If you work and have an evening routine that works...

MommaD2Be

please share.  I am desperate.  The evenings are so chaotic right now. 

It used to work ok for me to feed him right away (6ish), then we'd play, do the bath, DH would get home and play with J while I fix dinner, J would nap while we ate, then I would get him up for another feeding and bedtime around 8.  He would go down right away about 90% of the time.

All of a sudden it seems like waking him from his evening nap is difficult, when he finally gets up he screams bloody murder, then after his 8PM feeding he is fighting going to bed and it is taking upwards of an hour and a half to get him to sleep. 

I thought maybe he doesn't need an evening nap, so last night we skipped it and I put him down earlier.  TRIED to.  It took 4 hours until he finally went to sleep!

I am at my wits end.  Help!  What do you do that works in the evening?

MomsABoo

I cant have an evening routine bc LO is either sleeping when i get home -6:45 - or 20 minutes from sleeping.  I am sure that when he is ready for his nightitme nap, he is really ready for bed. 

Its so sad to not see him when i get home but his body is telling him when bed time is, as much as i wish his bedtime was later.  Your LO may be doing the same thing now. 

So my routine is get home, play with him for 20 minutes (hes already in PJs and fed) and puthim down to bed.  Then I eat and have DH time.

krisim

Maybe he's not hungry at 8pm?  We feed dd around 6:00-6:30ish (no set schedule) and then put her to bed afterwards, she usually wakes up around 10-10:30 to eat again. 

MrsF2007

Our routine is such that dd will take a cat nap somewhere between 4 and 5:00 and that will hold her over. She eats when she wakes from the nap, we do bath time around 6:30, a massage in her diaper, (more for routine than anything else...and it does calm her), read a book or two, finish off the bottle if there was anything left, jammies/peke moe, go upstairs...

She has the same lullaby on the in the background every night, I rock her for about 30 seconds and she's out. I've been doing this since she was 1 month. 

LilCMom

Everything I am reading says babies should go to bed around 6:30 or 7. Our DD was taking evening naps and going to bed at 8:30 for awhile, but lately she has been going down for the night by 7:30. I think the evening nap is messing up your LO.

egankn

I get DD from daycare at 4pm then depending when she was fed last, I usually feed her. Then DH and I eat dinner and DD plays on her playmat and jumperoo until 7:30-8. Then we give her a bath, then PJs, then another bottle (with the lights and TV turned down low). She usually falls asleep while being burped but if not we hold her until she gets tired to lay her in the crib. There's no bright lights or loud TV or playing after bath time.

ssmith1005

I pick DD up from my SIL's at 5pm. She usually falls asleep on the way home and most days sleeps until about six. She then takes a bottle. We play and what not until hubby gets home a little after 7. He then plays with her while I cook dinner. We eat usually 7:30p to 7:45p and she usually plays on her mat or swings alone until 8pm. Then one of us gives her a bath and a bottle and she is usually out cold for the night at 8:30pm and sleeps until about 6:15a when I usually have to wake her up to get her ready and fed to drop her off by 7:10a.

egankn

egankn:

I get DD from daycare at 4pm then depending when she was fed last, I usually feed her. Then DH and I eat dinner and DD plays on her playmat and jumperoo until 7:30-8. Then we give her a bath, then PJs, then another bottle (with the lights and TV turned down low). She usually falls asleep while being burped but if not we hold her until she gets tired to lay her in the crib. There's no bright lights or loud TV or playing after bath time.

Sorry, I forgot to say she usually naps around 5-5:30 for 45-60 min.

coco_chip@yahoo.com

One thing that has cut down my evening routine is I cook for the week on Sundays.  I found myself loosing QT with my little one when he got home from daycare because I would be cooking and cleaning the kitchen. By cooking for the week, all I do is heat dinner up and we can rinse our dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

MommaD2Be

Thanks ladies.  This gives me some ideas.  I have also heard they are supposed to go to bed earlier and it is hard because we won't have much time with him. 

I am going to try to pay closer attention to his cues and see if we can find the right time for bedtime.  I'll try skipping the evening nap tonight but I am scared as this resulted in the dreaded 4 hour screamfest of last night!

julieb00lie

I nurse DD at 5:45.  Then we play, take bath, and get into pjs.  I nurse again and soothe at 7 and DD is to bed between 7:30-8.  I then come out to the kitchen and cook or finish up dinner.

It may take a couple of days for you LO to get used to skipping the evening nap and going straight to bed later, but I would keep trying it.

Temp534591562502098

This is the new schedule I'm hoping to start tonight:

4:45 - I come home

5:00 - Dh comes home w/ LO. I feed her rice cereal while DH gets settled and starts dinner. 

5:15? - Nurse LO if shes still hungry or put LO on her playmat and help make dinner. 

5:30 - Eat - hopefully w/o interruption!

5:45/6:00 - Nurse LO if she hasn't nursed yet. Then put on her jammies and change dipe.

6-6:45 - play with LO and "keep her up"

6:45 - read a book and rock to sleep. 

7:00 sleeping baby and adult hang out time!

--------------------------

If I were you, I'd not wake him back up for another feeding. My babe would be pissed too! He might be ready to just be asleep for the night. So do your normal routine but just let him wake on his own. He might wake later (like 9 or 10) or he might not wake until several hours later!

 

 

 

 

mari_gold

MommaD2Be:

Thanks ladies.  This gives me some ideas.  I have also heard they are supposed to go to bed earlier and it is hard because we won't have much time with him. 

I am going to try to pay closer attention to his cues and see if we can find the right time for bedtime.  I'll try skipping the evening nap tonight but I am scared as this resulted in the dreaded 4 hour screamfest of last night!

Can you put him down for the evening nap and see if he just stays asleep? He might be trying to move his bedtime up. Zack did that. -- it stinks because I don't get to see him much during the week, but we make up for it on the weekend.

MommaD2Be

mari_gold:

MommaD2Be:

Thanks ladies.  This gives me some ideas.  I have also heard they are supposed to go to bed earlier and it is hard because we won't have much time with him. 

I am going to try to pay closer attention to his cues and see if we can find the right time for bedtime.  I'll try skipping the evening nap tonight but I am scared as this resulted in the dreaded 4 hour screamfest of last night!

Can you put him down for the evening nap and see if he just stays asleep? He might be trying to move his bedtime up. Zack did that. -- it stinks because I don't get to see him much during the week, but we make up for it on the weekend.

Yep, I will try this.  We have been putting him for his evening nap in the swing.  Bad, I know, but so much easier to get him to sleep in there than the fight that ensues with his crib.  I will be more disciplined about putting him in his crib the first time (will prob be 7 - 7:30 most nights).  It is definitely sad that we won't have much time with him, but I agree, that's what the weekends are for!  Thanks! 

purple_posies

It depends on when he eats at daycare, but we come home, play for a bit, do a little cereal, do a bath every other day, then possibly a little more playtime, do a bottle and then bed. At least, this is the ideal ... sometimes it doesn't go so smoothly!

ETA: LO goes down usually between 6:30 and 7:30.