How do you put your LO to bed?

purpleXdandelion

My DS nurses to sleep and now I'm thinking uh oh...because I am going to start weaning him in the next couple months and that's the only way he falls asleep: at night, naps, middle of the night. So what is your bedtime routine like?

mbgreenwalt

Between 7-8p when she starts looking tired I change her diaper and put her pjs on (some nights she gets a bath first).  I feed her her last bottle of the day and then put her in the crib and turn on her Seahorse.  She doesn't fall asleep while eating anymore so I put her down awake and she falls asleep within 5-10 minutes.

authorofdreamz

Dinner between 5-5:30. Then bath, comb hair, lotion, and jammies, Then bottle and books and down between 6-6:30 with her sleep sheep, seahorse, blanket, lovie, and paci. Sometimes she cries/fusses for 5-10 mins and sometimes she goes to straight to sleep. Around 10m I am going to change it so that bottle comes right after dinner before bath to prepare for getting rid of bottles.

hway24

mbgreenwalt:

Between 7-8p when she starts looking tired I change her diaper and put her pjs on (some nights she gets a bath first).  I feed her her last bottle of the day and then put her in the crib and turn on her Seahorse.  She doesn't fall asleep while eating anymore so I put her down awake and she falls asleep within 5-10 minutes.

Basically this, exactly. Except, no seahorse, I turn on his nightlight, give him a kiss on the forehead, and tell him goodnight. He usually falls asleep within 10 min.

He just got back to this though, he was doing well falling asleep on his own, starting when he was about 6.5 mo, but around 7 months, he suddenly started refusing to sleep. And he would only go to sleep with a bottle, but right around the time he hit 8mo, he started sleeping well again.

valerieanne9015

I'm dreading the night we decide to drop the right before bed feeding.  Right now, between 6:30-7:30, whenever DD starts to act tired, we head upstairs.  Three nights a week we start with a bath, otherwise it's diaper change, PJ's, sit in the glider and attempt to read a book, but that usually turns into DD screaming and hitting the book because she knows she will get to nurse soon.  Then she nurses and falls asleep while nursing. 

Jenny952

I'm in the same boat where I'm still nursing DD to sleep too.  When I notice her starting to get tired, like whining and rubbing her eyes, I take her into her bedroom, change her diaper and put her jammies on.  She's usually starting to fuss about then, and we turn off the lights and turn the noise machine on and rock for a minute.  Then I nurse her, anywhere from 15-30 minutes.  She almost always falls asleep this way.  I unlatch her and rock for a few more minutes before laying her down.  I put her down and stand there for another minute while she falls asleep.  Most nights she wakes up after 30 minutes and I have to go back and pick her up, then she's down for the night. 

She does still sometimes fall asleep while nursing, but I try not to let that happen too often.  I'm usually able to get her to nap without but sometimes her nap and feeding schedule end up being at the same time.  She is able to nap at daycare without nursing and she can fall asleep at night without me (when I'm gone) so I'm sure she'll be just fine when it's time to wean.

gracefulruby33

As soon as I sense signs of being tired (around 6:30 or 7), I make her bottle, put her in her pj's, give her the bottle, then go into her room and turn on her seahorse and turn off the lights. I will sway for a minute or two by her crib or sometimes rock in the rocker for a few minutes if I want more snuggle time with her. Then I'll set her in her crib (she's always awake) and walk out. She will usually fall asleep pretty much right away, but many times she whines for a minute or two before dozing off. Once in a while I'll have to go back in and soothe her, but she'll fall asleep 99% of the time after that if not beforehand.

Naps are pretty much the same routine, except I don't feed her beforehand (she usually gets her bottle after waking up from naps). If I bathe her, it's before I start making her last bottle for the night. I haven't fed her overnight since she was ~4 or 4.5 months old. If she wakes up, I just rock her for a minute or two and then lay her back down. She rarely used to wake up overnight, but in the last week or two, she's gotten up once or twice because she's teething and having some major separation anxiety.

smilelari

Around 6:15 we do bath and then PJs (sometimes a little massage).  By 6:30 or 7 I'm rocking and nursing.  I nurse her to sleep and rock her until she's good and asleep.  Sometimes I'm rocking and nursing for a very, very long time, but that's ok.  She's out until morning!

purpleXdandelion

smilelari:

Around 6:15 we do bath and then PJs (sometimes a little massage).  By 6:30 or 7 I'm rocking and nursing.  I nurse her to sleep and rock her until she's good and asleep.  Sometimes I'm rocking and nursing for a very, very long time, but that's ok.  She's out until morning!

Are you going to let her wean on her own? I'd like to do that so I don't have to "mess" with weaning DS if he's not ready, but I'm scared he'll BF until like age 3 then. 

Thanks everyone else for your advice! I am contemplating that seahorse but I think DS will just want to play with it. Occasionally he's ok if I put him in his bed awake but drowsy and he's fine...but for the most part he has to eat until he's asleep. I just want a date night every now and then...or for DH to do the bedtime/middle of the night routine every now and then. DH and I had to come home early from a wedding on Saturday because DS would not fall asleep for my mom. He just screamed and screamed. Then I get home, put him on the boob and he's out in 5 mins. Thank God cuz it was hard as a rock...yet another reason why I'm ready to be done BF-ing. Sigh.

smilelari

purpleXdandelion:

smilelari:

Around 6:15 we do bath and then PJs (sometimes a little massage).  By 6:30 or 7 I'm rocking and nursing.  I nurse her to sleep and rock her until she's good and asleep.  Sometimes I'm rocking and nursing for a very, very long time, but that's ok.  She's out until morning!

Are you going to let her wean on her own? I'd like to do that so I don't have to "mess" with weaning DS if he's not ready, but I'm scared he'll BF until like age 3 then. 

Thanks everyone else for your advice! I am contemplating that seahorse but I think DS will just want to play with it. Occasionally he's ok if I put him in his bed awake but drowsy and he's fine...but for the most part he has to eat until he's asleep. I just want a date night every now and then...or for DH to do the bedtime/middle of the night routine every now and then. DH and I had to come home early from a wedding on Saturday because DS would not fall asleep for my mom. He just screamed and screamed. Then I get home, put him on the boob and he's out in 5 mins. Thank God cuz it was hard as a rock...yet another reason why I'm ready to be done BF-ing. Sigh.

The plan is to let her self wean.

It was different with DS because I EPed, but at around 14 months we switched the night time routine around so that he wasn't nursing to sleep.  I can't really even remember exactly what order we did things in, but he wasn't particularly interested in his bed time bottle any more anyways. 

jb2rn

We still nurse to sleep. Month 7 was terrible for sleep (waking every 1-3 hours at night) so I started experimenting with pull off - nurse him until he is clearly done "eating", and just comfort sucking.

I put him down awake when I feel like I can (he is not too overtired, is drowsy) and most times it's working but it's hit or miss.

Maybe start experimenting with it?