What is your bed time routine

Annick - posted on 11/13/2010

my routine sounds alot like everyone elses. bath then clean diaper and jammies. then he gets a bottle and burps. we swaddle the bottom half of him and then read him a story in the rocking chair. then we turn off the lights and cuddle for a few minutes and then it's bedtime. he's sleeps through the night until around 6:30... somtimes he wakes up for his soother but never a feeding :)

Charley - posted on 11/09/2010

my daughter is 6 months from 12 weeks old she would be in the bath at 7, by 7.30 having a bottle. as soon as she was winded i would put her in her cot, she would always be awake. within 5 minutes she would be asleep, she dont often cry, but wen she does i just leave her and see if she settltes on her own if not put the cot mobile on. she is always asleep by 8 and sleeps all through the night. to leave a baby crying 4 a few mins doesnt mean your bad!

Shay - posted on 10/14/2010

i started a routine at 20 weeks too. she gets her solids at 5:30 then bath then play with daddy then bottle and bed at 6-30 -7. she puts her self to sleep with her music lullaby mobile on. she will sleep till about 2:30am bottle then sleep until 6am she doesnt usually sleep all nite.

Christina - posted on 10/05/2010

I started a routine with my 20 wk old at about 16 wks. She gets a bath at 8pm, i put her pajamas on and she usually wants to play for a few minutes before she has her bedtime bottle. After her bottle, I burp her, swaddle her, and she goes right to sleep. I was so happy the first time she slept through the night.

Shauna Mc - posted on 10/03/2010

Since my son was 8 weeks old he been sleeping through the night. I never forced a routine on him i was just going by what he wanted and its worked out really well for me as he would go down to bed between 7/8pm awake and settle himself to sleep he would wake then around 7/8am for his first feed of the day.

Lama - posted on 09/29/2010

what a lovely moment heather:)) its the same routine for my 4 month baby boy..at 3 pm i play alot with him and its not allowd for naps any more so he can sleep at night untill morning
at 7 i give him a hot shower and then watch his soft music video feed him and finally in his crib..its momy and daddy time :D

Lauren - posted on 09/29/2010

I've started a routine with my daughter as well. She is 4 months old and it seems to really be working. She is in daycare M-F and by the time I get her at 530PM, she is usually already pretty worn out. When we get home we play for a little bit, I give her a bath and a bottle and put her down between 7-730PM. For the most part she has been sleeping through the night, waking up around 6:30AM each morning. Routine's definitely help so I encourage all you parents out there to start one now while they are still young! It really is a life saver

Allisha - posted on 09/29/2010

I total agree Nadia.Its so much easier if your out and not home at nap time it doesnt matter or if you go out for tea or to you families for dinner etc. They get a bath when i have time to in the day to bath them sometimes its in the morning sometimes at night sometimes at 2 or 3 in the arvo. I never had a routine with meeky either as i went back to work when she was 3 months old so she'd stay with my mum and would be there til i picked her up about 10pm when i'd finish and as she got older mum would keep her up so that she wasnt up all night when we got home..As she got older and she dropped her arvo nap my partner would pick her up while i was working and bring her home.. As for now since im home with both kids, I dont really feel like fighting with her everynight to get her to bed at a certain time so i let her go and about 9/930 i make her go to bed and she doesnt put up a fight but if she is tired before that she tells us "mummy i wanna go to bed now" and walks into her room. And thats good enuogh for us because it gives her a bit more time with her dad when he gets home..

Nadia - posted on 09/27/2010

I don't have a routine at all for my daughter. She's been sleeping through the night for the past two months now, and even when we moved out of my parents place into our own, she was fine. Sleeps from seven or eight through till around six-seven the next morning. Her baths are usually in the morning, because we both go for naps in the afternoon. Lol.

But she's a happy, content baby, always smiling and rarely cries. Generally puts herself to sleep when we put her in the cot at night, or even during the day.

But I'm sure a routine would work with a baby who has troubles with sleep time. =]

Jena - posted on 09/27/2010

My son is also around 16 weeks. He gets his bath at 8:30pm every night and i let him play in the water until he seems finished because he loves it so. Then I take him to his room and dry him off. After that I break out the baby lotion and give him his infant massage which includes not only touch, but lots of eye contact and talking-- this is when I get the biggest smiles from him :) After the massage, I sit him down with me to breastfeed and read him a story. By the time I'm finished he's usually asleep and then he is done for the night and doesn't wake until 5 or 6am. I love baby routines! Everyone is always so much happier!!!

Megan - posted on 09/27/2010

My daughter has her bath at 6-630pm has a bottle then has a little play time till about 7-730 and is asleep by 8 on the dot most nights, then she wakes up at 6am the next morning, But shes been sleeping through since she was 3 weeks old and shes now 18 weeks old and still doing the same thing

Sol - posted on 09/26/2010

I think that parents that do it without a routine, like myself, have been blessed with really easy going and self content babies. But for me, it is great, I really don't like routine. Not for now, at least, maybe when he goes to school, then it might come in handy!

