Talk to me about bedtime routines

SuperTinkerham · September 2014

I'm pretty sure we need to establish one. I thought that he would sort of cue me into natural sleep patterns....the only regular times he sleeps are midnight-3, and then a 15-45 minute feeding/diaper change and then he sleeps until 6ish or 7 Ish the morning. ETA I just want to establish healthy sleep habits. I do not expect him to STTN yet.

kwh33ls · September 2014

I don't know if ours is ideal or not, but we start dimming lights, putting on white noise, etc. at around 9...then it's a bath if she needs it, DH gives her a bottle, change and swaddle, top off with breastfeeding if needed, sing a few songs, and down she goes. She's usually out by 10:30 or 11:00, up at around 4, and back down till 6 or 7. It's working for us at the moment, and she definitely knows it's sleepy time when we start the routine.

Knbh · September 2014

DS gets really cranky in the evenings, so every night at 7:30, he gets changed, into his PJs, I dim the lights, stop talking, and breastfed for a while (about 30min). After that he'll already be asleep, or I'll rock him to sleep.

While my bedtime routine works get to GET DS to sleep, my DS still wakes up about every 1.5-2 hrs to eat/get changed. If I'm really lucky, he'll sleep for three hours. It's killing me.

JuniperGaze · September 2014

We start around 8:30 or 9 and although we don't always do the same order depending on when she nurses, we usually start with nursing. Then she gets a bath with Aveeno lavender body wash. She gets changed and put in PJs. Then we comb her hair (yes it's a 2 person job to her some cradle cap out!) and put on her prescription face lotion. Then she gets swaddled and put down in her PNP. Dad reads her a story and she gets a paci. She sometimes drifts off during the story. Then we turn on the sleep sheep and I get in bed and we usually fall asleep soon after. She is good about going down when she's drowsy and getting herself to sleep. She will usually wake up around 3 or 4 after sleeping 5 hours and then gets up for the day at 7 or 8.

Soon2BMrsN · September 2014

DD is a very good sleeper so that helps, BUT she gets a bath every other night around 7:30/8:00, then into pajamas and swaddleme. She reads a couple of books with her big brothers, then I nurse her to sleep in the dimly lit/relatively quiet living room. I do hold her for 30ish minutes after she pulls off just to make sure she's really out before I carry her up to bed.

emeek · September 2014

We give DS a bath if needed about 8. Then its lotion and pjs. Then a bottle and we cuddle til he's asleep. Usually out by 9:30 at the latest

likeanoldtimemovie · September 2014

Bath around 8:30, but that's because she naturally passes out around nine or ten for the night. Then lotion, Jammie's and nurse her to sleep in rocker. We wait until she's almost sleep, swaddle her, give her the paci and read a story. Then she's out!

Nichole8787 · September 2014

We change his diaper, turn out the lights, turn on the noise machine, put him in an open swaddleme, nurse almost to sleep, close the swaddleme and put him in his cradle to go down until about 12. Oh and that starts at nine

argonne · September 2014

We start at 7 by giving her a bath. I then take her into her dim nursery with the white noise on, put on PJs, read her a book while nursing her down. Once she's drowsy, she gets swaddled, nursed some more until she's almost gone and then put into crib. She's usually in her crib by 7:45-8 every night. She'll sleep until 1-3, eat for 10 minutes then back down for another 3 hours.

brooklynesque · September 2014

I try to wind down stimulating play and dim the lights and try to chill with her (she's an evening fusser) around 7 pm. Then around 8:30 DH gives her a bottle of pumped breast milk and snuggles her on his chest until she goes to sleep, then puts her down in her crib. She pretty reliably goes to sleep by 9 or 9:30 and sometimes sleeps until 2 or 3 a.m. She is 5.5 weeks but is very big for her age (almost 12 lbs). I think the early evening wind down is key.

nlearl · September 2014

My DD is 8 weeks old. We start around 7:30-8:00 by getting a fresh diaper and changing into jammies. Depending on her disposition we may do some tummy time or activity may play for a little while. Once she starts to get drowsy we usually rock her to sleep and put her in her PnP. She usually wakes to eat around 10-10:30. I feed her one side, change her, feed the other side, swaddle, pat her back or bottom and then it's off to her bassinet in her room to sleep. Her new habit is to sleep about 8 hrs, wake to nurse, then back down for 2-3 hours. We count out blessings every night.

iris427 · September 2014

So far, I take him upstairs at 7-7:30. Change him, swaddle him, feed him. He falls asleep in my arms, and then I put him down in his pnp for the night. He usually falls asleep around 8 pm and wakes up again between 1-4 am, which I think is awesome for a 2 month old. I want to incorporate a song like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star into it so that he hears the same song every night and it becomes a positive sleep association, but I keep forgetting.

Once he's older, the routine will have to change--we'll need to get him used to not being swaddled and not nursing to sleep. I'm a big believer that putting older babies down awake is the key to STTN. But for now this is working for us.

Tiffles · September 2014

With us having an almost 3 year old too (eek!!) we start our bedtime routine around 8:30/9. he will usually have a small nap at around 7 for half an hour or so. We turn the lights down out him in the bath if it's bath night, put his sleeper on , feed him in the glider, then after a burp, hubby takes him while I get ready for bed. Then we go to our room with the lights dim, I give him a little top up while in our bed, then lay him in the bassinet. He usually is asleep by 10; 30/11 and up again around 2:30 or 3:30, then back down 40 minutes later and up again in 2 hours or so!

Shelleybell · September 2014

with us we do a quick bath at 8:00, feed, swaddle and down to sleep by 8:30-8:45. She usually wakes up anywhere from 2:30-4:30, eats then is up for the day around 7.

stefaniew26 · September 2014

My LO is 8 weeks
We do bath around 745/8 pm (we don't wash her every night but she likes the warm water and it calms her down)
Then we diaper lotion and breastfeed. When she is drowsy, we swaddle using a swaddle me but leave her legs out. I hold her for about 10 minutes after she is out and then we put her in the bassinet in our room.
She for the past week she has slept from 845/9 pm to 5/545 am.

hab83 · September 2014

My routine is to use whatever means necessary to calm him down until he passes out finally lol.

We are trying to establish a routine, but it is a struggle since he's so fussy/colicky in the evenings. Hopefully soon.

JayBzo · September 2014

We do bath at 7:30 (not w soap every night), then diaper, lotion, PJs. DH gives him a bottle until it is almost all gone with soft music playing and dim lights, then we swaddle him, turn lights off white noise on and I feed him the rest of his bottle. By the time he is done eating he is usually asleep so I burp him and hold/rock for awhile keeping him upright and then put him in his crib. I would like to get to where he is put in awake but sleepy but he falls asleep on his own most of the time. He is usually done and in crib by 8:30 if not earlier.

The only issue is he is SO inconsistent about when he sleeps until - for a long while it was until about 2 - this week he has cried at 11, 12, 1, 2, 3 and even slept one night 8-5. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason and it is frustrating to go from 8-5 to 8-12... any ideas on why this is or just being a baby and it might get better? He is 12 weeks actual 6 weeks adjusted.

PregsMcSnoozalot · September 2014

Baby usually breastfeeds sometime between 6-8. That's the cue to get the ball rolling. I go and take a shower, then we bath baby (either in the baby tub with soap, or DH rinses him in the shower), then breastfeed again, check diaper, put on his Snuza, SwaddleMe, pat his back or breastfeed a little more if he's not asleep, then into the RnP...rocking him if he's still wiggling around. Somehow it's between 10 and 11 when this is all finished and he finally falls asleep. He will sleep until around 2-5am. He is 12 weeks old today

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