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Attachment Parenting
ibis
member
Bed sharers - do you have a routine?
ibis
member
We've had DS in our bed at night pretty much since we could no longer swaddle him, around 12 weeks. I had had a nice bedtime routine going when he went down in his co-sleeper, but now it's all very inconsistent.
Some nights he can take a good hour to get to sleep (daylight savings threw another monkey wrench in the routine bc he has a hard time falling asleep when it's light out), and I don't always want to lay in bed for an hour, nor do I always want to go to bed with him at 7 or 8pm. If DH & I want to watch a TV show together sometimes I just let DS sleep in my arms on the couch until bedtime, which for us grown-ups is usually around 9. DS is pretty dependent on "nursing down," which I am fine with doing, but consistency eludes me.
Should I try to impose a bedtime routine now or can we wait a little longer? How do you go about it?
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Re: Bed sharers - do you have a routine?
Our routine kind of evolved naturally. I nurse DS right before bed time and he usually falls alseep on the boob, then I put him down in his co-sleeper. I usually stay up for another hour or so then go to bed. When he wakes for his first feeding of the night (usually 3-4 hours after he goes down), I bring him to bed with me and he stays there for the rest of the night.
I want him to be able to go down on his own initially so that when he starts STTN, we can transition him to his crib. I don't want him to have to be lying next to me in bed in order to fall asleep.
BFP #2 12/26/11 ~ EDD 9/6/12 ~ MMC discovered on 1/27/12 @ 8w1d (measured 6w2d)
BFP #3 8/10/12 ~ EDD 4/23/13 ~ MMC discovered on 9/13/12 @ 8w2d (measured 6w6d)
nothing that i'd call a "routine" emerged until right around 4 months. we started trying to do some things to create a routine at 2 or 3 months, but DD didn't play along right off.
at that stage, we nursed to sleep and i'd put her in her cosleeper. then i'd take a shower so i'd be sure to get that in before she woke up for the first time. at 4 months, she was probably up after 2 or 3 hours for nursing. when i could, i tried to be ready to go to bed myself at that point.
i went back to work when she was just past 4mos, so bedsharing is the only way i got ANY sleep those early months. we still bedshare for a portion of the night.
OMG Ibis, he's getting so big!!!
We have a rocking chair in our room, and we have dark drapes to help with the light issues. We (Mostly I, her preference) rock her to sleep and then lay her down on the bed. We'll hang out in our room and watch tv or play/work on our laptops till we're ready to go to sleep. Then we just crawl in with her. We don't have much of a routine, except try to keep her awake till 7pm, then get her to sleep before all hell breaks loose!