your babies routine as possible can help your little one to adjust a little easier to the changes. For example, trying to keep nap times as close to their usual schedule as possible and making sure they are still drinking their milk as they normally would can really help - it may be a little off by 10/20 minutes, but being mindful of timings and trying to stick with what your baby knows can help! This also includes things like their white noise machine, dummy and comforters - whatever your baby is used to, try to take with you if you are out and about for the day.

- Try to keep bed time as consistent as possible, although not always so easy! Once the festive period is over, something that worked for us when our little one was going to bed later over Christmas, was bringing their bedtime forward by 15 minutes each night until we were back to the usual bedtime routine and that really helped!

It can seem daunting heading into the festive period with a little one, but remember 'this too shall pass' and you will back to your usual schedule before you know it!