Bed Time

kdoak2015

I know it's kind of early to start routines with our LOs but I'm really trying to get into a groove. Does anyone have a set bedtime for their LOs yet? I have been trying all week to get her down by 9-10 at the latest and we are failing. She's been having her witching hour from 10-1am the past few days and when you put her to bed early she's up an hour later. 
Should I stop stressing and just keep trying or should I throw it out the window for now and just keep her downstairs until she's out for the evening.(feeling isolated as I'm usually stuck upstairs from 9-1am now because I'm trying to keep a routine).

LaceyH13

I go back to work on Monday so it's time to start that direction. Right now we aim for 10-10:30, but starting this next week we will be aiming for more like 8pm (realistically probably more like 9 or 9:30).

Mizuiro007

There's nothing wrong at this age with having a set routine. Just keep in mind that baby won't always stick to it so try to be flexible. DS really does the best with a routine so DD has somewhat been stuck on it as well although hers varies some from his.

Something you might think about is start preparing for bedtime 12 hrs before you want to wake up for the day. So with DS we turn lights down around 8pm. If he's getting a bath he'll have it then and go into pjs, get his milk around 9 pm. We'll snuggle and read a book or watch a short movie and he's typically in bed asleep by around 10-11pm. Then he gets up between 9-10 am. He's 15 months old and has mostly been on this routine since he was 5-6 months. We used to snuggle and lay him down once he was asleep but now he lays down drowsy and falls asleep with his crib soother.

DD seems to be doing well with the routine. I change her to a sleeper or gown around the same time DS goes in pjs and once he's down I take her to bed with me and we'll lay down. We snuggle and she has a long feeding then sleeps. I try to keep the lights low and things quiet until a set time in the morning. After that it's daytime clothes, lights on, we play and don't worry about noise level.

andreaAL11

I haven't really set a routine for DD yet, I've been kind of going with the flow. I have noticed though that she's setting her own routine so I know when she wakes up, when she naps, sleeps, passes gas, etc. all in a specific order, so I go with her. I've been thinking about maybe getting into one but I don't really feel like she needs to this early? I don't know if they're really old enough to be having routines set for them, but it's probably a really good idea because they'll be used to it sooner, if I'm making any sense at all haha. 
Either way whatever feels comfortable for you and works for baby! 

angelicac06

We started bed time/ routine already. Bath at 8:30pm then feeding right after with lights off and just background noise.  He's immediate asleep after he finishes eating. So by 9-9:30. He sleeps 6-7 hours straight now. 

angetralala

My daughter set her own routine, and I don't really have any issues with it so I'm just trying to preserve it. She goes to bed between 11:30 pm- 1 am, sleeps until 7 or 8, eats, and goes back to sleep until around 11. I try to encourage one long nap around 2, and a shorter nap around 6 or 7 pm. Right now I have no reason to have her up before 11 am so it works; I usually sleep also. Sometimes I stay awake after her 8 am nurse but not always! Gotta stockpile sleep when I can.

angelicac06

angetralala said:

My daughter set her own routine, and I don't really have any issues with it so I'm just trying to preserve it. She goes to bed between 11:30 pm- 1 am, sleeps until 7 or 8, eats, and goes back to sleep until around 11. I try to encourage one long nap around 2, and a shorter nap around 6 or 7 pm. Right now I have no reason to have her up before 11 am so it works; I usually sleep also. Sometimes I stay awake after her 8 am nurse but not always! Gotta stockpile sleep when I can.

@angetralala I wish my lo slept from 8-11am! That'd be amazing.  

Holdmomma

Mine is two months tomorrow. He still takes a 3 oz bottle every 2 hours during the day, but stretches out his feedings at night. I start our routine based on the timing of his dinner time bottle. For example, the last several days he has wanted to feed at 5:00 pm. After this we play for about an hour, then put on his pajamas at 6:00 and swaddle him. He takes a little nap and is ready to eat again at 7:00. At this feeding I sit in the rocker in his room, keep the lights low,  and keep him swaddled. He falls right back to sleep so I put him in his bassinet for the night. He sleeps about 5 hours, then another 3-4 hours. We get up early in our house so we are usually up for the day between 5-6 am when hubby gets up for work and our 3 year old wakes. Baby will sometimes sleep until 7:00. 

Occasionally the the routine is set back an hour, but I follow he same steps each night so he has a chance to develop good sleep habits. I think the timing of bedtime is so different depending on your family needs and the age of your little one, but the predictably of a routine is essential even at a young age. We have followed this routine for about a month now. 

