Bedtime Routines

[Knitting Mama]

After reading in the weekly thread about bedtime routines, I thought I'd post a new thread asking about them. Who has a bedtime routine already for the noob? And what does it consist of?

We don't really have one yet, and to be honest I'm not sure of what I'd do for the routine! I mean, we sort of have a routine in the sense that I change her diaper and put her in jammies between 8 and 9, then we nurse to sleep oun the living room, and then we migrate to the bed once she's totally zonked.

Tell me about your routines! And if you have older kids, when did you start their routines?

[jenfl]

We have a routine that's kind of evolved. DD (3 yrs) gets a bath, massage, and book before bed; she's in bed at 7pm. After that, DS gets a bath then into a night diaper and PJs. He gets his reflux medication, then we sit with him on the lanai or walk him outside for a few minutes (outside time calms him down). Then he nurses and either falls asleep nursing or while rocking afterward. The last week or two, he's been in bed by 7:30pm most nights.

DD's routine slowly changed and evolved, but we started trying to put one into place later than we are with DS -- close to a year, maybe? It's just been so good for her that I wanted to get DS going early. It helps me to have that routine, too!

[jolesh]

our routine is based around DD - she gets a bath (and sometimes DS gets one too - first usually, but only every 3 or 4 days, even though he LOVES the bath) and then books and then sleep.. hopefully DS nurses to sleep during this time. he isn't having any reliable awake periods yet though, so really to him it is just more sleep.. then he wakes every 2 hours through the night..

[krismarie]

i don't think i had a routine with ds1... but i definitely do with the 3 of them...mainly b/c of the older boys. tubbies, pjs, etc around 7:00 and then off to bed at 7:30-8:00. stories/nursing and we all try and fall asleep by 9:00. luckily micah is a mellow babe so far and is pretty content in bed even if he isn't ready to sleep and has finished nursing. *so far* it's going smoothly with the 3 of them. (thank goodness b/c this is dh's busy time of year and he is not around at bedtime...)

[bubbamummy]

we implemented Sams routine when he was 6 months-before that he just fit around us, it was a carzy time with a Trans-Atlantic move though so he had no choice

Anyway, his consists of dinner, bath, PJ's, Story, teeth clean, drink, and then in bed lights out and his white noise machine on that we have used since he was a baby.

With Molly its similar to yours, pj's around 9ish then she lays in bed with me until when ever I feel completely done! I usually try and give her one last feed around 10:30ish in the hope that one day she will sleep through until a reasonable hour

[jenfl]

I should say that we didn't decide on a bedtime and routine and just institute it. Sprout was staying up until 9 or 10 until 6 weeks or so, when he suddenly started wanting to be asleep earlier (he got fussy and tired and nothing made him happy until he went to sleep). So we put him down earlier for a while until we pegged when he wanted to be in bed (turned out to be 7:30pm), and then we just stuck the bedtime routine we wanted in front of that.

[rhiOrion]

i don't even understand this whole "putting her to sleep" concept. She generally screams until sometime between 11-12 each night and eventually falls asleep while DH bounces her in the carrier. Then he brings her to me in bed and she sleeps on me.

I wish she would go to bed earlier, but she's not about to go to bed without being on me, so therefore she's not going to go to bed until I do. And I can't go to bed at 8 pm.

And even if I did go to bed at 8 pm... she'd still be screaming

Though, tonight she's not screaming. we'll see what happens. money says she screams 'til 2 am

[sew_crafty_girl]

It's usually just take her to bed and nurse around 8:30-9. I'll change her clothes into a onesie or sleeper, depending on the temperature of the house. I don't know when we'll have a formal routine. The older Tweens are in bed at 8:30.

I hate having to go to bed so early, bur I'd rather this than the alternate which was my son who wouldn't go to bed until late and was up at 5.

[snoopy5386]

we don't have a routine for DD2 yet. I think we started one when DD1 was 4-5 months old? And it was simple - jammies, sleep sack, story (the going to bed book) and then nurse to sleep in mommy's bed.
Right now she stays up with us in the living room, nursing, napping and being bounced in the chair until I go to bed which is usually between 11 and 12. Generally she zonks out for the night between 10 and 11. When I go to bed I change her diaper and swaddle her. She sleeps in either a onesie with socks, a gown or a sleeper depending on the night and we usually transition into jammies during DD1's bedtime routine. Last night she was getting fussy and I wasn't ready for bed yet so I swaddled her and put her in the swing where she fell asleep. Some nights I can transition her to the crib from the living room without another nursing session, other nights I nurse her in the rocker in her room first, then put her in the crib and when I am really tired we just start the night off cosleeping.
DD1's routine is pee, jammies, brush teeth and hair, stories and then one of us lies down with her for a bit. I expect DD2 will just morph into this routine with DH and I taking turns putting them both down.

