To Schedule or Not To Schedule

Right out the gate, I must admit I am a Type A personality.  There must always be a list, a plan, and a back up plan to account for any deviations in the original plan.  So it would come to no surprise that I would choose to be a scheduling parent rather than a go with the flow free spirit.  I am sure some veteran moms have already begun to laugh hysterically.  The truth is, schedules work and they are good to an extent.  It pretty much becomes a base, at least that is what I should have told myself.  If I had a nickel for everyday that I would starve (well not really since he went from 5 lbs 4 oz. to 75^th percentile in a month) or sleep deprive my child because “it wasn’t time” (based on the schedule).  Doctors, nurses, and some books would constantly bombard you with the phrase “they will let you know”, but anyone who is type A knows how hard it is to deviate from your schedule.  So my son would cry and I would be in a light panic because I didn’t know what was wrong.  “He is definitely not hungry because it has not been X hours” I would say to myself.  “He can’t be sleepy, it’s X hours before nap time”.  It took many a day and night for me to say, “maybe he is hungry”, “maybe he is sleepy”.  Experienced mothers will tell you over and over again the infamous 3 … dirty diaper, hungry, sleepy and for some reason it’s the last thing you think about.  My husband and I would laugh at ourselves for missing I-3 and then catching it at the last minute.  The main thing I realized was having a schedule prevented me from being a scatter brain, it’s like a security blanket, but I had to be willing to think outside the box when it comes to my little guy. Along with the schedule comes routine and he loves routine.  You can see in his eyes, the comfortable feeling of knowing what is going to happen.  Also as he got older, he learned the sound of the bottle warmer.  Although that might be because that thing is obnoxious, I ‘m like is there a fire, a war, no it’s just my son’s bottle that is done.  Anyway, he will get excited and antsy.  When I put him in his “drinking” spot he smacked his lips or now he starts making this funny noise.  I read that they like schedules and routine and I can tell you from my little experience that it is absolutely true.  But Type A beware, “he/she will let you know” and that is the best planner you need.