Unable to establish bedtime routine

LacieMac

Are any of you ladies having trouble with this? My LO sleeps through the night, I am so happy about this. However, in the past 4 weeks she has gone from a 730 bedtime to anytime she wants. The latest has been midnight so far. I read that alot of you have established routines but its not working for us. Bath time and walking with her used to work great but its not anymore. As soon as I set her down she wakes back up and I have to start the process over. This can go on for hours. Do u ladies let your LO cry? I pick her back up before then, she starts to wave her arms and yell a lil and I go get her so she doesn't get worked up. Any advice?

mrsrep123

How old is your LO? She could be going through a leap (developmental) or growth spurt...

LacieMac

She turned 7 weeks yesterday. The later bedtimes have been going on for weeks. But its been about a week that she is having such a hard time just going to sleep and staying asleep

NSAnderson0313

I agree with @mrsrep123 - it could be leap time. The wonder weeks app suggests that the patterns leap starts between 7.5 to 9.5 weeks. Give her some time and see if you're slowly able to ease her back into her previous routine.

CanadaMom17

Lurking from May.  It's likely a little to early to 'count on' a routine.  The thing that helped my lo the most was having enough naps in the day; I'm not sure what those look like for you.  When her naps sucked, so did bedtime.  If she's truly reset her clock until later, go with it, and start pushing it back just 20 minutes or so at a time for a couple of nights until she's back where you want her.  

beccer123

my lo just decides he wants a bottle and to go to sleep every night around 9-930. i didn't set this. sometimes, he wants to comfort feed as well when i lay him down. i dont pick him up. if nothing else, i will stand next to him and let him nibble on his bottle for a second and then switch him to his paci which sometimes works. if i start with the paci, he wont take it. he's a little funny abt his bottle! if i pick him up, might as well start all over. i'll be going back to work at the end of the month and i work overnights so i'm trying to get him in a routine that my husband can do as well. he, of course, doesn't want to hold him while he sleeps so i try not to hold him either. 

mers90

I think it's too early for routines.

randa923

My little guy is 9.5 weeks. He's pretty great about his bedtime routine thankfully. As long as he's sleepy he will go to sleep on his own as long as his music is playing. He has a lullaby thing on his crib. It plays for 30 minutes and slowly gets quieter. It's great. We got it as a gift but it's from toys-r-us. It also projects stars on the ceiling for 10 minutes but that distracts him so we shut those off for now. In the middle of the night I have ro rock him until he falls asleep. He almost always wakes up when I move him to the crib. I usually just turn off the lights and rub his belly while I keep a hand on his head. He seems to like the warmth. I start slowing down his belly rub and slowly take my hand away while he falls asleep. I usually "sush" him too. Usually he's back to sleep in just a few minutes.

ecloho

@mers90 I agree. Generally from what I read it is to early for routines for babies this young. I agree it's good to attempt bits & pieces of a routine, but my understanding is 4 months is about when you can really start to establish a routine. I will try to post some links to articles I have read on sleep training

ecloho

https://www.parents.com/baby/sleep/issues/how-to-get-your-baby-to-sleep/

ecloho

https://www.parents.com/blogs/baby/2015/06/08/babies/what-sleep-training-taught-me-about-being-a-parent/

ecloho

BTW There are a couple video links in those articles above that I posted that may be helpful

ashleytiff

My LO has been going to sleep between 8-9 for a little over a month now. That's just the time he chose...We go for a walk around 7 and when we get home I nurse him and he's usually out for the next 5-6 hours.

ChristinaWild

Do you cluster feed in the evenings? That's really helped our little guy (he's 6 weeks). Nothing about our daytime feedings stays very consistent with him, but we've managed to stay pretty on track with feeding about every 2.5-3 hours. When the afternoon hits he usually eats around 4-430, then I follow up with 6-630, and finally 8-830. Knocks him out cold every time! Good luck!

acciocoffee

We don't have a routine at all, but LO is only 5 weeks. Do you swaddle her? We have to swaddle LO other wise she flings her arms around and that's actually what keeps her awake/wakes her up. I also will say that having good naps during the day makes bed time so much easier. If LO has bad naps all day, bed time is later and takes a lot of work. Don't listen to those people who tell you if baby naps too much they won't sleep at night. The girl actually sleeps longer at night if she slept more during the day.