MOTN Routines

balamama

May Mamas: what in involved and excluded from your middle of the night feeding/putting back down routines? Do you do the same full going to bed routine as the first time you put LO down? Keep the lights low, sing, wait until baby is asleep before putting down? Share your routines here!

cortney626

I give her a bottle, burp her, change her diaper, swaddle, and lay her down. We're up maybe 20 mins. Lights are dim. I should add she doesn't wake up crying. She makes noises and I feed her before she starts really crying. 

TXmamatobe

For MOTN feedings, we do bottle, burp, change, swaddle and then back in bed. We don't sing or do anything extra because we want to make it so that nighttime is boring and there's no reason to stay up other than for the necessities. This doesn't work with every baby but for us, less is way more. 

We also tend to do more awake time during the day while still letting the baby sleep as much as they want of course. With DD, it quickly setup the difference between day and night in her mind. I also don't take any extra steps to keep it quiet or dark during day time sleep so that it doesn't come to be expected. We are doing the same with DS so far with great results. 

JoMunson

I change him, feed him (usually a laying on my side feed). I keep the lights low. We got a nightlight that helps, then we just lay there. Usually he's back to sleep by the end of the feeding for another 4 hours

kbrands7

I use just a dim nightlight. Change, bf, hold until sleepy, then swaddle waist/legs and put down in the PNP. He falls asleep from there until the next feeding. 

With DS, it took rocking, singing, and putting him down super-sneaky-like once he was totally knocked out. He used to freak out if I put him down sleepy but awake.

LadySamLady

We do not yet have a nightly routine. Holly will not be put down unless she is in a very deep sleep. She has sort of settled into two stretches of sleep happening sometime between 8-11 and 1-4. I nurse her until she falls asleep at the breast, give her at least 30 minutes to make sure she is deeply asleep and then transfer her to the RNP to sleep. If she is fussy before nursing I soothe with shushing, singung, patting her back, etc. all while walking around bouncing and rocking her. 

Im hoping to develop a routine as she gets more and more comfortable being put down.

Sunshinebins

We are similar to everyone else. We keep it quiet and dim, change, feed, burp, back to bed. No songs or stories. White noise machine stays on. Sometimes one of our girls will fight sleep and so then we just lay on the couch and hold them until and sleep and back to bed. We keep it as minimal as possible. 

Charissadeats

Alex is relatively easy. We stay ons schedule so every 3 - 4 hours, I 'wake' him if he's not awake by then, change diaper (he hates this part) and then I feed him (having pumped before this all started - I am not able to breastfeed so pump exclusively). Then I burp him and some cuddles - but he falls asleep almost instantly. Then back to sleep. He is a GREAT sleeper and lights and sounds don't bother him - I think because he spent his first 3 nights in a busy NICU with a neigbour baby who cried all the time. He sleeps a lot and will sleep anywhere - on us, in his crib or rock and play. Our routine doesn't change during the day. 

Bltbear82

Get in and get out is my nighttime strategy. We feed, change midway, finishing feeding, swaddle when drowsy, and then put him down to sleep. At the first "bedtime" we have more of a routine to set the stage later for bath, book, bottle, bed, but right now at 4 weeks the biggest thing I do is dimmed lights and soft voices. 

Charla1224

Damn. You guys have routines and stuff? I'm slacking big time over here. 
MOTN I hand her to DH who turns on a soft nightlight and changes her. Then he turns the light off hands her back and I feed her in the side laying position until she's sleep. 
LO doesn't always have a witching hour if she does we just feed our way through it. This happens between 9-11 pm. She goes to bed whenever DH and I decide to go between 10-11. We basically do the same thing then too. DH changes her using the nightlight and I side feed her to sleep. 
Hey! I guess we do have some sort of routine now that I think on it. It's just not all cute with stories, songs, and white noise machines like some of you have lol 

yogahh

We just started a routine this week. So far it's working but I'm sure we will have a tweaks as we go along. When she wakes motn, I take her into the nursery and feed her/Rock her back to sleep. No lights. No talking. It's strictly business

Question for swaddling moms. How do you handle motn diaper changes? Unless I think she pooped I haven't been changing her as I don't want to mess with the swaddle and have to start all over again. 

TXmamatobe

yogahh said:

We just started a routine this week. So far it's working but I'm sure we will have a tweaks as we go along. When she wakes motn, I take her into the nursery and feed her/Rock her back to sleep. No lights. No talking. It's strictly business

Question for swaddling moms. How do you handle motn diaper changes? Unless I think she pooped I haven't been changing her as I don't want to mess with the swaddle and have to start all over again. 

