What is your bedtime routine (with timing) for newborns if you have an older child?

marrymemylove · November 2010

OK I hear the advice in my earlier thread to get a bedtime routine for DD.

She is 8 weeks old now and sleeps quite well with DH but not in her crib which is what we need for our sanity (even if she comes in with him/us at 3am or something).

So what IS your bedtime routine?

We have a 4 year old whose bedtime is about 8:30pm or so, I try for 8:15 but it doesn't usually happen. His "routine" starts about 8pm so she needs to either be in bed by then or not go to bed before 9pm-ish.

I know one nestie suggested a nightly bath, but that is one thing I think we can't do. Firstly because I am not good at baths, they are a big arduous task in our house and seem to take up an hour or so of the evening and always did with DS even when he was a baby - what with the prep and the bathing and the dressing/changing/comforting afterwards. Secondly, both my kids HATE baths. They are NOT soothed or relaxed by them. DD just screams through the whole experience as DS did at that age and really until he could walk.

I feel a bit silly reading baby books to an 8 week old to be honest. I never did that with DS, though I did read him Silas Marner in installments (what I happened to be reading at the time).

Our current routine looks like this:

6pm DH and DS get home and unwind

6:30pm start dinner (DH and I alternate with the other one holding DD and watching DS play, sometimes she will let me put her down in the swing and I can play with DS).

7pm dinner (DD either napping or being held if awake)

7:30pm DH washes up (damn we need a dishwasher) and I watch DS play quietly and try to get him to start thinking about bedtime soon.

8pm DS is getting into pjs and brushing his teeth and picking books out etc.Usually feed DD around this time.

8:30 DS in bed being read to

9pm DS reliably asleep. DH and I get time to ourselves if you count one of us holding DD!

10pm DD usually fed and then we start getting ready for bed

10:30-11 we get to bed, usually. At the moment DH is taking DD to bed at that time (on his side of our bed) and I will at some point move into the spare room.

Fire away!

nmarie10 · November 2010

Let me first say that i did not co sleep with my first two lo's, but my dd wont have it any other way. Although i feel that 8 weeks is still early for a routine we try to have a very flexible one. We usually eat dinner between6-7 while dd sits in her bouncer believe it or not i have found that if i run the faucet while eatinh she will just sit there. At 7 we start bedtime..... My ds's take showers while i play with dd. After showers i give dd a quick bath, around 730 we all get in our pj's. The boys pick out books and brush there teeth, i usually give dd a rub down with lotin to relax her. At 745 we read 3 books one for each. I say good night to my boys and take dd downstairs to have her bottle. After bottle i put her in her bassinet on her side (its in my lr) she will sleep there maybe 10-30 mins, which gives me time to straighten up, or watch one of my shows that recorded. Then me and dd go to bed together. hope this helps. Dd usually is a sleep at 830 and i follow depending on what i still need to get done. Pls keep in mind that its never as easy as it seems but it works

nmarie10 · November 2010

One more thing... As for time with DH it is very limited and usually we only get to see eachother in passing, but as lo gets older things usually calm down and life is more manageable

vlestep · November 2010

We start her routine about 6-6:15. It consists of bath, lotion, pjs, a book (if she'll tolerate it), then DH gives her a bottle. She doesn't really fall asleep until about 7 or 7:15, but she's happy talking away in her crib. I usually have to go in and nurse for a few minutes for her to fall completely asleep. We started this at about 8 weeks and now she's very aware of what happens, which is why the book doesn't always happen! DD is 12 weeks old.

Mrs_Marcos · November 2010

We seem to have the same life. lol. Your day sounds like ours.

DH and I get home around the same time (he gets home sooner sometimes since he's a teacher, but currently we're home at the same time). Anyway, he gets kids from daycare, I get home and begin dinner if I didn't do it during my lunch hour or if it's not a crock pot dinner so around 5:00ish.

DH gets in. DS plays or watches one of his movies (Thomas the Train usually), DH holds DD or I do. Dinner is ready around 5:45-6:00. DS is fed (or trying to be). DH and I alternate who eats first while the other holds DD.

Depending on DD last bottle I bathe her (if she really needs it. She too hates baths.) or wipe her down around 6:00-6:30.

Once she bathed, changed and swaddled, DH will give her her bottle. She is sometimes down for the night and sometimes not.

Afterward, I shower DS and change him into PJs. We go back downstairs and try to relax a bit or I take a shower. DD might be fussy, it's usually her fussy time. So one of us (DH or I) is with her trying to calm her down and make her sleep.

After DS takes his nebulizer we head up to bed by 8:00. DD will either be asleep or trying to sleep. We put her in her bassinet in our room on her side between snug positioners while DH and I try to read to DS.

She typically won't wake up until 10:00ish for her next feeding so. So depending on who gets what shift, one of us is trying to sleep while the other stays awake until after the next feeding.

If I do the last bottle I put her in her bassinet, if DH does it. She's co-sleeping with us. He's horrible at putting her down and she ends up awake.

That's our routine. Not really a routine, but it's the only way we can manage two kids.

Oh and I feel silly reading to her too, but she does sometimes sit in on our reading time with DS.

Not sure if that helps at all.

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