how can i get my baby into a good bedtime routine???

Bernadette - posted on 10/18/2009

Normally they will be fed, changed, had awake time and still upset and won't sleep, normally that indicates they are over tired as well as rubbing the eyes and yawning, I have to push my daughter to stay up 2 hour slots so should be a max of 2-3 hours depending how much sleep your baby wants, when my daughter gets over tired I put her in her cot and let her cry for 10-15minutes, go in there if baby isn't settling and rub baby's tummy for a little bit with no eye contact at all, then come out, after about an hour of doing that you could give some more milk as baby would have used all that energy crying (remember a really upset baby won't go to sleep like that) the other day she was over tired, due to wake at 12.30 but woke at 11.30, and we went out too, I ended up finally getting her to sleep at 5pm, the longest time she has ever been awake, another time she was over tired and it just took 30minutes, shes been over tired about 4 times in 4 months, every time is different. Just don't go in there and cuddle the baby and feed baby straight away, that will get them into a (learnt) habit of crying to get attention and that's hard to break.

Colleen - posted on 10/18/2009

Start putting her to sleep at the first signs of tiredness (my son starts getting fussy and he rubs his eyes). She'll protest at first but if you keep being consistent at it, it'll get easier.

Mandy - posted on 10/17/2009

so how do u know if they r over tired and how do i mget her 2 sleep if she is?!!

Bernadette - posted on 10/17/2009

Quoting Kelsey:

Try keepin her awake as much as possible in the day.Give her a bath and feed her right after that and that should help her fall asleep. Thats what I started doing with my little guy and I had him sleepin through the night at 8 weeks.

I think that's discusting! You should be ashamed of yourself! Keeping a baby up all day is very harmful to them, I don't think you know the damage you could be doing! My 4 month old sleeps 16 hours in a 24 hour period, they need sleep to grow. A baby gets over tired easy and once that happens good luck at getting them to sleep at night. Your baby is the exception, not the rule, you are lucky your baby sleeps through at night. Mine were sleeping through from 8 weeks and my other from 6 weeks, my mum used the same routine as me and her 3 started at 4 weeks 5 weeks and 6 weeks.

Colleen - posted on 10/17/2009

Quoting Kelsey:

Try keepin her awake as much as possible in the day.Give her a bath and feed her right after that and that should help her fall asleep. Thats what I started doing with my little guy and I had him sleepin through the night at 8 weeks.

I disagree with this.  Babies and small children need naps, and if they don't nap throughout the day, they'll be overtired and they won't sleep well at night.

Kelsey - posted on 10/17/2009

Try keepin her awake as much as possible in the day.Give her a bath and feed her right after that and that should help her fall asleep. Thats what I started doing with my little guy and I had him sleepin through the night at 8 weeks.

Annette - posted on 10/16/2009

my best advice would be give her a warm bath a bottle and binky if she uses one..put her in her crib and play some soft music she will cry for a while but will eventually stop. it is hard but you can do it :-)

Keri - posted on 10/16/2009

my daughter was the same way. i started a bedtime routine that consists of a bath with johnson & johnson bedtime bath followed with johnson & johnson bedtime lotion. then i put her in her sleeper and feed her till she passes out. then i put her in her crib and she stays asleep 8-12 hours. it took almost a week to get that routine established but it was worth it in the long run.

Teanna - posted on 10/16/2009

My son use to only take one 20 minute nap a day.. then sleep thru the night. I was give him a bath. then let him play a little. then read a few books to him.. then rock him! sing or have music on. Make sure you wrap her up so she is snug.. she will think your still holding her. Then put a shirt you have worn next to her or covering her. it could help her think you are there. just an idea! but she is not on solids so she will wake up.. my son sometimes wakes up for a bottle once and awhile. he is 9 months

Jordan - posted on 10/16/2009

I know what you mean, my father-in-law remarried and had a baby with his new wife about five years ago. They got her into the habit of being rocked to sleep and now even at five she has to rock with someone because she's never learned to self soothe, sorry I forgot to mention that no matter what you do you know your baby and what will work for the both of you.

Dana - posted on 10/16/2009

Have you tried swaddling and a white noise CD? It's worked wonders for my son. When he gets grumpy as his bedtime (7pm) approaches, I change him, swaddle him, give him his dummy and put his white noise CD on. I use the CD from a book called "Sounds for Silence" (I think that might be an Australian book though, I can't remember, but I'm sure there are others out there you can get a hold of). This usually helps him sleep from around 7 until 2 or 3am. I then feed him without turning the light on until he's asleep again (I know some people disagree with feeding babies to sleep, but I do it for the night feeds only).