We have a Woombie that has a two way zip. At night, we can just unzip from the bottom to access the diaper without disturbing the rest of the swaddle and then zip it right back up after we either check or change the diaper. 

H0neyC0mb

I wish we had a set bedtime. Our sleep routine has been feeding (which she'll get pretty sleepy during), diaper change and then finishing up feeding until she's asleep. We've been talking in our normal voices/ not being quiet while she sleeps. It paid off really well at the funeral yesterday. She slept through the whole noisy reception!

NinnyJean

We don't really have a routine yet, LO sleeps through any lights and noise level so we haven't had to really over think any routine. When she wakes in the night I'll either feed her in our room or take her to the living room. We have to do a combination of feeding with a syringe and breast feeding at the moment so we always turn a light on so we can see for the syringe feeding part. Either before or in the middle DH will check her diaper and we usually keep her swaddled in her sleep sack swaddler during MOTN feeding and then just put her back in the basinette. Pretty relaxed and easy but there's really no difference between MOTN and daytime routine 

Bellodomani

yogahh said:

We just started a routine this week. So far it's working but I'm sure we will have a tweaks as we go along. When she wakes motn, I take her into the nursery and feed her/Rock her back to sleep. No lights. No talking. It's strictly business

Question for swaddling moms. How do you handle motn diaper changes? Unless I think she pooped I haven't been changing her as I don't want to mess with the swaddle and have to start all over again. 

I generally don't have my husband change her unless I know she's pooped or it's been like 5 or 6 hours since last change. But I typically unswaddle her arms for feeding anyway or else she'll fall back asleep before she gets a good feed in. We use the Velcro Swaddleme and it's super easy to do and undo quickly. 

Bltbear82

Huge advocate of white noise. I know some people say white noise is a sleep crutch (and maybe it is), but living in an apartment where everything is relatively close the white noise helped us be able do actually do things while DS1 slept, like flush the toilet. 

kbrands7

@yogahh I tend to change with each feeding because DS2 is a little poop machine and also wet-sensitive. I do a quick triangle wrap and tuck so undoing and redoing the swaddle is no big deal. 

yogahh

Bellodomani said:

yogahh said:

We just started a routine this week. So far it's working but I'm sure we will have a tweaks as we go along. When she wakes motn, I take her into the nursery and feed her/Rock her back to sleep. No lights. No talking. It's strictly business

Question for swaddling moms. How do you handle motn diaper changes? Unless I think she pooped I haven't been changing her as I don't want to mess with the swaddle and have to start all over again. 

I generally don't have my husband change her unless I know she's pooped or it's been like 5 or 6 hours since last change. But I typically unswaddle her arms for feeding anyway or else she'll fall back asleep before she gets a good feed in. We use the Velcro Swaddleme and it's super easy to do and undo quickly. 

That's the swaddle we use.. This beast is able to break free!! 

mello13

yogahh said:

We just started a routine this week. So far it's working but I'm sure we will have a tweaks as we go along. When she wakes motn, I take her into the nursery and feed her/Rock her back to sleep. No lights. No talking. It's strictly business

Question for swaddling moms. How do you handle motn diaper changes? Unless I think she pooped I haven't been changing her as I don't want to mess with the swaddle and have to start all over again. 

I just undo the swaddle. Especially for the girls, keeping them in wet diapers could result in rashes/yeast infections. So I change her every time she wakes up (though I also did the same with DS when he was a baby). We do the triangle swaddle, so it's super simple. If your LO keeps busting out, maybe try wrapping her arms free (both my kids HATE having their arms in there) or try a swaddle sack?

mello13

MOTN is pretty low key. I hear her grumping, check the time to determine if it's likely her waking for another feed, send DH to get the bottle while I change her diaper, turn on a nightlight, feed, burp, feed, burp, snuggle til she's dozing, put her back in the pack n play. Unless she's really struggling with spit up she will usually go back to sleep. I don't keep her swaddled during the feeding because I want her awake to actually eat instead of waking up an hour later for more. But I reswaddle once she's back in bed. I also change before the feeding rather than after to prevent disturbing her/waking her up again. Annnnnd I typically tool around on my phone to keep myself from passing out while she's eating.

Kurrant

What nightlight do you all use for MOTN?  We have been using bedside lamps so that I can see whats going on when I change Lucy.  We never bothered getting a nightlight but I think it might be helpful to keep her calm. 

