Baths and night time routine!!

[gingajewel]

Hi All,

My 18 week old currently stays downstairs with us until we go to bed about ten, she will fall to sleep on the sofa but i am eager for her to go to sleep in her cot so me and OH get some alone time!!

At the moment i bath my LO 2/3 times a week with bubble bath and then put lotion on her. If i am incorperating a bath into her night time routine am i ok to bath her every night still using bubble bath etc.

My routine will be something like this:

Bath
Bottle
Cuddle with me and OH
put in cot

Thanks v much xxxx

 

[MrsT&Ben]

That's what we do I love my lo dearly but it's nice to have some grown up time x

 

[hayley x]

Its recommended baby stays in the same room as you for the 1st 6 month for all naps, but as a whole your routine sounds great we dont give LO a bath every night and she is now at the stage she knows when she is in her cot and its dark its time for a nap xxx

 

[kermie219]

we bath every night and she sleeps in her own room. I realise it's recommended but we just couldn't accommodate! we read while the bath is filling, then bath, then lotion, then bottle then goodbyes then cot. Sometimes she cried a bit and we leave her for a few minutes at a time then go in and touch her hand or something to calm her then leave the room again. We have to do that sometimes more then once I'll admit but generally she just goes down till hungry again at 4am but she knows that when we turn on the winnie lamp for reading time that it is bedtime lol

 

[binxyboo]

we have a similar routine.
Bath, bottle, then bed (moses basket in our room with the monitor on)

 

[Lara310809]

We don't use bubble bath, we only wash her hair with shampoo and rinse it, then use the water to wash her body, but don't actually use a product for it. I bath her every day - because of the climate here, we have to because she sweats lots. But we bath her in the morning, because we tried doing it at night and it just woke her up

We put her to bed between 7 and 9pm, but we normally feed her to sleep, which isn't really ideal, but for now it works. Once she falls asleep on the sofa, we take her to her cot. If she doesn't fall asleep with the feed, we will wait until she looks tired (rubbing her eyes, getting grouchy etc) and put her in her cot with her muslin (which she uses like a comfort blanket) and her dummy, and she usually falls asleep that way.

I didn't really see the point in routines before they were about 6 months old, but we tried it when she was about 8 weeks old, and it's been fantastic. We get time to ourselves, get to relax, and she sleeps better in the cot, so stays asleep for longer

 

[Nats21]

We've had a routine since 7 weeks and its worked great. It took a few days for him to get used to his new bedtime (8.00pm) but he soon adapted. We do bath (we use bubble bath every night), then into bedroom with classic fm on and he has his bottle, a kiss good night and he goes down into his cot and is asleep within 10 mins, its nice to have some alone time and we check on him regularly xxx

 

[Sam9kids]

I dont bath every day, twice a week for my little man

But he has bottle, then falls asleep in his chair then i carry him up to bed

 

[kindofagirl]

Yup we put Elliot in the bath at 6.15pm with Johnsons night time stuff (we got it free and I love it lol) then he gets his bottle at 6.30pm then straight to bed

I love him dearly but I love having a few hours to chill out on a night time

He has been in his own bedroom since he was 4 weeks old, he wears a sleeping bag for bed and there is nothing else in the cot with him and we have the monitors on, he is 26 weeks old now

 

[gingajewel]

Thank u all I felt a bit guilty saying i wanted some me time on a night but it is nice!

Thanks again xxxx

 

[babybliss]

When Carmen was first born She hated the bath (I think it was my fault cause I wasn't confident enough) and we were topping and tailing every day. Now its part of our night time routine. 6.30 bath 7.00PM Bottle and bed (Cot in our bedroom). So all the time after 7PM is Mommy's time : D Also I don't use bubbles just soap and I wash her hair as little as possible.

 

[hannahR]

I love having the evening to spend alone with hubby. I have two children and they both go in the bath at 6 with bubbles, get them dry, Hazel has the boob whilst i read Hollie her bedtime story and then i put them both to bed. Both asleep by the latest 7.30. xx

 

[Sazzoire]

We bath baby every other night, with bubbles. I then give her a bottle and then cuddle her to sleep, swaddle then bed between 8-9pm... last night I put her in her own room for the first time. I have kept her in the Moses basket, in her cot, just to get used to the room. Hubby was disturbing her sleep with his snoring... She slept great! She has been sleeping through for about the last 2-3 weeks from 8-9pm through to 6.30-7am. This works for us! I love having my evenings back.

xx

 

[matsuken]

Well, as a whole your routine sounds great.

 

[RJsMum]

We incorporate a bath into the routine only during the week and with that we shampoo his little bonce every other night so it won't dry out his scalp. After his bath he gets lotioned and PJ'd while we sing songs, then DH and I take turns reading him a story while he has his last nursing feed -- he also has a lovey Hippo I place between us so when he wakes in the night it gives him comfort and we don't have to worry about popping a dummy back in his mouth. I wait until he slows a bit and his eyes get droopy and then he goes into his cot with some white noise from his Sleep Sheep.

If he's wiggly when we put him down, we just keep a hand on his back until he falls asleep since we don't personally believe in CIO/CC.

I think any calming routine before bed is good as long as it is consistent and there are cues for LO that bedtime is approaching. It helps them to wind down.