Taylovesbrad

I do a bath during his witching hour at 7ish each night. With the bath is lavender oil, massage, and dim lights. Fresh clothes, swaddle me and then final feeding. By the time we are done it's 9 and he goes to sleep and wakes up at 12 or sometimes 2. It's just been a good wah to keep his crying from gett I ng out of controlling.  He's almost 2 months

JulieK79

Now that DD has gotten over her witching hour crankiness, I've been noticing she gets sleepy around 9:00 each night and usually needs to eat so that has become her bedtime. We go to her room, change her, put her in her pjs and sleep sack, and I nurse her with the lights off and her sound machine and projector on. She has been sleeping until at least 3:00 with us doing this. She just turned 9 weeks. 

dmendo01

DD goes to bed between 8 and 10. Her first stretch of sleep is usually 4-5 hours then she nurses/diaper change/re swaddle and Back to bed for 2-3 hours then she nurses again and I re swaddle one more time in hopes for more sleep and she may give me one more hour and two if I'm lucky then we are generally up eating every 1-2 hours with cat naps through the day until 4 or 5 when she finally gives a 1.5-2 hour nap. She definitely doesn't like missing being awake during the day. But she gets so fussy. She was up from 8-4 today with only 2 30 min naps then a 2.5 hour nap at 4 so she conked at 8pm and is currently still sleeping (as should I be) 

oregonmommy-2

My LO has pretty much set his own routine and I've been going with it. Around 9 I sponge bathe him or bathe him (depending on the day), diaper change, lotion with lavender lotion, change him into his PJ's, have his little cooing session, then I feed him, swaddle him. He is usually in bed around 10.

He had been waking around 3 and again at 5.. But this past week we traditioned him from RNP to bassinet and he has been sleeping until around 5. After that feeding he will sleep until about 8. If I am still tired he will nurse in bed with me and I will sleep a bit longer. 

mltarrio

My little one is almost a month and although she follows no routine during the day, she has kind of made her own bedtime schedule/routine. She gets a bath (depending on the night) and changes into pjs around 730. We turn the lights and the noise down and she gets fed around 8, then she hangs out with my husband who helps her get to sleep around 9. Then she usually sleeps until 2 or 230, is awake to feed for an hour, then back to bed until 6. She sometimes will be an hour or so off, and some nights she will get an extra eating session, but this is typical and I really like this schedule. 

ammnam14

If she's in bed by 8-10 I'm a happy momma. Any later she turns into a different child lol

keiragann

We do a routine and he is usually asleep by 10-10:30. He sleeps till 3 usually. We will need to change this when I go back to work in March so we will start soon trying to move it back so we can be up at 6.

Taylovesbrad

And by bath I mean just warm water on everywhere but his man parts and under his chin. I don't want him to get dry

Mizuiro007

@Taylovesbrad With not wanting his skin to dry out, have you tried oil in the bath? I've also been loving Cetaphil Baby ultra moisturizing bath. It has 1/3 lotion and isn't supposed to strip away the natural oils. Both my babies seem to do well with it and I've even started using it to help with my eczema. Then I just follow up with lotion.

theawc42

I struggled with getting mine to sleep around 9 the first month. Then I realized that it was the swaddle that wasn't working for us. We were using blankets and the swaddle me's. She would bust out of them every time and knew it so she would constantly fight with herself to get out. That was what was causing us to have problems getting her to sleep. We bought the woombie 2 weeks ago and it is been a life saver!!!! Take her up to her room about 830-9 keep the lights off. Just use my phone light. Feed her. And put her in the woombie. She is sleepily awake. Set her down and she's out on her own shortly. Sleeps until about4. I feed her and change her diaper. Put her back in the woombie and she's out until about 830. 

groovylocks

I do. I just always started making the house really hypnotic anytime after 7:30 and she'd always go to bed somewhere between 9 and 10pm. Not sure if it'll last but for the most part, she goes down without much fuss. She WILL often fuss when she first goes down. We slow dance to a song or two. Then she's out for good until her next feeding around 1:30am

taysun

We don't exactly have a routine but we follow her cues and a schedule of prompting sleep every 1-2 hours of being awake. She tends to get fussy and fight sleep between 5-7 so that's when we start prepping for bedtime. 
I only bathe her 1-2 times a week and I actually have her in the shower with me and find she's more wakeful afterwards anyway so that's a mid morning thing for us.  
DD requires walking with swaying or rocking with shushing and back patting and a pacifier to fall asleep. We also play music fairly loud because she passes out with top 40 music when it's loud. Then because currently she won't sleep alone at night she stays in someone's arms until I go to bed.