Bellodomani

@Kurrant We have a little device called an Itzbeen that we click to remember when she last got changed/ fed, and it has a light on it. A lot of white noise machines also have lights on them. 

JoMunson

Kurrant said:

What nightlight do you all use for MOTN?  We have been using bedside lamps so that I can see whats going on when I change Lucy.  We never bothered getting a nightlight but I think it might be helpful to keep her calm. 

I don't know the brand we put in for our nightlight but for changing I actually turn on our closet light, which is a warm but dim light so it doesn't bug anyone really. Someone recommended a book light you could clip to wherever you do your changing and feeding.

kbrands7

@kurrant we use this one by GE because it gives an amber/warm glow that's easier on the eyes. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002HESDW4/ref=psdcmw_3736651_t1_B007S848SW

nerdymama15

We wait til LO wakes us up with her "getting ready to wake up grunting and groaning sounds" and then I have to wake DH up b/c he is in charge of the early MOTN diaper/feed.  He of course has been doing it entirely wrong and I finally called him out on it b/c it has been causing both of us to lose sleep and stressing out LO.  She has baby GERD and has to sit up 15 to 20 minutes after eating.   He has been skipping this part and then complains when she is wiggling and squirming and fussy (and loud) afterwards. He does not snuggle her back to sleep either and she definitely needs that before she can fall back asleep.  He rushes through the MOTN feeding.  I usually end up taking the rest of the feeds/changes.  So we definitely need to work on this.

itsbrookejones

Just a nightlight on. Feed on one side, change, swaddle, feed on the other, rock until asleep or close to it, and lay her down. Nothing extra. 

vinerie

My problem is LO falling asleep on the boob. I have started turning on a light to stir him/keep him awake. I do this because the longer he feeds, the longer he sleeps. We change his diaper before feeding for this reason, too. I've been lucky as he goes to sleep easily (so far), so the light isn't an issue.

bkjade

Jet's Nick Cave nightlight gets us through MOTN business.

littlebb22

bkjade said:

Jet's Nick Cave nightlight gets us through MOTN business.


I want! *stuck in a box*

lbachran

I'm envious of your routines, every night is like Russian Roulette for us. Some nights LO clusters early like from 9 to 11 or 12 and then will give us 3 or 4 hrs of sleep. Other nights he'll cluster late from 1 AM to 3 or 4 AM. Sometimes he just won't sleep at all! I'm EBFing, but LO is a slow eater so every feeding  (day or night) lasts 1.5 hours or more. DH is great about unswaddling and providing a diaper change prior to feeding, but reswaddling post feed sometimes wakes LO up. We've tried multiple sleep sacks and he busts out of all of them, but he can't sleep with his arms out without constantly waking himself. We have to Super Swaddle him which basically involves swaddling him twice, but it's the only thing he hasn't broken free from within minutes. I hate the night time! 

and_peggy

The word, 'routine' is not in our vocabulary these days.

That1didntcount

lbachran said:

I'm envious of your routines, every night is like Russian Roulette for us. Some nights LO clusters early like from 9 to 11 or 12 and then will give us 3 or 4 hrs of sleep. Other nights he'll cluster late from 1 AM to 3 or 4 AM. Sometimes he just won't sleep at all! I'm EBFing, but LO is a slow eater so every feeding  (day or night) lasts 1.5 hours or more. DH is great about unswaddling and providing a diaper change prior to feeding, but reswaddling post feed sometimes wakes LO up. We've tried multiple sleep sacks and he busts out of all of them, but he can't sleep with his arms out without constantly waking himself. We have to Super Swaddle him which basically involves swaddling him twice, but it's the only thing he hasn't broken free from within minutes. I hate the night time! 

Russian roulette is basically the most perfect way to describe how I feel every night at 9 pm. 

Kennedy0830

Also struggling with a routine as LO won't sleep more than an hour stretch at a time unless she's on my chest... She is such a light sleeper so when I get out of the recliner to put her in the RnP, she instantly wakes up and cries... I've had a few nights of just sleeping in the recliner because my shushing and cuddling doesn't calm her. She's also in random spurts of eating ever 30-60 min. And that's after me feeding from both sides for 10-15 min (I know she's getting plenty because I'm able to still hand express once she is off). I just feel her hands are always in her mouth and she's just a hungry girl! But momma would like some sleep...

