Wind-down/bedtime Routine?

Jess604

Hello everyone, This is my very first post as I'm new here! I'm a first time mom to my 6 month old boy (7 months on the 20th). My intro story sounds pretty much like a broken record! once upon a time my little guy use to sleep and fall asleep on his own then whamo! A few weeks after he was born he decided he didn't want to anymore so I researched and researched which led me to go out everyday for a week to buy some magical sleep device! From Velcro swaddle blankets to a mattress vibrator to a noise machine, oh but not just any noise machine! Did you get the one that shined stars up on the ceiling? cause heck, I got that one too! Needless to say every single thing went back to the shop! To make a long story short! He slept in a swing then after the end of that, on one sleepy-too-early-for-words morning, I dragged him into bed where I breastfed him and now we cosleep! And now that's the only way he will fall asleep! Okay, enough of that. I read in the forum etiquette that first time posters are to introduce themselves. Anyways, I do actually have a reason for this post. I've been reading lots on routine for babies, wind down for bedtime, etc. So my son has 3 naps, last one being about two and a half hrs before his bedtime so that takes us to 830pm. He seems pretty good but when it comes to actual quiet time I start around 7-730pm. Before he would just nurse and fall asleep but now he's more aware and easily distracted and decided that he has to roll over, not during quiet time, not during daytime playing but always while I'm trying to nurse him for bed. He gets extremely fussy and squirmy. I pick him up to burp him numerous times and it's not reflux either. Is 830pm too late for a 6 month old? is my wind down too short? I try to make it really boring. Dim lights, no music. Anyways, what are your thoughts, suggestions and of course, what does your bedtime routine look like? Oh, also... What in the world does DH, DD, LO and all that mean? I see it everywhere!!!! Sorry this is so long! Thanks everyone!

nicolemcm

Hi and welcome! There's a link somewhere to a list of short forms, but I'm too lazy to find it at the moment, but dh=dear husband, dd=dear daughter, ds=dear son and lo=little one.

As for your wind down questions, ds is 7m and we do start his wind down about 615 in order to get him into bed asleep for 7.  We do a bath every other night, then I nurse, either dh or I read him a book, then into bed. We do this in dim living room, no music/tv. He's up from his last nap about 5 at the latest to make sure he's tired come bedtime.  Hope this helps

Nekotaru

I'd like to say, I do think dimming the lighting helps. I like to make the lights in her nursery distinct so she knows the difference between the times of day. Now she realizes when the dim pink flower light is the only one on, that means her next sleep is going to be "the big one."

Fortunately she has slept "through the night" from 5 weeks old. Not sure if it matters (all babies are different!) but I put her in the crib alone on day 1 returning home and she has slept in it every single night of her life so far, so our routine revolves around her bedroom which is why I make sure the lights in her room are altered based on time of day. 

So other than light "cues", we also try to do baths at night on bath days, and after her last meal we read, then rock, then change, then put her in the crib. At 5w old she slept about 12a-6am and we gradually moved the bedtime up over the months. Now she is stable at 730p for bed and sleeps a full 12 hours. She takes like a 20min morning nap, and a 2-3 hour afternoon nap around 1pm. She used to take the day naps in her swing but I also gradually transitioned her into napping in the crib as well. So now she always knows sleep is associated with the crib.

Basically, once you find a good pattern, stick to it! Routine and gradual transitions have been my best friend. But everyone's routine will be different for their LO

jenn43

My LO often likes to play during our nighttime routine. We do jammies, sleep sack, white noise and nursing. Some nights he falls asleep nursing. Some nights he wants to play. If that's the case I just put him in his crib and give him a kiss goodnight. He'll lay down on his own and fall asleep. He's 8 months old, by the way. So even if your LO seems like he wants to play, stick with the routine. They do figure it out. And my little guy was pretty high needs (though not horrible screaming colic). He needed to be held for an hour or two before we could put him down when he was 3 months old. At 4 months we let him fuss a bit, and by the time he was 6 or 7 months old he would just give us a big smile and then lay down and go to sleep.

macbook

Wow, my daughter is 8 months now and its so hard getting her to stay asleep. She wakes up multiple times at night. I really don't know what to do. When she wakes up I have to rock her back to sleep. It can get very exhausting. And she always wakes up around 1 am and wants to be fed a bottle. 

Last night I tried to let her sooth herself to sleep but she wouldn't. She kept fussing and then crying and eventually I had to pick her up. Don't know what to do...clearly, i'm doing something wrong...

khaalid00

FTM here too. In my experience my LO sleep pattern comes in waves from birth to now at 8 months. Honestly now at 8 months, my LO sleep pattern changed again and more fussy during the day with shorter naps...more nightime wakeups too for no reason...perhaps teething and growths spurts, double whammy -oy! Every babies are different and sleeping pattern too. Only a mom knows their baby best and paying more attention to babies cues can help you survive those restless nights. So take my advice for what it is worth. Ok, sleep routine is important for babies and for YOU/dad. Start early as soon as baby start to have longer stretch of sleep (around 2 months or so). It is important to try different methods to what works for you. If you find one, or at least two sleep methods that works than KEEP it consistant as possible every night. Babies love routine like being feed on schedule. At times, growth spurts (growing pains), illness like a bad cold, teething to overtired/overwelmed from activities of the day can throw babies sleep pattern off track. This annoyance can bring tears, sadness, and exhaustion to parents for weeks from baby's misery. Sleep train baby again to help get him/her back on the sleep train....which will take you 3days to a week of hardcore committment to master but keep at it and it will pay off. Here is what I am doing for my baby when he started showing signs of sleepiness at a certain time in the evening: 2pm-4:30pm:: last nap for the day (3rd nap) 6:00pm:: wine down with baby-warm bath for 10-15mins/dress/change diaper/read to baby 6:30pm/6:45pm:: bedtime-Marpac DOHM-DS: Natural White Noise turned on, lights off and night light on, baby held in my arms while nursing or giving bottle, and gently rocking baby in rocking chair. My LO settles to sleep, I do not talk to him because he has always been alert and thinks it is play time if I do. I keep the room quiet/comfortably warm/boring as possible...no tv or no music on. He drfts to sleep in my arms quickly and I put him in his crib after 10 mins of silence. If my baby wakes shortly after, he would cry it out for 5mins or less but I pay no attention to his cries unless it goes on too long. I always leave the baby's room so he does not see me because he will cry harder. The crying out method is not for everyone but it worked for us after we felt nothing else was working. Now he learned to self soothe himself to sleep since 4 months and the crying comes and goes but last less than a minute before he goes back to sleep. Try to aim bedtime at 6 pm to 7pm and adjust the right routine that WORKS for you. Keep up the good job mamas!!