Advice for BEDTIME routine

HI!!!

This is my no dail bedtime routine!

It took baby and I a week to get into it, but if you persist, i swear you will never look back!

OK, here goes:

This is if you bath baby in the room, if it is in the bathroom then just adjust untill after bath and follow the room part!

1. Heat the room if neccessary
2. Put baby on the changing table and play with baby while undressing
3. Take off clothes and leave nappy on
4. Wash hair
5. Dry hair
6. Take off napy and put baby in his seat in bath/or hold in bath
7. Wash and play with baby
8. While baby sits and plays turn on the bedside lamp or dim lights.
9. Transfer baby and massage with JOHNSONS OIL GEL - Purple tube with jelly in - It calms them
10. Dress and talk calmly and soft voice to baby so they relax after the message
11. KEEP THE LIGHTS DIM!
12. Have the babies bottle handy or get hubby to bring the bottle
13. Put on a light outside the room and put off the lamp - there will only be a teeny bit of light in the room
basically dark.
14. Feed baby
15. Burp baby - they might be asleep by now!!!
16. If not asleep - hold baby in breastfeeding position with dummy in mouth against your chest so it doesnt come out
and stand and rock a while.
17. When babies eyes start to droop and he blinks slowly, put in bed.
18. THEY MUST FALL ASLEEP BY THEMSELVES!
19. LEAVE the room straight away!!!! DO NOT stay there, they can sense it.
20. Take the monitor or stand at the door.
21. Only go in and calm baby when crying not fussing.
22. Pick baby up when crying rock a bit and put down and LEAVE!
23. DO NOT talk to baby, do not put on the lights!!!

You might have to pick up, calm down and put down a few times, even 10 times in the beginning, but after a week,he will be fine!

Jayden was rocked to sleep for 40 minutes each night!!!! Then this took me 1 week and now i put him down after the bottle and he is out after 2 minutes! LOVE IT!

Good luck mommies!

thanx M! xx

I normally do the whole bathing and playing thing and massage after bath, feed in the lounge, falls asleep in my arms and I absolutely love it... I don't fuss too much by putting him down by his own, I just think there will come a time where he is too big and not wanting to fall asleep in my arms so I am grabbing the oppertunity... I just love having him in my arms... They grow up so fast, I enjoy every baby oppertunity and keep it as long as what I can...

But thanks for the advice, If i ever do get to the stage where I don't want that any more, I will follow your routine...

BTW kyle absolutely loves the breastfeeding position, falls asleep within 5min of me holding him like that and patting him on the bum...

Thanks and very glad you dont have to go through the 40 min's of rocking baby...

HI

I would love to try but if I put the boys down before they are properly asleep they don't just cry they scream!! ANd that is while I am standing there. Also sometimes they are hungry before bath time even so that also messes the whole routine up.

Kerry

Thanks Marthie!

Currently mine is as follows:

Last full feed at around 5pm or 6pm (depends on his starting feed in the morning, either 5am or 6 am (sometimes even 7am...))
Gets his bath from daddy at around 6:30pm/7pm (their special bonding time, I hardly ever bath Josh) - In the bathroom, lights on and all, plays, massages, dresses there.
Hubby brings him to me, I am normally still in the lounge watching something, he then sips at the breast (TV turned down a notch (and he is facing away from the TV) and it's dim in the lounge) he drinks whatever is left and what he can get out... Sometimes he gets sleepy, sometimes he is still wide awake after he is done, but I take him to his room about 5 or 10 minutes later, nightlight already on, cot ready and panel heater on...
Put him down, he might still be chatting at times, I just ignore it, give him his dummy (if he hadn't already taken it whilst in the lounge) and then I kiss him goodnight and go... He falls asleep within 5 minutes... (Somehow he already knows and associates lying on his side with sleeping, even during the day, when I hear the coo's get more urgent and I know he wants a nap, I just turn him on his side and not even 5 minutes later he is gonners...)

I am all for bonding and everything, but I am not gonna "pluk 'n lat vir my eie gat" There is plenty of bonding and what not's during the day. There might be one night in every month or so that he is fussy, then I'll rock him (or DH) but not as a rule... And I don't feel guilty about it either...

Thanks for sharing!

I agree, things will only get worse if u leave it for later. rather get them settled and used to a fixed routine now. If we are at people or friends, I do the same there and he falls asleep straight away cause he knows!

I don't have to sit there and rock him.

We had 2 boys in foster care and they were really messed up. Poor babies. They were 3 and 5 and had to get rocked for 1 hour each night. It does get hectic - trust me!

Just thought Id share my advice, I didn't mean everyone must follow it,was just what worked for me!

Didn't take it that way Mart's... Now mommy's can check which work and which don't... You know, nice to have options

Hi
I do pretty much the same, except the twins are bathed in the bathroom in the big bath, on those hangmat thingies. I don't rock them at all, they go straight into bed after their bottles, even if still fully awake and when I put the night light off they go straight to sleep. It also took about a week or so to get them there, with the controlled crying method (basically what M did!). Kerry, I must say Rachel used to scream too, the thing is to accept it and still go out, controlled crying is HARD on the ears and the nerves, but it is worth it for the end result!

thanks will give it a shot! basically what i do. Dh feeds in the lounge then we take her to her room. i want her to learn to fall asleep on her own and not have to be held.

I ges its late for me.
My LO is almost a month now (will be on Sunday), and because she's been so sick in the beginning-I couldn't put her down. I kept her in my arms all the time and I mean all the time, now she cries when she's not in my hands.
I was too scared to put her down, even now I struggle to be in another room away from her.
But I will like her to learn the new way of doing things-is it too late to try these routines?

Hi Des,

I just do my own thing with quite a bit of pressure. Babies love the pressure and it makes then feel comfortable.

Start on the body and work outwards and when you get to the hands and feet squeeze a bit. They love it! xxx

Sboza, with miss D I only started at 5 weeks, it is never too late! Good luck.

Sboza I agree with Paulae. Kayla is 3.5 weeks now and also loves being held.. but at bed time we try not to cuddle her till she is fast asleep only till she dozes then she falls asleep on her own. We may have to pop into the room once or twice to pop her dummy back in.

Hi, all. Wat do you suggest to be te best bath and bedtimes for babies under a year?
Some people advised that 5pm is the best bath time and between 7 and 8 is the best bedtime. This does noe always work out well and means that she is still awake for a while between bath and bedtime.