Can we talk nighttime routines
Jitterbug2668
member
Right now we just roll with the nighttime routine. Right now DS gets changed, in sleep sack and then fed between 8-9 depending on sleepiness every night with the bath every 2-3 days. Sometimes he wakes up between 1-3 to BF, others not til 4 or so. He's 6 weeks old today.
Do I need to start thinking about getting him in some sort of routine? I will eventually be going back to work either beginning of July or August.
I have to be out of the house no later than 4:30 to drop him off at my moms in order for me to make it to work by 6am. Unfortunately I dont have the luxury of having a flexible work schedule with a police dept job.
Do babies go to sleep earlier as they get older? I need to be in bed no later than 9 to function and I think I'll be ok if he wakes up occassionally to feed at night as long as he goes back down within 30-45 minutes or so, or is that when I wake DH up for a bottle feed? and I just pump? I've also thought about putting him in the tub with me nightly to relax a little bit (he loved it last night!)
Right now the only thing I'm pretty confident is having DH get up with me for a few minutes while I'm getting ready and get him in his carseat, the car packed etc so I can get out the door.
All ideas and suggestions are welcome ladies!!
Re: Can we talk nighttime routines
in my experience that is way too young to have a routine, we tried very early on but it didn't really sink in till about a year old. But that's my DD. Your DS might do very well.
wow, 4:30am is very early, can your DH drop him off?
yes, he will eventually go to bed earlier. He'll drop his evening nap and go to bed at an earlier time but not till 6 or so mo old I think. You can try putting him down at 6-6:30 and see what happens. He might wake up around 9:30-10 for a feeding but if you go to bed early, it might be OK.
We started getting into a normal routine around 3-4 months. Before that it was really hit or miss. A friend whose mom is an early childhood ed. professor told me that babies have two times in their day when they could easily have a bedtime that sticks - an early time (5 or 6ish, probably) and then again around 8 or 9. That made me feel better when DD was still really little and we were keeping her up later, but it also means you can try putting your LO down earlier, esp. when you get closer to going back to work. 6:45/7 worked for DD's bedtime by 4 months, and I know some kids go down even earlier, especially when they have to be up early to fit into the parents' schedules. It seems like your LO would want to go down earlier if you're waking him up (even briefly just to move from crib to carseat) that early.
Having that second pair of hands is a huge help, especially in the first few weeks when you're figuring out a morning routine. I usually need DH for about 15 minutes total - he dresses DD and gets her in her car seat (and sometimes gives her morning medicine) while I pack our bags and take everything out to the car.
We started a bedtime routine when I went back to work at 12 wks and it stuck. We've always done an earlier bedtime because DH and I like having a few hours in the evening to ourselves. To help LO stay down, you can do a dreamfeed or two after bedtime (you don't wake the baby, just stick the nipple in his mouth).
I had to get up at 4-4:30 when I was working to try and beat some traffic and get home at a decent hour. So not fun (and one of the many reasons it didn't last long).
the good thing is that your DS will likely fall asleep in the car on the way to your Mom's and you can just keep him in his car seat and let him sleep as you take him inside her house
thats exactly what I'm hoping for. I wish DH could drop him off b/c he doesn't have to be at work until 7 and has a much more flexible schedule but my mom's is 30 mins north - on my way to work and in the complete opposite direction of my husbands work so ultimately his commute would be prob an hour and half just like mine is now.