[ann_of_loxley]

We have a bit of a nightime rhythm but thats about it. Usually I go to bed when I am tired and thats that! Both DSs just come with me. When DS1 was younger, he would go to bed eariler than us but around the age of four he just started going to bed when I do - which is a few hours later than what he was normally going to bed. The upside of course to this is that he then doesn't wake up till much later! We are just pretty relaxed here. If DS1 is really tired, he will go to bed earlier or just wait for me. I tend to go to bed around 9PM these days!
When DS1 was younger we had a bit more of a routine as he had a bath and a story every night when he headed off to bed....but then he decided he no longer wanted a story or a bath and that was that! DS2 doesnt have reflux like DS1 did - so he may get a bath once a week and at the moment - just for fun with mum really! And stories are a daytime thing now.

[ann_of_loxley]

I have to say hes not the kind of baby to be detached from me! lol

He sleeps great through the night because I am right there! I keep him swaddled next to me and he only starts to snort and snuffle about every few hours for a feed. I am aware of this and just point a nipple in his general direction - feel him latch on and then we sort of just both kinda sleep through it! lol

I would never be able to put him down to sleep though - awake or asleep!
But generally (and if I could) - it deff feels that his bedtime is anywhere between 7 and 8PM. That tends to be when he has a really good feed and goes into a nice deep sleep. It just feels like a bedtime if that makes any sense - but I am not ready to go to bed then.

[Knitting Mama]

Yeah, I have absolutely no desire to put Cecilia down to sleep without me there. She sleeps in my arms at night, and that's all there is to it! Of course I'm sure there will come a time when she doesn't want to be cuddled against me when she's sleeping, and it will break my heart, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Mostly I wanted to hear what everyone's routine is like to get ideas for our own nighttime ritual. I'm certainly not looking to put a regimented sleep schedule onto my daughter, especially not at not-quite-two-months! I just follow her cues, and she's fairly regular with wanting to go to bed between 9 and 10:30.

[smeisnotapirate]

jenfl, krismarie, I have to ask. WHAT TIME DO YOUR CHILDREN WAKE UP?? My DS is in bed between 11 and 12 most nights and up and awake before 6am. One nap of about an hour during the day. How do you get kids to sleep between 7 and 9pm and have them sleep until a decent hour???

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

And even if I did go to bed at 8 pm... she'd still be screaming

Originally Posted by sew_crafty_girl

I hate having to go to bed so early, bur I'd rather this than the alternate which was my son who wouldn't go to bed until late and was up at 5.

This is my 2yo DS. I'm totally at a loss as to how to get him to sleep any earlier and to sleep for longer than maybe 6 or 7 hours.

[GreenTeaGinger61]

As I mentioned long ago, we ascribe to anarchy parenting which means we don't have a formal bedtime routine at all It's been worst because of the move though. Normally when H and I feel ready for bed (during the week around ten), we do Ds's medication (always at 9:30), tooth brushing, story time, and then the kids lay down. Ds goes to sleep very quickly due to the meds. DD1 has a hard time sleeping but she reads in her bed with a night light if she can't sleep.

Rowena is just a long for the ride When I go to bed, I nurse her in bed, and we go to sleep together.

I sometimes feel really guilt that my kids don't have a more formal regular routine. And every once in awhile I try to start one but it never lasts long. We are all so different in terms of when we want to sleep. DD1 is like me and she's a night owl whereas dd2 is a morning person. She gets up with dh when he gets up for work. Ds is somewhere in the middle. We're all happy and well rested so I'm not sure why I feel like I need to have us all in sync. And we homeschool so it's not like we have to be up.

Oh and Amiee: My kids still love sleeping with us! They can sleep on their own but it's a special treat to sleep with us.

[Pepper44]

We don't have a formal routine either. DD1 goes to bed sometime between 8 and 10, depending on how tired she is and our plans that night. Ada is still getting a routine down...I haven't quite figured her out yet. She always nurses in bed with DD1 and she usually falls asleep. Sometimes I can sneak away for a few minutes when she's sound asleep in the bed.

