When did you start your little ones on a routine? My DD is 8 weeks old tomorrow (don't know where the time went!) and she's pretty much on a routine of falling asleep after her last bottle around 10/11 pm and wakes up at 5, feeds, goes back to sleep until around 8/9. I am wondering if i should incorporate her bathtime before her last bottle, or after. I'm leaning towards before, because she's always wide eyed and bushy tailed after her baths.

It is never too early for a schedule. When both you and baby know what to expect out of the day- everyone is happy. Baths before feeding sound like a good idea- so she'll be alert to eat a bunch before bedtime.
The routine will morph and change as she gets older, just be consistent. Yes, this may mean being at home a lot while she gets her scheduled naps in. But trust me- the alternative of an over-tired baby and an erratic schedule are horrible. I feel bad for the mothers who think kids are supposed to be crazy and out of control- they are just sleep deprived!

Usually for the first 4-6 months you get a routine (like "eat, play, sleep") more than a schedule. I second what craftyashley said-it is well worth scheduling activities around your baby's nap times so you don't have an overtired baby. Over the next few weeks, the bedtime will probably creep earlier until she goes to sleep sometime between 6 and 8 at night, waking for a bottle or two during the night. Right now is a time where you have to constantly toe the line between being flexible and being consistent. As she gets older (particularly near 1 year) her schedule will solidify a lot more.

Babies like routines! Honestly!

I have to agree, if she's wound up after a bath (I can totally sympathize, my son is the same way) do bath then bottle to wind her down. I always play with my son (put him under the play gym, then I rile him up like you wouldn't believe to get him to kick and bat and laugh), then give him a bath, turn on his white noise machine, then sing his favorite song while nursing him, then sing "Sound of Silence" over and over until he winds down and falls asleep ("Sound of Silence" seemed rather apropos when he had colic, and it always got him to zonk out, I don't think he's much of a Simon and Garfunkel fan....)
I've found if I don't get him to play before bath then he just has too much energy and won't sleep, so the playing and the splashing in the bath gets all that excess out so he'll sleep.
But he knows now that bathtime is the prelude to sleep, so I don't have to fight with him to get him to go to bed. Well, this past week the time change and him getting off his sleep schedule messed that up, but I'm trying to work him back to going to bed by 8pm.

Now I just gotta work on the nap routine and actually get him to nap!
I just strongly recommend routines, I started his routine as soon as he could take an actual bath (after everything fell off ) and though it took awhile... and colic didn't help... I think the routine has been a great help. Most of the time when I put him to bed he doesn't fight with me, he will go right to sleep.

I just posted a new thread about how to get my 4 month old on a set schedule b/c hers is WAY OUT OF WHACK from moving. Anyway I totally agree babies and children need a routine I just have to find out how to get her on one lol. Sorry 4 barging in on your post I just need help desperetely (sp?). If anyone would... please post a schedule of a baby around 4 months so I know how to begin this thing lol again sorry just havent had any replies yet and need help ASAP. Thank you all so much for ANY help. Thanks - Aubreesmomma <3

Routines are great. I started my DD on a routine at 6 weeks old and are still on it at 8 months old. I started with the night routine. Bath, then bottle. when he was up for the day, I based his nap schedule on when he woke for the day. 2 hours after he woke for the day, he went down for his first nap. Sometimes he didn't make it that long when he was younger, but by 4 months old, he was making it 2 hours. Then when he woke up from his first nap, he would go down 2 hours after that, and then again for the 3rd nap in the late afternoon. I wouldn't let him sleep after 5:15 in the evening unless he really needed it so that we could play and exercise to get out his energy. He would have his bath, then bottle and was sleeping at 7:15. He liked to eat at 1:30 and 4:30 at night, but he would be back down within 5 minutes. We are still feeding at 4:30-5:30 in the evening, but he goes back to sleep untill 6:30. We are still working on that. As for feeding schedules, I never fed my baby before 3.5 hours. He always did better if I held him out to that time. I feed my baby at 7:00 with a bottle and now food, then bottle at 10:30 with food at 11:00, then a snack of 4 oz with a cracker, and dinner at 5:00 with bottle and food, then nightime bottle at 7:00. He kind of put himself on that schedule.

Best of luck. Try to get your babies down around the 8:00 hour. They need between 11-12 hours of sleep a night. Waking at 7:00 in the morning is the recommended time to wake to keep the earlier bedtimes and keep them napping. If they don't nap, it will only hurt their learning and can cause more accidents.

It took a while but we are FINALLY on a routine schedule and I could NOT be happier!

7:30am * breastfeeding in bed because she just woke up
9:30am * breastfeeding time to get her back on schedule
12:15 noon * Oatmeal, then I nurse her until she is sleepy...or I read her a book until she is sleepy
12:30 until ? * NAPTIME! WHOOO HOOOOO! She will sleep for an hour or two thank God. Not every single day, but most days.

3:30pm * breastfeeding time
6:30pm * breastfeeding time
7pm until ? * NAPTIME! Usually 30 to 40 mins
(i take off to the gym and Daddy is on baby duty)
9:15pm * Oatmeal (Daddy feeds her this at night) then breastfeeding until she pulls off and is nice and full
10pm * BEDTIME!

She usually sleeps all the way until 7:30am but when she turned 4 mos old she started waking me at 3am to nurse...that is when I knew she was ready for more calories, meaning cereal.

I do not give her a bath every day because she does not get that dirty yet. She gets a bath about twice a week.

Thanks for the tips. I have a 4 week old and am trying to see if she naturally goes on a schedule but this is helpful

I started working on a routine as soon as my son was born, and he was on it perfectly by the time he was six weeks old. This included sleeping 10-12 hours per night.
We've always had a really set schedule, ever since then. It really makes things easier, and its never too early!

i am like so amazed b/c my baby is so erratic -- when she is hungry though i want to feed her - what do you do about that? sometimes she wants to eat every hour