Bluejay3030

Kennedy0830 said:

Also struggling with a routine as LO won't sleep more than an hour stretch at a time unless she's on my chest... She is such a light sleeper so when I get out of the recliner to put her in the RnP, she instantly wakes up and cries... I've had a few nights of just sleeping in the recliner because my shushing and cuddling doesn't calm her. She's also in random spurts of eating ever 30-60 min. And that's after me feeding from both sides for 10-15 min (I know she's getting plenty because I'm able to still hand express once she is off). I just feel her hands are always in her mouth and she's just a hungry girl! But momma would like some sleep...

@Kennedy0830 This might not help, but have you tried feeding on one side for longer to make sure she's getting enough of the fatty/filling milk that comes in behind the watery milk?  So for example instead of switching her after 10 or 15 mins, feed her for 25-30 mins on one side, then offer the other side after that to top her off if she's interested?  It could be that she really just is hungry (or cluster feeding if it only happens at certain times of day), but it might be worth trying if you haven't already, just to see if she gives you a slightly longer stretch. 

Kennedy0830

Bluejay3030 said:

Kennedy0830 said:

Also struggling with a routine as LO won't sleep more than an hour stretch at a time unless she's on my chest... She is such a light sleeper so when I get out of the recliner to put her in the RnP, she instantly wakes up and cries... I've had a few nights of just sleeping in the recliner because my shushing and cuddling doesn't calm her. She's also in random spurts of eating ever 30-60 min. And that's after me feeding from both sides for 10-15 min (I know she's getting plenty because I'm able to still hand express once she is off). I just feel her hands are always in her mouth and she's just a hungry girl! But momma would like some sleep...

@Kennedy0830 This might not help, but have you tried feeding on one side for longer to make sure she's getting enough of the fatty/filling milk that comes in behind the watery milk?  So for example instead of switching her after 10 or 15 mins, feed her for 25-30 mins on one side, then offer the other side after that to top her off if she's interested?  It could be that she really just is hungry (or cluster feeding if it only happens at certain times of day), but it might be worth trying if you haven't already, just to see if she gives you a slightly longer stretch. 

I have.. Usually at night we'll go for 20-30 min on one side and she could eat for an hour. I just honestly think she doesn't like being put down sometimes. I dread the evenings due to this. Other than that she eats like normal and sleeps until the next feeding. It's gotta be cluster feeding but I literally am fearful to move so I don't wake her up and have to start all over during this time!

balamama

I'm struggling with a MOTN routine since LO fits the bill of the Russian Roulette game you guys talked about ^. Some nights he goes down without a fight, wakes for feedings and is an angel. Some nights he won't go down at all, screams and cries and I spend the night in the nursery. He haaaates having his diaper changed so whenever I do that it wakes him up and takes much longer to get him back down, so ideally I'd like to change him before I feed him but then he almost always poops during the feed so I have to change him twice. Still figuring things out but enjoying reading about everyone else's game plans and getting ideas. 

wsgjmw1

I'm in the RR camp . Some nights are super easy and DS wakes eats back to sleep - and other nights wakes eats then fuss/cry/squirm/scream for an hour or two before he goes back to sleep.  So it's a gamble what kind of night we get . Also DS also has this way of knowing just when momma is comfy cozy in bed just about to fall asleep to then be angry baby not directly after I set him down and he looks like an angel. Never have I known such exhaustion or a love greater than this . 

balamama

wsgjmw1 said:

I'm in the RR camp . Some nights are super easy and DS wakes eats back to sleep - and other nights wakes eats then fuss/cry/squirm/scream for an hour or two before he goes back to sleep.  So it's a gamble what kind of night we get . Also DS also has this way of knowing just when momma is comfy cozy in bed just about to fall asleep to then be angry baby not directly after I set him down and he looks like an angel. Never have I known such exhaustion or a love greater than this . 

100% this!! 

togmama

In the MOTN
 I hear him begin to fuss and I sleep walk to the kitchen to fix a bottle. I get him and change him, feed him (with the TV on.. I know that will have to stop soon but it keeps me awake when I'm exhausted), swaddle, and snuggle him back to sleep. To a PP, he sometimes poops after as well which is a pain because changing really wakes him up. If he fusses a bit in his RNP? I let him, because he usually stops within a minute or so. 

Bluejay3030

@Kennedy0830 Gotcha, evenings are tough here too because of the crankiness and cluster feeding.  Hang tough, mama.  It gets better.

yogahh

Not sure where else to put this and didn't want to start a new thread....

Anyone else using the Velcro swaddle blankets and having lo get out of them? Either I'm not doing it right, or I have an Olympic soccer start on my hands. She has gotten her legs out of it several times in the last hour.