Bedtime routine/falling asleep question

[bv82]

Is it only my luck, or does every baby fuss when it is time to go to sleep?
Before, when she was little, we had an excellent routine every evening with a bath, bottle and swaddling. Now, it seems every night is a struggle to get her to sleep because all she ever wants to do is PLAY PLAY PLAY.

What is a good suggestion and a good method to help her fall sleep with more ease now that she is older?

 

[kelly2903]

hey hun, or little bubz are gettin to a very nosey age and dont want to miss a thing lol bless them, i had this prob my self, i have now stopped giving lilly her bedtime bot down stairs she takes it to bed with her, with lights out all cosy in her cot and she just nods off wen shes nearly drank it, so i give her half an hour and check on her, take the bottle away its working a treat, xxx

 

[ryder]

not sure, Jasmine is only 3 months and havent had a problem yet.. But I hope you figure it out!

 

[alloyd519]

My girls don't really calm down before bed either, but luckily for me they always fall asleep at bedtime. What I do is do a bath and use the johnsons bed time bath and lotion, then we play for a while and when it's time to go to bed I put them in their cribs with their blankets and paci's and I play a Baby Einstein goodnight cd and they're always passed out half way through it!

 

[bv82]

not sure, Jasmine is only 3 months and havent had a problem yet.. But I hope you figure it out!

Mia slept without any problems at that stage :S

 

[luckyme225]

Connor just kind of knows when it's time for bed. He will be wide awake and we will read him goodnight moon then put him in his crib with his teddy and blanket and 2 minutes later he's asleep.

 

[Chel]

I dont know what routine you're trying now, but maybe go back to a really structured bedtime routine.

As you said bath, bottle, swaddle, bed. Maybe try a bedtime story and possibly try putting a CD player with the same song on repeat every night - this worked in the nursery I worked in, except you go a bit crazy hearing the same a couple of songs day in day out... but it did work!

Another trick I've heard is to have a bed time teddy or bedtime blanket that is exclusively for sleep time, as another way to tell her its bedtime now.

Then, I'm a bit of a 'tough love' mummy, I'd go through the whole routine and put her to bed, close the door and walk away... try to leave her for as long as possible... and... really...as long as possible... I'd probably aim full half hour of crying, then go back in and tell her firmly that its bedtime and she needs to go to sleep, then walk out and leave her another half hour, but thats just me, I've worked in a nursery, so provided I know bub is safe, warm, fed and nothing is wrong, I can handle the crying.

I know letting bubs cry can be a little controversial, so this is simply what I think I would do in that situation.

 

[Serene123]

Could you try putting her to bed earlier? I know it seems ridiculous but Caitlyn fusses alot less if she's in bed earlier

 

[bv82]

Well sometimes, she falls asleep really early, like 7 pm and she can sleep for 12-13 hours.
I just wanna reinstitute her routine because I think with us moving around in the past few months that was kind of lost.
And I have never left her cry it out, I just can't do it. I am a wuss when it comes to that. She is covered in hives if she cries for 2 minutes so I don't wanna know what would happen if she cries for 10.
Thanks for the advice. I am definitely doing the cd thing though, I did that before and it sure worked.

 

[sam's mum]

Sam's exactly the same. He used to be so good at going to bed - we'd put him down at the same time every night (even if he was still awake) and he'd sleep all night. Now he's so playful in the evenings and is not happy if we put him in his cot before he's ready to go to sleep! I don't know what else to try either...I can't leave him to cry either - I know it wouldn't do him any harm but I can't last longer than about a minute with him crying (doesn't help that he's teething and I worry that I'd be leaving him there in pain).

I think I'm going to try the CD thing tonight too - with the song from one of our adverts on tv...it's the only thing that is almost guaranteed to make him stop whatever he's doing and actually sit still x

 

[bv82]

^ what song is that Lynn? hahaha gimme some!

 

[nikky0907]

Oh that scares me!
We still have the nice bath/bottle/bed routine... Hope you figure it out soon

 

[sam's mum]

^ what song is that Lynn? hahaha gimme some!

https://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ3zvHFMLFo

Don't know why he likes it so much!! I'm getting sick of hearing it though ...was up playing it in the middle of the night again! x

 

[PitBullMommy]

Yipe! I hope it gets figured out soon! Char gets her bath, bunny, book, bubba and then goes straight into the crib whether she's asleep or not. If she's not she'll play quietly until she falls asleep on her own. I think we're unusually lucky!

 

[cupcake]

omg I'm getting depressed ( for myself lol), you are all such good moms, my little man doesn't have a bedtime. Because he co-sleeps he just gets into bed when i do and when he is tired before he falls asleep in the stroller and then i move him. I really really want to institute bedtime but feel its dumb unless i move him into a crib. How do you do it Toria if you co-sleep?