Tips for getting LO to bed at night?
missmiss307
member
We are having a tough time with LO's schedule right now as far as when he sleeps. We are wanting to develop a consistent nighttime routine, but he varies so much in when he wants to go to bed. This leads to cranky parents who are already sleep deprived and a lot of frustration when we've put Noah down for the fourth time, and he starts crying after five minutes. We are swaddling and using a humidifier and sleep sheep for white noise.
Does anyone have any suggestions? It may just be that we have to put up with it until he's a little older and gets into a better overall routine/schedule (he is just over a month old). Just wondering what other people's experiences are and looking for some ideas on what to expect. I think it would help just knowing one way or the other if we should just plan to be up later (he has been conking out between 11:30 and 12:30 most nights).
Re: Tips for getting LO to bed at night?
It took #1 a bit to get an earlier bedtime (although fortunately it wasn't that late for very long). We put him down very drowsy, almost asleep and 'shhh'-ed and patted him.
We started a (albeit small) routine with #2 (massage, diaper change, singing, bed) earlier and for whatever reason he did end up settling into an 8 pm bedtime pretty early (honestly, I don't think it was due to the routine, just luck that that was his schedule). With both of our boys, they eventually settled into the reasonable bed time on their own - can't say exactly when, I'd say by 2 1/2 months with #1 and by 1 1/2 with #2, but that's a bit of a guess.
For both boys I tried to stay pretty close for awhile to get to them while they're still fussing and not crying yet to settle them back down (just easier to get them back to sleep that way). With #1 it usually required more shh-patting while he was in his crib. #2 I just have to insert the nuk and sometimes place my hand near his nose so he can smell that I'm there.
I'd say if he's really not tired earlier, you're probably stuck with the late bedtime for awhile. If there's a big nap right around or before the time you want to get him down, you could try to make that nap shorter or see if it's fairly easy to keep him up through that.
I don't know if that helps any - good luck!
ETA: I just saw again that he was only a month - I'd try to go with his flow for a bit longer and see if it helps.
Just keep those later wakings low key without too much stimulation - low lights, etc.
We have a ritual that we do every night. Bath time, massage, swaddle, nurse/sing songs and rock a few minutes and lay in bed. As he gets older i'll add storytime in there as well. It can sometime take a while, but it does help them learn to sleep. He does still wake during the night to feed, but he is starting to sleep longer periods. I've noticed this last week that as soon as he hears me sing his songs his eyes start to glaze over and he closes his eyes.
I really recommend starting a routine. You still have to be flexible, but as long as you stick with it, it does help. Good luck and hang in there!