Bernadette - posted on 10/15/2009

Jordan you speak of it not being a good idea to bed share as that will teach the baby that it is acceptable, I would say rocking a baby to sleep is the same thing, although its nice, 2 people I know have done that and found it a hard habit to break, just bare that in mind.

Sharonda - posted on 10/15/2009

When my daughter was younger i started her in our bed. I would lay her down when i laid down. Started this routine as soon as i got her home from the hospital. At around 9pm i would give her a bath and at 1030pm i would give her a bottle and turn the lights off. It took about 2-3 months. even if i di dnot give her a bath i would wipe her down. This would relax her. She is now a year and when i cut the lights off and give her a bottle around 1030, she is sleep in 5-10 min. She sleeps all nite.When she stays at my moms. she gets a wartm bottle. puts her out too. Going to one routine to another every weekend kind of puts her off track but the bottles work when she is there.

Jordan - posted on 10/15/2009

When your baby wakes up at night even though your really tired you have to be consistent about putting them back in their own bed rather than bringing them to yours, it will only send the message that if they do it often enough you'll give in. Having a routine that is consistent every single night will give your baby a feeling of security. Try announcing about an hour before the time you set "it's time to start getting sleepy!" and do the same activities in the same order every night. Bottle, bath, story bed. Bath, story, bed. Bottle, story, bed whatever suits your fancy. My son and I cuddle up in a recliner with a blanket and his cup and just rock until he falls asleep.

Katarina - posted on 10/15/2009

yeah usually babies won't sleep thru the nite until after 3 months.

keeping your baby up during the day may backfire, as she may get over tired and stay up all night!

I have a 2 month old and we are still in the process of establishing a sleep schedule, but he does take 2-3 hour sleep breaks or even 4.5 hours sometimes.

having him full and dry seems to be the key.

i also help him fall asleep. i don't believe in letting yor baby cry herself to sleep this early on, as very young babies don't have the cognitive capacity to self soothe.

i usually keep my lil boy close to my chest and walk around with him and sing lullabies. when he is agitated, i swaddle him.

sometimes, we play soft music, and also sit with him in the shower with the water running. that really calms him!

of course, it;s good to do this at the same time every day...we try to follow a routine. also dimming the lights and turning the TV on mute helps.

right now, my baby sleeps either on my chest or stroller and seldom in his crib. we are slowly easing him into the crib...it takes time but all babies go at their own pace! reducing stimulation and keeping them full is key tho :) good luck !!

Kelliane - posted on 10/15/2009

i see that she is 3 months old. i had a rough time with my son. he's now 17 months old but he started sleeping through the night when he was a lil over 7 months. he never nap long. anything we did to try to keep him occupied only last 20 mins. the longest. for example. his swing, his lil vibrating chair.our arms. he was a typical active boy from the begining. they say keeping a routine is the best thing to do. say you bathe her, bring her into her room and dim the lights and read to her, sing or play relaxing music. hmm. just as long as you know she has a clean diaper and is fed. let her cry for a lil. she's still really young to let her cry for a long time but i would sugguest not giving into her wanting to play all the time. you both need your sanity and rest. hope this helps. believe me it gets better.

Colleen - posted on 10/15/2009

If she's overtired, she won't sleep well. I'm not sure how old your daughter is, but my son is 4.5 months and we had a bedtime routine from day 1, same time every night. He also has 2-3 naps during the day (one long one, and 1 or 2 short-ish ones).

Bernadette - posted on 10/14/2009

Don't expect her to sleep through until you start solids as breast milk is digested in just 2 hours where as formula is 4 hours. Breastfed babies (most of them) won't sleep through until solids start. Although my mum had us 3 girls sleeping through at 6 weeks, don't know how. Just do what works for you re bed timings and things leading up to bed time.

Mandy - posted on 10/14/2009

i wud normally breast feed her and give her a top up feel before i put her down coz then i know she is not hungry lol xx

Clarissa - posted on 10/14/2009

Well I have my 3 month old and 1 year old on the same schedule. They eat dinner at 6pm; my one year old eats whatever I cook with a sippy cup of milk and my 3 month old eats a cereal bottle w/ 2 ozs of cereal and 6 ozs of formula. Then at 7 o'clock they take a bath, I massage them with lotion, and by 8:30pm their out for the night. And don't wake up until 7am the next day. Hope this helps!

