[mthomas]

My ds is getting into a groove of just two longish naps a day a general bedtime. I'd like to start a little nighty-nite ritual so he knows it's time to go to sleep. What time is a good time for babies to go to bed? I'm not concerned w/a schedule, just a consitent area of time that he naps/sleeps. Right now he'll take naps at the same time for 2-3 days in a row, then it will change for another 2-3 days. Also, I'd like to be able to work my day around his naps and betime when necessary. What do you guys do? And I'm also asking beyond actual *times.* what do you do before bedtime and naps? How did baby respond? Did he like it at first, what?

 

[mommybritt]

I was so stressed out with dd#1 about bed and nap times that with these girls, I'm not really paying attention at all

I do know that they usually have 1 big nap in the morning (2 hours or so ) and then 2-3 naps the rest of the day that last last anywhere from 1/2 hour to an hour. They're usually asleep for the night around 8:30-9pm. They still nap on me (one in front, one in back in slings) and bedtime usually happens while I'm sitting on the couch so we don't have any routine to speak of. I'm going to start giving them a bath at night and maybe we'll fall into some sort of routine from that. I would like to get them sleeping occasionally on their own so that I could spend some time with dh (and we need it!) but when it comes right down to it, I'd rather wait until they're ready to sleep on their own (and by that I mean, able to be put down while sleeping, not go to sleep on their own) then try to force it and stress us all out.

DD#1 started being able to be put down while sleeping about 4 months and we probably started bedtime routine about the same time (bath, jammies, stories, lights out, nurse and cuddle).

Anyway, no help, I know, just my thoughts.

 

[3 Little Monkeys]

I don't really have a set routine with dd3 - I'm much more lax about things with her. She usually tells me she's getting sleepy - around 8ish every night - I take her back and put her nighttime diaper and pjs on, we cuddle for a bit, she nurses, then she cuddles up with me and goes to sleep. For naptime, again she tells me she's getting tired (she's 7 months old btw - so her "telling" me is by getting fussy) I'll nurse her, and put her in her crib with the mobile on. Usually before the mobile is done playing, she's sound asleep. There is no way I could have done that with dd2 though - I still have to lie down with her to get her to sleep - she's 3 now. Dd3 has always been an easy baby - these "routines" are something I've been doing for the past few months, she took right to them without any complaints at all.

 

[Slackermom]

We've never tried to set a routine with DD (7 months), we just let her kind of develop one of her own. She usually starts getting sleepy around 6:30 or 6:45. So, around 5:45, I give her a little bit of sweet potato or banana. By the time we're done with that, her daddy is home, and we go upstairs to play on the floor for a half hour or so. We watch carefully for signs that she's tired - she doesn't cry often, so it's more like rubbing the eyes, not being as coordinated or into her toys and books. When we see she's getting sleepy, we read her two English books and two French books. Then daddy changes her into her night diaper and jammies, and I nurse her to the point where she is almost asleep.

For naps, I don't really have a routine. Again, I look for signs that she's tired, and we lay down together to nurse. She sometimes dozes off that way, or will settle herself to sleep.

 

[momof3cutekids]

I find that it's harder to set any type of schedule for naps as how much my ds naps during the day, usually depends on how well he slept through the night. Just b/c he sleeps "through" the night now, doesn't necessarily mean it was a good, solid sleep.
So anyways, I generally look for signs during the day that ds is ready for a nap (fussiness, rubbing the eyes etc.) and that's when he gets into his swing for a nap that ranges anywhere from 20 mins. to 3-4 hrs. (at almost 6 mo, he still sleeps in his swing as he has reflux and it's the only comfy position for him).
At night, we've had the same routine since he was about 3 months or so. At around 8-8:30, I get a nice warm bath ready with lots of bubbles. While he's in the bath, I feed him his cereal (I just found that bc of the mess he makes, it's just so much easier to do it this way, easy clean-up afterwards). Then, I get him out of the bath, rub him down and massage him a ittle with some aveeno cream (he just loves this and who wouldn't??). The I get his pj's on and by this time his eyes are half closed. I give him a bottle (I wasn't able to successfully breastfeed bc of a broken tailbone and the reflux). By the time the bottle's done, he is almost always already asleep or just about there. This routine has worked well for us and I don't plan on changing it anytime soon.
Hope some of this helps and good luck!

