help with my bedtime "routine".

[Amy_J]

ok... sorry in advance. so marley has now been sleeping through for 2 weeks thanks to what my oh calls the "latte magico" (magic milk lol)

now my problem is that even though he seemed to have a set bedtime routine of going to bed 9pm.. thats gone out of the window and it can be anywhere between 7pm and 11pm! =(

he naps for an hour before lunch, and usually half an hour in the afternoon, ive tried to get him to nap abit longer in the afternoon so that he doesnt fall asleep at half6, and then he is actually tired for his bottle at half 8.


he has dinner every day at 5pm, and has a bath straight after unless we are out. i bath him early but i let him play with food at dinner time and he gets filthy. last night he fell asleep in his pram from half6 until about 8. he had 9oz at 8.30, i put him in his cot awake and me and oh sat down to dinner, then oh went and brought him in the living room as he was still awake. (so annoyed with him grrr)

ive tried to do his bedtime bottle earlier by half an hour but he just doesnt seem ready for it. should i put him in his cot after his bath? id love for him to have a bath then bottle then bed. it doesnt seem to be working for us though. grrr.

its quite hard to get through to my oh about the importance not only for marley but for us as a couple to get him in bed earlier so we can have some time to us. italians have a later evening routine than we do, eating around 9 even 10, kids too, so he doesnt see the problem with him going to bed at 9 or 10 or even later.

any suggestions???

 

[Zazu]

Could you maybe Give him dinner a bit earlier, and clean him up after his dinner so u can do his bath a bit later?

Zac hac has dinner at 4.30-5.00 then has bath at 6.20, bottle at 6.45 then bed at 7. I find the bath wakes him up a bit, if he is getting a bit grouchy, but then he knows it is bedtime after so he is ready for bed then.

Hope you fine something that works for you x

 

[Zazu]

Oh I have got these bibs that cover all his front an his arms and can be wiped clean, so he doesn't get as messy when playing with his food, they are from tesco x

 

[frankie707]

Wss sounds good. Tbh if we get to 5pm and G hasn't fallen asleep for his afternoon nap he dosent get it-I keep him awake and maybe move bedtime routine a bit earlier cos he's tired and he might go down at half 6 instead of 7. Maybe try and be firm on when his last nap is so he's tired and ready for bed earlier.

 

[Minchin]

yeah we do dinner at 5 ish and bed between 6.30-7.30 depending on the last nap.
Dinner is messy but we often use a flannel and change clothes and let him have some naked time for a while!
Good luck!

 

[Esoames]

Isla naps at 9:30, 1ish and 5ish. When she gets grumpy she goes straight to bed where she rolls over, shoves her fingers in her mouth and her arm over her eyes (it's so cute) she loves bedtime. I owe it to her to give her the rest she needs, I used to misread her and offer more food but now I know she's just tired. If she doesn't nap properly I get a grumpy horrible child who I count down the minutes to bedtime!

Dinner is either before or after her afternoon nap depending on how she feels. She's in bed between 7-8 nearer 7 most nights. She's shattered by then! How does he stay up so late?

Emma x

 

[Yodabo]

Drake doesn't sleep after 4pm. He has dinner around 5pm, depending on messy he gets I'll clean him up and leave him naked for a bit, he loves it! Bath is 6.30pm and I aim to have him in bed at 7pm. I did read to keep your bedtime routine quite short otherwise they get overtired. You could try giving him his tea earlier, clean him up and leave him in his nappy for a bit. Then aim to have his bath at 6.30pm in bed for 7pm?

 

[Yodabo]

Forgot to say that I give Drakes bedtime bottle in stages as he doesn't drink it all in one go. He has half then I'll put him to bed and try and get him to take the rest lying down. Works everytime for us!

 

[Amy_J]

thanks ladies. tbh i dont know sometimes how he is awake so long, he is full of energy and so hyper (eeek) by 9pm im usually exhausted and he's still full of beans.

lastnight he had dinner and bath like usual then played for a bit, by about 7pm he started to fall asleep which i knew would be just a nap for hlaf hour and hour and then be awake all evening!, so we kept him awake till 8.15, gave him his bottle and he fell asleep about 8.30, and slept till 9 this morning. at least me and oh had a few baby free hours!

if i tried to give him his bottle earlier, he wouldnt drink any as hes never usually hungry! tonight i am going to try to leave him after dinner, bath at 6.30 & see if he will take his milk at 7pm and go to bed.... i have my doubts tho =( oh and i like the idea of no sleep after 4pm, that way he MUST be tired by 7 sureley!?!

i'll report back!

 

[Zazu]

Good luck! X

 

[Amy_J]

..... =( i kept him awake till half 7, he had a bath, drank most of his bottle and i out him in his cot at 8.... hes still wide awake playing and shouting dadada dadaad dadad. why wont he sleep?! =(

 

[frankie707]

If you just leave him there will he settle himself? Maybe if you put him down earlier bit by bit and just left him he might get bored and go to sleep?

 

[Amy_J]

oh is in there playing with him now. grrr. =((

 

[Amy_J]

... i just went to shout at oh lol... and they are BOTH fast asleep together on the bed!!!!! im gunna stick with putting him in his cot by 8pm and hopefully he'll learn it's bedtime! phew.

 

[frankie707]

Lol at oh I think that sounds like a sensible plan, hope he learns quickly

 

[JJ Mum]

We used to have Devon's bedtime at 9pm, and we couldn't get it shunted earlier at all, but the last two weeks he has shunted it himself, and now goes down at 8pm, (745pm tonight, earliest yet), and will sleep till 6am or 7am most days. We have tea in coverall mothercare bibs (not wipe clean but washable), and I take all trousers off for food! Then I use a flannel (brought dark ones specially for him). Dinner at 430/5pm, he has milk after dinner,as part of dinner , and then he might catnap, or stay up, and then I will bath him at 645pm, ready for bedtime milk at 7pm, and then bed by 8pm. He does have a light/activity show thing on his cot, rainforest thingy which is built into his bedtime routene now to stop him crying when he goes down, but that took a while to biuld into routene. Def keep it the same every day if possible, babys will get alot from sticking to a routene and will feel reasured and safe following it - good luck

 

[Amy_J]

hi ladies, just thought i would update! thanks for your advice and help! lastnight i woke marley up at 4pm when he was napping, i knew he'd have slept for ages otherwise! he had dinner 5. bath at 7 and i tried his bottle but he was having none of it. so at half 7 i put him in bed. by 8pm he was conked out afterplaying and whinging a little bit but i stayed strong and didnt bring him in the living room with us!!!!! i gave him his milk then when he was lay down asleep (thanks yodabo!) and he woke at 6. this is the earliest he's woken in a few weeks, but it was so nice to have him in bed that early! he drank 8oz and woke at 9.30 for breakfast!! i will be doing the same tonight, so fingers crossed and thankyou all again! =))

 

[frankie707]

Glad to hear you had a good night, stick with it and hopefully your evenings are now yours again.

 

[Amy_J]

tonight went well too!!! =) asleep by 8! thankyou so much ladies!!

 

[Zazu]

Yay! Great news x