How do you define "bedtime" for lo

[Steelgoddess]

Ok I know this might sound like a dumb question but how do you define bedtime for lo alot of you say at "bedtime" lo has so and so milk etc etc etc...

I have not implemented a set routine just yet, the reason i ask is at the moment he comes up with us (normally 10:30pm), every night he has his night clothes put on with his 9pm feed, but then he has another feed a bit later so would the 9pm be his bedtime???

What i'd like to know is should at 9pm after i have put his night clothes on and feed and burped him take him upstairs and try to settle him?? The only thing is normally around 9pm he is wide awake and doesn;'t fall asleep properly til around 12 I have tried going to bed earlier and he won;'t have a bar of it...

hence my question about bedtime...

 

[jennifer1981]

we kind of 'fell' into a routine with Dylan. We started bathing him (depending on what time his bottle fell) around 6:30-7:30ish. The bath seems to knock him out. After his bath we have some 'quiet time'. I just turn the main light off in the living room and put a dim lamp on while im dressing him and i dont play with him (ah sounds harsh!). Then he always likes a littlwe bit of bottle before he goes to sleep. At the moment he sleeps downstairs until we go up to bed. Il usually have to wake him for a bottle about 11pm.He goes straight back to sleep after this bottle and then we take him up to his cot. He tends to sleep until 5am, has a bottle and wakes for the day at about 8am. I feel really lucky coz OH and I get a good few hours to ourself in the night to wind down after the day and have our tea together

 

[lfc_sarah]

How cute is your avatar! Awwww

Callum has a bath and then his milk in the rocking chair upstairs
Give him expressed milk at this point because he takes more

Then he goes to sleep and doesnt wake up until morning

 

[Becky]

We picked a time of night and after that we put DD upstairs and didn't bring her down again. I think it was about 8/9pm. When we did go up to her we would keep the lights off if possible or at least very low, we wouldn't talk to her except to make shushing/comforting noises. This meant that it didn't matter what routine we used up to this point but that she learnt that upstairs and dark meant night time.

 

[daftscotslass]

We started a bedtime routine quite early (probably around 5-8 weeks) but I think it was more for my sanity than hers when she was colicky. It was bath, sleepsuit on (or clean sleepsuit on), bottle and then bed. Previously she had been with us in her Moses basket/playpen in the living room until we went to bed at 10ish. She still woke for feeds regularly for some time but settled back to sleep almost immediately ever since we started doing that. Was completely different to the daytime where she is all systems go all the time

 

[moss]

Steelgoddess we are word for word the same as you. Jacob never settles in his bed until 12 no matter how sleepy he is. We have a routing but he still needs to be with us until then. I don't know what changes at that time but I'm hoping to push back the time somehow.

 

[Suzie and Faith]

At 8 weeks I started a 'routine' basically i give Faith 30 min (ish) nappy-off time then bath, lights down low, dress in night stuff, milk, story, more milk then bed! (well crib) we put the sounds and lights thing on and leave her too it! Normally works!

We started off beginning the routine at about 9pm (ending with her in bed asleep at 10pm) then after a week or so, once she'd got used to it, we gradually made it earlier and now we start the routine at 6:45pm and she is in bed asleep by 7.45pm! tis great!!

so i'd say start with a definite routine and do it over and over until hayden gets used to it then slowly bring it forward. it will all fall into place sweetie xxxx

 

[kalia]

I'm hoping to push back the time somehow.

The clocks change in a few weeks so that will push the time back without you having to make any change

 

[Redshoes]

Can't help with your LO's age as we didn't start a bedtime with Isaac until he was almost 6months, when we went from co-sleeping to him being in his cot, before that he'd just sleep next to us in the room and go up when we did. Very best wishes with whatever you try, I hope you find a nice routine that suits you both soon

 

[Hazel]

We've fallen into a routine.We have dinner at 6pm then at 6.30pm we take her for a 20 minute walk for some fresh air. At 7pm she has a bottle and we put bedtime clothes on (long sleeved vest and grobag) then she'll be asleep by 8pm. I would ideally like her to stay awake later as it means we have to be home by 7pm and can't go out for dinner or visit family in the evenings as she gets grouchy and won't sleep properly if we're later than this. Also she wakes at 6am everyday so a later bedtime would be nice. She sleeps downstairs with us until 10.30pm when she wakes (or we wake her) for a bottle then we put her uptairs in the cot where she goes back to sleep again.

 

[purple13]

we let connor define his own bedtime.

we always dimmed the lights in the lounge and turned the telly volume down, but for the first 3 months, his sleeping pattern in the evening was unpredictable. we let him fall asleep on us then took him to bed with us when we went.

at about 4 months old, he started to go to sleep at 9.30pm every night, so we made that his bedtime and started a wind-down routine beforehand - bath, book, boob, then feed-to-sleep - then we put him down in his cradle. he gradually brought the time forward on his own and is now usually in bed by 8.30pm, although i can generally read the signs earlier in the day and know if he's going to be tired earlier/later in the evening and adjust bedtime wind-down accordingly.

 

[maybebaby]

We start bedtime at 7.30 when he goes in the bath. He then goes into PJs and brushes his teeth, then has story and milk with daddy. He's normally in bed by about 8.15 and usually falls asleep pretty quickly (within a few mins).

We didn't establish a proper routine until he was about 4 months old & went into his own room. There's no hurry if you're happy with the way things are carry on

 

[loz]

Emms didnt ever fall asleep before 11pm at that age. It was about 5 months that she would actually sleep earlier in the evening. At 3 1/2 months she slept through the night but she still wouldnt fall asleep before 11pm. I think it's quite normal for newbies to not properly go to sleep before midnight.

 

[trixipaws]

at his age melissa was still going to bed with us, around midnight or 1am. she decided to set a bedtime routine herself aged 3 months, she started getting really cranky and irritable every evening, nothing would settle her and we were puzzled. we tried bath, bedclothes, milk, bed routine at 7.30pm one nite last september, and it worked a treat! she had clearly been tryna tell us that she needs to go to bed earlier! when u do the routine, try to keep it same each nite and do the last feed in a QUIET room with LOW lighting, no tv etc as this is stimulating and will stop him winding down.

 

[tinkerbell*]

theo has never been a good sleeper, so we started a bedtime routine
5:30 - 1/2 bottle
6pm - Bath Time
6:30 - 1/2 bottle
7pm - Bedtime (in cot)


the second bottle is given in bedroom with just very dim-lighting.

he is really good at it now, he does straight in to his bed without any fuss, i make sure that he knows he is going in to his cot, and he falls alseep by himself.

usually wakes up at 12:30, 1'ish for a quick 20min feed

then will wake at 5:30 for quick feed