We actually believe whole heartedly in schedules!!  My son had jaundice pretty bad when he was born and the hospital enorced a eating every three hour schedule so I could still nurse him while he was under the lights.  Since then we kept his eating times at the same time every day (now he's down to 4 meals). When eating times are always the same, his naps stay at the same time, a short one at 9am and a long one at 2pm.  We did this and he began sleeping through the night at 10 weeks.   Not to say that a 10 minute variance will cause a meltdown, but it just helps us plan our day and he always knows what to expect.  It works for us and we knew what he needed without him having to get worked up trying to communicate.  However, not every kid is the same, and it just happened to work for us because we started from day one. We also use the cues that MamaHall uses which work!

Jessica

I don't particularly rely on a schedule because I find that the children are less able to adapt to change when on strict schedules.  When I had my first daughter, I was a fulltime college student.  We stayed up late, slept in, and basically did as we pleased.  She was the happiest, easy-going baby I've had thus far.  As we've aged, my other two daughters do things at approx. the same times everyday and I find they do not adapt as well as my firstborn did to new situations.  When we are less organized with our time, they seem to live in the moment, appreciating the spontaneous things we might do.  My husband favors a schedule, I don't.  Our younger children, being used to an approximate schedule, are less adaptive, but not to the point that we can't go to a birthday party because they HAVE to have that nap @ 12:30!  Skipping a nap won't cause an emotional breakdown at this point, and hopefully, it never will. 

I prefer the word "routine" too. I learned very early on that if you are consistant with your children they will be consistant with you. I am not afraid to admit my weaknesses and sleep depervation is a BIG weekness of mine. I  knew I had to get my daughter on a regular sleep pattern in order to regain some normal sleep for myself. I breastfed for 15 months but strickly pumped after the third week since my daughter never latched on correctly. Bottle feeding allowed me to get her on a regular feeding routine and regular feedings ment regular sleep.

 Now, I am not a "to the minute" scheduler but the same things happen at about the same time of day give or take a half hour. Since she was 4 months old she fed every 4 hours, 2 hour nap in the AM, 2 hour nap in the PM, Bath, then 10-12 sleep at night. As she grew older and changed her routine, I tweaked it along with what she needed. The 2 naps a day went down to one and the length of the nap has changed too. Her bed time has adjusted a little but still consistant 10-12 hours a night. Now at 3 yrs old, she wakes at 7:30-8:00AM, potty and milk first thing, then about an hour later she wants breakfast, lunch between 12:00-12:30pm, nap right after, wakes at 3pm, dinner at 5-5:30pm, bath and bed by 8-8:30pm. Her bedtime routine always began with a bath everynight until recently. She prefers them in the morning now which is ok because it allows me to get her in bed by 7;30-8pm. Of course lots of activities and errands, housekeeping and playdates inbetween meals and sleep.

I know this doesn't work with all families or children but my older 2 step daughters thrived better in a routine atmosphere and she is following right along too. They know what is expected of them and when and it makes it really easy on me knowing what they need and when. The added bonus is my husband and I get 3 hours minimum to ourselves everynight and I still get my very much needed 6-7 hours sleep a night.

Smile, it increases your face value! Jodi