Thats the thing blackbird, I think alot of these strict routines for feeding & sleep can cause a lot of mum added stress. As if there is not enough mother's guilt given to us everyday, suddenly we are at fault if our child hasn't self settled because we aren't following the routine strictly.

The other thing I have issues with is that I don't follow routines strictly for myself, I mean I generally go to bed at a certain time, but not all the time. I generally eat around the same time but not all the time. I keep to a rhythm at our house & Matilda knows the order of things (because she likes order). So we wake up and have a cuddle then make brekky and eat together. We then potter for around an hour or so and move on to whatever is happening next for the day. So getting ready to go out or whatever.... I think if we had some strict routine, our lives would be so much more stressful.