Ammanda - posted on 09/26/2010

My son since he came home from the hospital , i have had a Routine with him and he loves it .. and so do i . i also have a 2 year old and he was the same way , but my 2 year old wakes up more than my 4 month old :( but Taylor ( 4 month Old ) we play till he seems like he is getting a little tired and than i give him his pablum and than have a bath , play in there for 5-7 mins and than get him dressed and than he has his bottle 8 oz and than he is out for the night sometimes he will wake up for a little bit but than he will finish the rest of his bottle and than go to sleep for the night , i never rocked either of my kids , cause Tyson i was Breast feeding him till 14 months old and than with Taylor he does not really like being held . but Taylor has been sleeping threw the night since the 1st night ..i love having a routine its a life saver and i don;t know how parents do with out one . makes sence to me to have a routine , and than my kids always knows whats coming next :).

Sol - posted on 09/25/2010

We don't have a routine, but by 22 -22.30 he is in bed after his last bottle, and will wake up at 7.00am for his first bottle of the day.

Allisha - posted on 09/25/2010

We don't have a strict routine either but 95% percent of the time connor starts to get tired round 7pm we sit on the lounge and feed him then he goes to sleep in my arms and i put him to bed...(We sort of figured the whole lights down quiet room wouldn't really work as having a 3 yr old makes the place noisey sometimes and we dont want him to startle himself if he hears a noise..He is pretty good though i can vaccum an while he is asleep in his rocker and he doesnt stir) He the stirs bout 5am looking for his dummy so i pick him up and we have a cuddle in bed and he goes back to sleep for a bit then wants his bottle between 630-730am.

Tracy - posted on 09/24/2010

Reading all these posts about bedtime makes me feel so good about being a mommy. I guess we are all in the same boat. I have just recently starting bathing my 4 month old at night, breast feed her in her room with the nightlight on, finish off with some thawed breast milk in a bottle (to ensure her belly is full), rock her and kiss her goodnight.... swaddle her nice and snug and place her in her crib. She squirms a little and tries to get her hands free (sometimes she succeeds) and no later than 9pm she is off to dream land. it is hit or miss whether she gets up at 3a (4a) or not.... about every 4 days or so she sleeps through the night until around 6:30 to 7a which is welcomed when it comes. I feel comfortable with the routine. Awesome touching base with you guys! Thank you for sharing.

Vicky - posted on 09/23/2010

I don't have a routine for my 4 month old son as I don't want him to get used to having it a certain way incase things change. But he does usually have his last feed about 8/9pm and we do turn the tv and lights off for that. If he was awake before that feed he may cry for a bit, but if he was asleep just before that he goes down without a problem. We only put on the lullaby if he is crying. He usually sleeps till about 7. Then goes straight back down, tho sometimes is does play a bit before dropping back off..

Lisa - posted on 09/21/2010

We dont have a routine but i know he's always ready for bed around 8pm..he'll sometimes wake up around 10 or 11 then sleeps for the rest of the night. He'll usually wake up around 6 but sometimes he wakes up at 4am..then takes 2 naps one in the morning then around noon and stays awake throughout the day.

Carolyn - posted on 09/20/2010

with my 4 month old I nurse her on one side (usually around 7:15 or so), bathe her if it's bath night, get her jammies on in her nursery (if it's not bath night I take her up to her nursery to get jammies on), nurse her until she's had her fill, then rock with her until she falls asleep (usually by 8:30 although tonight she was sleeping by 8). Sometimes I put her down before she's asleep because I don't want her to need me to rock her all the way to sleep. I do hear her wake at night occasionally (around the time she used to get up to nurse) but she is able to put herself back to sleep but sucking on her thumb. She stays asleep until 6 sometimes later (this morning she slept until 7:30!). We started a routine around 6 weeks or so when she started sleeping 5-6 hours at night and she really thrives on it...we messed with it once (we were out at a friends' house where she fell asleep at her usual bedtime and woke back up when we got home) and we paid for it dearly (she was crying for almost an hour).

Emma - posted on 09/20/2010

Our routine sounds very similar but it starts at 6.15pm, Libby (18 weeks) just get grumpy if we leave it any later. We bath, jammies, clean nappy, all curtains upstairs closed and then I sit and feed her in the rocking chair in her room, by the time she has finished she is usually struggling to keep her eyes open so I pop her in her cot, she sucks her thumb for a short while and that is her out for the count until somewhere between 6.30am - 7.30am. We also started our routine around 10 weeks. A couple of times a week my husband will feed her expressed breast milk using the same rountine, but I do love my end of day cuddles!

Brittany - posted on 09/18/2010

Our girl gets a bath at 8, jammies, and a clean diaper. I lay her down, and lay beside her and breastfeed. She lets me know when she finishes, unlatches, and is off to sleep. She only makes 5-6 hours before shes up again though, and its two hours usually twice, depending on the previous day. :) -- she already knows that after bath, its eating, & sleeping :)

Candace - posted on 09/17/2010

My son gets a bath at seven thirty, after his bath I play with him until around 8:15. I then read him a bedtime story, give him his bottle, burp him and lay him in his bed and he'll usually nod right off to sleep. He'll sleep until three or four am and wake for a feeding and then he's back out!