 

[pageta]

We just watch for cues. DS only takes one nap every day. If he gets up early (5:30, he naps early (9:00) and then goes to bed early (6:30). If he doesn't nap until later (1:00), he stays up later. If he takes a late nap (after 3:00), he'll be up until 10:00. So I try to really watch his cues during the day and make sure he goes down for his nap sometime in the morning. I don't like having a grumpy baby any more than I like having to work to get him to sleep. Usually for naps he nurses to sleep. At night, I'm not always home so dh has developed a routine of having ds sit on his lap until he falls asleep, which sometimes can take a half hour. If I'm home, I'll often nurse ds but that won't be enough so dh will hold him on his lap until ds falls asleep. We don't do bath at night because I do it in the morning after I get out of the shower - ds plays in the tub while I do my makeup and fix my hair (it would bore me to have to just sit there in the bathroom and watch him).

I have considered the routine thing more than once, but it always seems like more trouble than it's worth. I would never know when to start the routine if it consisted of bath, stories, etc. I'm better at just watching cues and then responding prompty. It's so much easier to get him to sleep when he's ready than when he's not. You can tell me I'm a lazy parent, but I see no need to complicate my life any more than it already is.

 

[ShadowMom]

Since Phoenix has been a couple of months old, our bedtime routine has been bath, bottle, bed.

It used to be around 10 at night, but since he's fallen into more of a regular sleep schedule, I give him his bath at 8 and he's in his crib by 8:30.

During the day, I just try to watch him for signs of tiredness. DH watches him during the week, and I worry that he doesn't get enough sleep during the day because DH has so much stuff to do (errands to run etc.).

Anyway, we don't have a nap routine, just a bedtime one. The bedtime routine is wonderful because I know he's going to go to bed at approx. the same time every night.

So in a lot of ways, the routine is more for me than for him!

HTH

 

[Colorful~Mama]

well ds has not been sleeping so we're really trying to get a good nap routine down. On the days we do - sleeping at night goes better.

we're up at 6-30 usually. If its earlier obviously i adjust the time, but usually around 10am i tell the other kids i'm taking Roman for his nap and set them up with a movie or quiet game (puzzles, counting box etc). He and i give everyone ni ni kisses, then go into the bedroom, turn off the lights, put on the fan for white noise and nurse to sleep. He's been sleeping anywhere from 1-2 hours. Sometimes he'll wake after 45minutes but i do a nother quick nurse back down.
then he naps again at around 2:30pm and does another hour or two.

on the days he naps well, he for sure sleeps better at night.

Bedtime routine.
After dinner, dh takes the kids outside on the swings or for a stroller ride around the block w hile teen dd and i clean up the kitchen. Then we either do a late night swim (we're in arizona), a bath , or just face/hand washing and teeth brushing. Then we put on the lamp in the room for naked time (dd - age 4 insists on naked time. lol) while we read some books or play dollhouse. At 8pm dd goes with daddy and teendd to read more grownup books or watch a show and its ds's bedtime. we go thru and give everyone ni ni kisses (he's 11months...its so cute with the big open mouth kisses lol)
and we go into the big bed for ummies and sleep.

some nights are better then others. last night he was up every two hours all night. sometimes i can rub/backpat and use keywords to get him back down and other times i do a short nursing...2 or 3 minutes and pop him off and he rolls over and goes back to sleep. On really good nap days he'll only wake up 2-3 times total

its a journey learning to sleep, right? lol. I guess last night it didn't help that dd turned into the H position between me and dh and had her feet stuck in ds's side most of the night?

 

[Ravin]

When I see DD's signals that she's tired (fussing to be picked up, wanting to nurse when she just has, rubbing her eyes, not cheering up when I hold her up in the air, etc.) I go in the bedroom, make sure her diaper is dry, then lay down w/ her and nurse her until she falls asleep. Sometimes she'll nurse then perk up again for a little while, so we'll go back out in the living room and play, unless and until I'm ready to go to bed, then I lay down w/ her and make life a boring as possible so she'll give in and sleep.--i.e., laying in the dark and doing nothing but offering to nurse and preventing her from tumbling/climbing off the bed.