Bedtime routine - no bath, no milk?

CarlaAndJames · August 2012

Since we stopped nursing, our bedtime routine has pretty much become put on jammies, go to bed. We don't do a bath every night bc her skin is so dry. So typically I just change her diaper, put on jammies, light off, sleep sheep on, and sit in the rocker with her. I was hoping to incorporate a book here, but she immediately gets squirmy and reaches for her bed (and starting the last few days, she says "nigh nigh" while reaching for the crib). It's not causing any problems...but it seems like such an abrupt transition. What does your bedtime routine look like now?

M&M227 · August 2012

We do a bath every night - but only use soap occasionally (every 2 to 3 days unless it's really hot), then jammies, we read good night moon and she goes into her bed. At first she was really squirmy during the story but now she knows it's part of the routine and just lays back on me, once the story is over I rock her for a minute then put her in her crib.

JavaVino910 · August 2012

Bath isn't part of our routine. She is usually in her PJs well before bedtime.

Julia always says 'nigh nigh' to daddy. She and I go in her room and turn her monitor and white noise CD on. Then we pick out a book or two and go into my bedroom and I read her a book on our bed. Back into her room and then I nurse her. Sometimes until she is asleep, sometimes she is wide awake when I lay her down.

That's it! She is always tired and goes to sleep without a fuss.

march2008 · August 2012

- Bath only every other night, unless I had to put sunblock on her and then definitely a bath that night
- Change into PJs
- Brush her teeth
- Usually read 3 stories b/c she loves being read to
- Darken the room, turn on her lady bug that puts stars on the ceiling
- I nurse her in the glider
- DH sings her songs in the glider and puts her in the crib drowsy

It takes about 30 minutes (not including the bath part). DH handles her bedtime routine most nights, except for the nursing part obviously. We've been doing this same bedtime routine since around 6 months and it's made a world of difference in how easily she goes to sleep at night and for naps b/c I do a mini version of this at nap time.

LauraOTR · August 2012

We only do a bath every other day, sometimes at night, sometimes not, so it's not part of our routine. We also cut out milk b/c he wasn't interested in replacing nursing with a cup of milk. We do a bunch of books, though. It's diaper/jammies, books (usually 5-6, but they're short), brush treeth and bed. It all takes less than 10 minutes.

I'd say if it's not causing a problem, then just do what works for you!

magnoliablossom00 · August 2012

Our routine is pretty much the same as yours. Usually no bath before bed (I have found it makes her really crabby so we usually do it in the afternoon on bath days). We put on jammies, give kisses, bring her up, turn on her noise machine, turn off the lights, and offer milk. Sometimes she takes it, sometimes she just reaches for her bed.

If it works for your LO, I don't see a problem!

LollyBug18 · August 2012

Bath/milk isn't connected to bed time at all at our house. We do story while brushing teeth, diaper, rocking w/ a couple songs in the dark, then to bed awake.

Turtle143 · August 2012

Pretty much the way it's been since she started solids: dinner, bath, jammies, reading, bottle/nursing, and rocking until she's asleep. Except now, sometimes we go without the bottle, depending on how well she ate dinner.

I think as long as she is fine with the shortened routine now, I wouldn't change a thing. I wish our routine was shorter.

Andie_83 · August 2012

We do a bath every other night. Z gets her milk either just before dinner or with. She still wants it in a bottle (I'm going to try to wean her soon).

We have dinner, then jammies, play for a bit then upstairs to her room. I turn on her rotating ceiling picture. She sleeps with a blanket in her crib that she loves so I drape it over my shoulder and she snuggles right in, then we rock for a few minutes. Some nights she will be content, others she automatically reaches for her crib so I lay her down and she puts herself to sleep.

gymnst1013 · August 2012

We are still nursing but we do bath, diaper and jams, books, nurse, bed. I'm so scared to change anything about his routine. Bedtime/sleep was such a nightmare for us for so long that I think I've become gun shy. I wonder if maybe I'm not giving Nikolai enough credit. He may be perfectly fine with a change up but I'm too scared to try right now. Although at this point, I don't know what I'd change as he's not weaning and I have no desire to wean him.

stephdruskinis · August 2012

We do bath, jammies, bottle, rock, crib...sometimes he lets me rock him to sleep, others he reaches right for his crib. Eventually, we'll phase out the bottle, but until then we are happy with what we've got!

MommaA117 · August 2012

dinner, play, bath, lotion, Jamie's, brush teeth, read like 5 books, lights off to nurse in chair, lay her down awake. She crawls everywhere, touches everything, and feeds herself. there's no way we could go without a bath without me feeling like she's clean.

amypogg6 · August 2012

On non-bath nights, we go into the bathroom and brush her teeth, and wash her hands, face and feet. Then I change her for bed. We then go to the recliner and read a book or a few. Then she relaxes a bit. Next I bring her up to her room, she helps me turn the sound machine on, we kiss and say goodnight, I put her in and turn on the sleep sheep. And off to sleep she goes.

amberpro · August 2012

We do a bath most every night. I'm with MommaA... he gets so dang sticky, lol.

Our routine is dinner, bath, lotion/jammies, cup of milk, brush teeth, story, prayers, bed. He won't always drink his milk since it's in a cup, not a bottle now, and if he's read a lot during the day or is super squirmy, we will skip the book.

Maybe keep trying the book even if she's squirmy. She'll probably want it as she gets older. And if she's sleeping well, I don't see a problem with just dropping her in the crib . If it's not broken, don't fix it!

mamarazzi528 · August 2012

I seem to be in the minority here.

We do not have a regular schedule for baths -- they are usually every other day, but are given morning, afternoon, or evening depending on the day and who is home with her. No milk before bed.

On daycare days especially, the bedtime routine is very quick as she is usually extra tired from lack of good naps. We'll usually eat dinner soon after I bring her home, play for a little bit, put on pajamas, and put her to bed by 7:00.

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