A Schedule That Works

In about one out of every three or four articles I read, it tells me how to start a schedule with my baby. I've read about a million different ways to put Monty to sleep and they ALL start with giving him a bath. I tried that for a while, and it just didn't work. He loves taking a bath, and in return, it wakes him up more then it puts him to sleep. So, I've come up with my own schedule and it seems to be working great. It goes somewhat close to this:

• Between 7:30 am - 9:00 am, he wakes up and eats. 
• Around 10:30 am - 11:30 am, he gets to take his bath
• After his bath he eats lunch
• Then before 1:00 pm he is down for his nap
• He usually wakes up around 3:30 or 4:00 and eats again. He'll stay away till around 6:00 pm, then take another short nap.
• He ends the night around 8:30 pm when he eats again and then goes to bed (even if he is still awake) around 9:00 pm
• From there he'll sleep till morning again (if he wakes up during the night, I simple put his binky in his mouth and give him a reassuring pat) 

My schedule if I go out:

• If I'm going out to a place such as the zoo or park, I plan on getting there around around 15-30 minutes before he needs to eat. Then I simply start the day with feeding him first when I arrive.
• If I'm running errands, I plan on doing those while he takes his long nap for the day. I'll feed him lunch, make sure he is sleepy, then let him fall asleep in the car along the way. This usually works great and he'll sleep through the grocery store or any errands I need to do.

I would say these schedules are about 90% fool proof. There have been times when he has had a major meltdown in Walmart, or his favorite place Babies-R-Us, but this seems to work the best for us.

The main thing I've learned is that there isn't one plan/schedule that works for everyone. You HAVE to customize your routine based on your child's personality.