Bernadette - posted on 10/14/2009

3 hours is too long for a baby to be up unless they are happy the whole 3 hours.
Both my daughters (4 years and 4 months) have had routine since birth. Sleeping through since 6 weeks and 8 weeks old, my routine for my 4 mth old is awake at 7.30am down again at 9.30 up at 12.30 down at 2.30 up at 5.30 and down for the night at 7.30. The more they sleep during the day the more they will sleep at night, I know it sounds silly but it works, Try stretching out his own sleep pattern. Stop going in there at night unless he is screaming his head off, only go in there after 10 minutes (unless he is wet through or something), pat his back or tummy, no eye contact and no food and no noise or light, keep doing this and he will get it. At 3 months of age he should not be waking because he is hungry he will be waking because he can, his stomach will be big enough to hold enough to last through the night. (In saying this it is easier when solids are introduced. ) Try waking him when you want him to start waking himself and put him down when you want him down, it only takes a few days for them to catch on, as i said before, worth with your babies own times, eg, if he wakes at 9pm for feed, then make that the last feed of the night, don't make it 6pm and nothing until 6am. Remember everyone's advice is what has worked for them, you just have to find what works for you, best of luck.

Amber - posted on 10/13/2009

oh and its ok to let them cry for about 5-10 minutes. unless they start screaming of course. doctors say it helps their lungs. you need to dig into the info and find out as much as you can. also talk to her doctor about it

Amber - posted on 10/13/2009

fisrt of all how old is she? what i do with my baby is i will feed him and make him stay up for about 3 hours. babies can only handle so much and they get worn out so easy. tell me about the way you feed her and the way you fix her bottle. hope to hear from you soon

Kirsten - posted on 10/13/2009

If she's getting less than 12 hours sleep, even if it's broken up in a 24 hour period than you should probably ask your doctor about it. Babies need sleep and most of them will sleep 15 hours out of every 24 so if she's way off of that there may be something wrong.

Emma - posted on 10/13/2009

We decided on a time we thought was a good bedtime (7pm) and worked back from there. Starting with a warm bath at 6pm, and last feed at 6.45. Low lighting and trying to be quieter too also helps. Kind of setting a different tempo to that part of the day. I think they pick up from you that things are different. I used to have a few lullabies that I'd sing as well - very quietly as my singing voice is a bit rubbish!!
You will get there. My kids are 6 and 9 now but I still remember the early days and the need to establish sleep routines. Good luck,best wishes
Emma

Mandy - posted on 10/13/2009

she is 3 months and ive tried everything!! lol but even when she does sleep for 3 hours...thats it for the whole night... i just cant get her back to sleep.

Annette - posted on 10/13/2009

FRIST NEED 2 START 2 LET BABY WHINE DOWN AT THE SAME TIME EVERYNIGHT IF POSSIBLE, USE THAT NIGHT TIME BATH, DIM LIGHTS, GOOD BOTTLE, BURP, LOW MUSIC FINE, MAKE SURE BABY COMFORTABLE, THEN U MUST LEARN 2 LAVE LET BABY DO THE REST, WILL FALL ASLEEP, NOT SO MANY CATNAP, KEEP UP- GOING

Erin - posted on 10/12/2009

How old is she?

There are some good routines on www.babybliss.com.au - if they get over stimulated they can be impossible to get to sleep. find a routine and stick with it and it will start to work for u!

Victoria - posted on 10/12/2009

Set a time , say in bed for half 9 ... At around half 8 start bathing your baby & use talcum powder after the bath , spend some time giving your baby lot's of cuddles whilst getting him/her dry , give a bottle that is going to fill your baby up & have him/her put in bed for half 9 , light's dimmed , maybe some quiet t.v/music & keep doing this set routine every night , My baby is 13 week's & has done this since 8 week's ... She'll sleep sometimes right through from half 9 til 8am in morn , or if she does wake up she wakes up for a quick bottle at around 12 or 1 then back to sleep til 8 ish , Good luck xxx

Brittani - posted on 10/12/2009

try to keep her awake more in the day and give her a bath right before bed to help calm her down also you can try putting her to sleep your self and then laying her in her bed for the night..... me and my husband just went through the same thing my son is very hyper