[ann_of_loxley]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama

Yeah, I have absolutely no desire to put Cecilia down to sleep without me there. She sleeps in my arms at night, and that's all there is to it! Of course I'm sure there will come a time when she doesn't want to be cuddled against me when she's sleeping, and it will break my heart, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Mostly I wanted to hear what everyone's routine is like to get ideas for our own nighttime ritual. I'm certainly not looking to put a regimented sleep schedule onto my daughter, especially not at not-quite-two-months! I just follow her cues, and she's fairly regular with wanting to go to bed between 9 and 10:30.

Id probably feel more inclined to have some sort or routine if DS1 still had one. But he doesn't so I just don't feel motived to try and start one with this little one as it would probably just go right out the window eventually! lmao

When DS1 was much younger - and we did the whole bath, story, milk, night night thing (cause he was the kind of baby/kid you could do that with! lol) - it was very easy to start and we started it as soon as his cord fell off really cause then we could do a bath often. Also he had terrible reflux so we did do a bath often! lol It was also very easy to slowly encourage an earlier bedtime with him as well. He only had one feed at night (he loves his sleep! lol) and that was always roughtly around the same time. So when that one feed started to become later and later (or earlier in the morning - instead of in the middle of the night ...depending on how you want to look at it! lol) - we just started his bedtime 'routine' earlier in the evening so he was going to bed earlier than us...which would bring his one nighttime feed up again until eventually he was roughtly going to bed between 7 and 8 and 'STTN' - think that happened around 4 months of age.

I don't see that happening with this one - at all! lol...and he feeds way more through the night too! hehe Though I have noticed that he is sleeping longer stretches in the night now.

[Carita]

DS used to go to bed about 10 when he was DDs age, but we slept in too. I have to admit that our schedule may be differnt now, because DS goes to bed at 8 and wakes up at 6ish. So he won't let DD sleep much outside those hours. LOL.

If is been a few days or if she's upset we will do a bath, she likes it. And if its early and DS is still making noise, we will follow with a massage. But its mostly about nursing, playing lots, then diaper change into her night time diaper and wardrobe change into PJs, then more nursing in bed laying down.

I do need to find time to put book reading in there. We did that with DS everynight and he loves books.

[jenfl]

Originally Posted by smeisnotapirate

jenfl, krismarie, I have to ask. WHAT TIME DO YOUR CHILDREN WAKE UP?? My DS is in bed between 11 and 12 most nights and up and awake before 6am. One nap of about an hour during the day. How do you get kids to sleep between 7 and 9pm and have them sleep until a decent hour???

Well, the first thing to say is that DD doesn't nap, and hasn't napped since 20 months or so.

Our house gets up at 7am. DD has a light that turns on at that time, so if she's awake before that, she knows to stay in bed until it comes on. She goes to bed at 7pm, but will stay up for a while talking to her friends (Buzz and Woody). She'll be asleep around 7:30pm or rarely as late at 8pm.

We just kind of fell into this schedule, and it works really well for us -- especially the no-nap part! We often spend the whole day out, so having to work a nap in there was a pain. I really hope Sprout learns to nap on the go.

[ann_of_loxley]

DS1 is deff waking up slightly earlier because 1). the baby making noise! lol and 2). the bloody sun and birds! - We do have a blackout blind but I neve remember to use it cause I like waking up to the sun shining in our room. Of course, this means we do wake up earlier then. In the winter when its all dark and gloomy - we tend to hibernate more! hehe

[krismarie]

Originally Posted by smeisnotapirate

jenfl, krismarie, I have to ask. WHAT TIME DO YOUR CHILDREN WAKE UP?? My DS is in bed between 11 and 12 most nights and up and awake before 6am. One nap of about an hour during the day. How do you get kids to sleep between 7 and 9pm and have them sleep until a decent hour???

my kids wake up between 6 and 7. i've found whether i put them to bed a 7:30, 8, 9, 9:30 they ALWAYS wake up at the same time!? so it's better for their moods (and therefore me ) the earlier i get them to bed. that said, we have a market garden and our routine is to work in the evening when it's cooler--so we've been getting to bed later and later... (and yet, 6:30 am and they are up!)
oh--i should say--they don't usually nap though!

wonder if you could try and earlier bedtime with the same results??