bedtime routine

Re: bedtime routine

• ashiscute member

  March 2014

  DaisyBlinks said:

  Eh, if it's working for you, I don't think you need to feel pressured to change it. If it were taking an hour and you were exhausted by the end of it, it'd be a different story. But I don't think there's anything wrong with a bit of cuddling and singing before bed. I'd start working on getting rid of the bottle though (are you brushing his teeth after?). Try to replace it with a sippy of water

  This exactly.  I would replace the bottle with water.  But if you are happy with that setup then why change?  If at any point it starts to interfere with his sleep then you can make the change.  

  
  

  If you want to make the change I would say rock him and sing but put him down while he's still awake.  But definitely not with the bottle.  That's just a different crutch and an unhealthier one. 

  Report1 Reply
• Loading the player...
• aibrean member

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Mine is the following:

  
  

  6pm bath

  6:30pm dinner

  7-8pm light play

  8:30pm bedtime

  
  

  We either take her to our bed until she is nearly asleep then put her in her crib or put her in her crib immediately. She generally doesn't wake up in the middle of the night.

  

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• lana22 member

  April 2014

  i was giving my 11 mo a bottle when he woke up in the middle of the night, so granted there's an age difference, but i decided to do CIO b/c i felt like he'd gotten into the habit of feeding and wasn't really hungry. the first night after deciding to wean the bottle he woke up, cried, i went in and held him, and put him back down. he cried for five minutes, i went in, held him, put him back down. he cried for 2 min and then slept. he hasn't woken up again for a bottle in the middle of the night.

  
  

  hmm, just reread op, didn't realize you were holding him till he fell asleep. we did that until about 4/5 months, and then started putting him down awake. he never really cried, just fussed. maybe give it a try and give him a chance to fall asleep on his own? 

  
  

  i disagree a bit with some of the pp. learning to fall asleep is a valuable skill, and you're depriving him.

  
  

  also, he should not be falling asleep with a bottle. talk to your family and help them understand it can cause dental problems.

  
  

  

  Report0 Reply
• erinmc1 member

  April 2014

  We eat around 6 or 6:30, during which he has his final bottle and food, do a bath every other night at 7:30ish, snuggle time and book, and he's in bed by 8 or 8:30.  He doesn't typically fuss at all at bedtime, and in fact has started grabbing the edge of the crib and pulling himself towards it while I'm giving him last minute snuggles.  He sleeps until about 7.  

  
  

  I agree with the PP that if this is working for you, and you both enjoy it, don't change it unless you feel it's causing problems.  

  Report0 Reply
• hollygb22 member

  April 2014

  ours goes something like this..

  dinner is at 30-6. We don't do bath every night..every other. If we do bath, it's usually shortly after dinner and into her pjs. Lately we've been sitting together on the couch and read some books from about 645-7.

  At 7, it's into the bedroom. We have her nightlight on, noise machine to drown out the house noise and curtains drawn. We put her in a sleep sack, whoever is doing bed that night will shut the door, read one or two more books, then the nightlight goes out. I rock her for a few and then into the crib. She very well may fall asleep in my arms. I don't stress about it too much. She stirs plenty during the night and hasn't woken up unless she's ill...so I'm pretty confident she can soothe herself and get herself back to sleep.

  I'm with you..I get home from work at 530 so sometimes its my only cuddle time with her. If she were waking up and not sttn, i think I would look to change something up

  Report0 Reply
• Kissty member

  April 2014

  If it's working don't change much. I agree to ditch the bottle though. DS is 18 mos and we still sing and rock him until almost asleep every night. He SSTN. Sometimes he falls asleep on us and thats ok. Most nights he's really drousy and ready to spread out in his crib. We lay him down and walk out. I will continue to do this as long as he will allow it. Start out by laying him down just before he falls asleep. Since he's used to falling asleep before you lay him down this may take a bit of work. Don't give up and just be patient. We had the same routine sans bottle.

   

  

   

  Report0 Reply