No bedtime routine?

lilcrablegs

At this point, we don't have a bedtime routine. We basically just go with the flow all day. He's always gone to bed pretty late (at least in comparison to the bedtimes I see on here). I don't mind a late bedtime, but the past two nights have been super late-after 11!

I suppose I need to establish a routine for him now, but I don't really know what time to shoot for or how to start. Thoughts?? Or, what is your bedtime routine?

hamillm

We follow the go with the flow plan also! He usually goes to bed around 9:30-10...but some nights its closer to 11 (especially on the weekends).  So, I'm not much help, but it seems to work out fine for us!

lilcrablegs

hamillm:

We follow the go with the flow plan also! He usually goes to bed around 9:30-10...but some nights its closer to 11 (especially on the weekends).  So, I'm not much help, but it seems to work out fine for us!

Ok, this makes me feel better. Like I said, I don't mind a late bedtime but I just worry he's not getting enough sleep!

lisap_30

We didn't have a true bedtime routine until Jenna was probably about 8 months old - you definitely have to go with the flow for a while, I think.  However, we always made an effort to do bathtime, then eat, and we just do music and rocking right before bed.  I really didn't start reading to her until about 8 or 9 months, but now that is part of our routine!

Alisha530

We have no routine either. I just make sure he gets his bath sometime in the evening, and he is usually in bed around 11ish. It seems to work better with him going to bed later, because he will sleep in until about 6 or 7 in the morning. I keep thinking I should start a strict routine, but it seems like he is sort of making his own. Oh, and I just recently started giving him a little oatmeal before bed...which he LOVES.

lilcrablegs

Ok, this all makes me feel much better about it.  I think reading boards makes me worry about things unnecessarily :P  There have been a few bedtime posts on 3-6 and almost every person says their kid goes to sleep anywhere from 6:45-8:00.  Makes me feel like I'm doing him a disservice by letting him stay up so late!

hamillm

lilcrablegs:

Ok, this all makes me feel much better about it.  I think reading boards makes me worry about things unnecessarily :P  There have been a few bedtime posts on 3-6 and almost every person says their kid goes to sleep anywhere from 6:45-8:00.  Makes me feel like I'm doing him a disservice by letting him stay up so late!

I know exactly how you feel...it may seem selfish, but if J went to bed at 7 or 8, I wouldn't have any time with him! I get off work either 3:30 or 4, so a 7 p.m. bedtime would not work out!

star21gazer

Obviously we just go with the flow since Aubrey is so young, and I figure at some point we'll start a routine with her loosely..mainly I just want to have a rhythm like bath, bottle, story, bed...or something like that.  But I figure babies let you know when they are sleepy, and a stricter routine might be for much later like toddlerhood or something.

I know what you mean about reading the other boards and feeling like you are doing something odd or something...I feel like that about the amount of interaction time with baby.  There are so many girls on 0-3 who say there baby takes like one nap a day and I am like um Aubrey still sleeps a lot..she has two major wakeful periods and I can't pinpoint exactly when they'll happen just yet...they still vary.  

JameyRN

I agree about reading the other boards.  I always feel like I am not doing enough.  We don't really have a routine.  The nights that I work my parents or MIL put him to bed so I don't really know what they do.  When I am off I usually turn the lights down around 7.  We just hang out till he gets sleepy.  I do his baths in the morning because I am home every morning.  This week he has been going to sleep around 9.;

FutureMrsWagner

Our bedtime routine starts around 7:45 or 8:00.  He gets a bath (every other night though) followed by getting his jammies on.  Then we take him to his room and sometimes read him a book (that would be in addition to the 47 books we have already read him prior to bedtime...LOL), turn off the lights, turn on the sound machine and sometimes the humidifier if he needs it, give him his bottle (no he shouldn't still be getting one at his age, but we just can't seem to let it go...it is the only one he gets) and we rock him while he drinks it.  He is out by 8:30.

sdkrlm

Well Day care has forced us to have a bedtime routine.  Avery is OUT by 7:30 pretty much everynight.  Occassionally I can get her to stay up until 8 but that is pushing it.

We start around 6:30 - she gets a bath 5/7 nights a week.  Then we let her have naked time on the floor in the living room and we play.  About 7:15 we get her dressed and hten she will nurse and go to sleep.  If she's not completely exhausted, we'll read before bedtime, but usually we do that before we get PJ's on.  

We have to wake her up at 6:30 in the morning.

 

soon2Bmrs.AGEE

We have a pretty solid routine but then again, Lyla is 2. I think we started this around a yr.

Eat dinner between 530-630pm. Bath right after dinner (every night unless mommy is stressed/tired) Blow dry hair and brush teeth. Then, lotion and jammies. It's normally between 7-730 at this point. If it is before 7pm we go down stairs to play. If it is closer to 730 we just give kisses and head back up to read books in bed. She is in her bed trying to go to sleep by 7:45ish. She is up by 6:30am.

Bed time routines are trial and error. We are still tweaking things and always will.