Bedtime routine???

baby09

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Hello! My little girl is 12 days old and i gave her her first bath on Friday. I tried feeding her first then giving her a bath but she must've forgotton she'd eaten and wanted more after, so she had 4oz before and 2oz after which i think is a lot for her age! So tonight i bathed her first then gave her a feed but she didn't enjoy the bath like fri because i think she was hungry! She had 4oz and fell asleep on the bottle when usually she goes down awake and self settles. She is still asleep and has been since 7. So which way is the right way round? What routine do you ladies do? I know she is very young and i don't really need a strict routine yet but i wanted to implement it early so she knew the difference between day and night and hopefully it'll go smoothly when she does settle into a routine. (although she's doing pretty well already :cloud9:) Sorry it's so long lol just wanted others ideas :thumbup: x Thanks x
 
We were like you and had a routine going even before she knew the difference between night and day. From about one week old we would do bath, bottle, little massage with cream, bed (and by bed we meant to start with into sleeping bag). For about 5 weeks it was pretty meaningless as she would sleep when she wanted and that was mainlt during the day and up at night!

However, now at nine weeks I would say 80% of the time it really works. We do bath, bottle, bed and she normally goes into a really big sleep. Sometimes it takes 3 goes at settling her but then she goes off. Last night she slept from 9 until 7.30 and didn't wake for a feed! However on Saturday she didn't go down after her bottle for two hours and then got up really early so it is not fool proof.

We vary the time we do the routine everynight depending on her. She is still too little to fix a time for bed i think.

Hope this helps
 
I have a similar dilemma. Never know whether to feed before bath but have found if she's hungry she gets grizzly after, when dressing her. I also do a massage and have been using the Johnson's Bedtime Wash and then massaging with Johnson's Bedtime Cream. It's really calming and does seem to help with the sleep. I've also found that even if I do feed her before the bath she wants some more after. I think this is a good thing, though, as it means she's getting more food in her tummy, so will hopefully will sleep for longer.

I also don't know what time to start the routine. Sometimes I do it so she goes down at 8.30, sometimes 9.30 and sometimes about 10pm, which seems to late. But it tends to depend on what's happened earlier, when she's eaten, when she's slept. I look forward to having a more regular, consistent routine.... I hope!!
 
Yes it has helped thank you! Nice to know others started it quite early on. Another thing lol ... Isabella feeds at 7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm then about 5.30pm/6pm. But she sleeps from about 4.30pm onwards. So my wonder is, when do i fit the bath in before her 6pm feed? Because like i said tonight she cried because she was hungry so i rushed the bath but that means i'd have to wake her from her nap when she's not had very long :shrug: Sorry again for the long post i'm just confused lol and would like it all straight in my head iykwim :thumbup: x
 
We had the same problem - when she wanted to go to bed was not naturally when she was due another feed. My sister suggested waking her up to bath and then to bed. That didn't work - she'd scream during her bath.

Now she is bigger I know she has a feed anywhere between 4 and 6 so not great for a roughly 8pm bed time as she normally goes 4 hours between feeds during the day. So now I feed her whenever she wants it during the day and then offer her another bottle after her bath at bedtime. She has never taken less than 3oz of this 'extra' feed ( normally has 6 oz). I think this top up has helped her go through the night.

I do try and make sure she has her big sleep of the day between about 10 and 2 - we go out and do stuff which works rather than late afternoon. This way she is more awake after late afternoon feed. However, sometimes she sleeps when she wants, and keeping her awake is more hassle than its worth. Last week she literallly slept all day but still had a really good night. This also works the other way around.

OH and I have debated bedtime and feed routines for hours! We try to only change one thing at a time to see if it works e.g. establish routine first of bath bottle bed then work on the timing of it!
 
I did wake her from her nap this evenin at 6pm and had the bath ready but she realised she was hungry lol and was upset during the bath so i quickly rushed it, got her dressed then fed her. I didn't want to wake her any earlier because she didn't fall asleep till 4.30ish after being awake since 2.30pm (last feed) It just seems the timings are all wrong with naps/feeds/bath to go smoothly? And i really wanted her to enjoy the bath and it be a wind down time. I'm rambling! lol x
 
I did wake her from her nap this evenin at 6pm and had the bath ready but she realised she was hungry lol and was upset during the bath so i quickly rushed it, got her dressed then fed her. I didn't want to wake her any earlier because she didn't fall asleep till 4.30ish after being awake since 2.30pm (last feed) It just seems the timings are all wrong with naps/feeds/bath to go smoothly? And i really wanted her to enjoy the bath and it be a wind down time. I'm rambling! lol x

Hi there

Hate to tell you this hun but my LO is 12 weeks and I STILL haven't got the knack of naps/bath and bed time. Like tonight for example, he was getting tired at 6.30 pm but he wasn't due a feed until 7.30pm.... we bathed him and tried to give him a bottle but he didn't want it (because it had taken me a long while to feed him in his previous feed), and he went to sleep.. but woke up an hour later. :dohh:

I cannot seem to get the bedtime thing right- either he naps at around 6 and so wont settle after his bath and bottle, or he doesnt have the late afternoon nap, gets tired early, sleeps without feeding and then wakes up (and we are STILL trying to settle him). I don't know how others do it... it just doesn't seem to work for us.

I am rather envious of all those who manage to take their baby up for a bath and bottle, and then can get their baby off to sleep within 15 minutes. :nope:
 
Well she's just waking up now oh is feeding her. Haven't heard a peep from her since 7 so maybe i did it the right way round tonight and it may just take her a while to realise she will get fed straight after her bath, then she might enjoy the bath :thumbup: Who knows lol! I was also thinking of splitting the 6pm feed, like 3oz before bath to keep her going then 2oz after to fill her up for bed??? x
 

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