Routines - how /when

[bumphope]

Our little girl is 4 weeks today... We keep her downstairs with us until we go to bed about 9-ish, put her pj's on, feed her, swaddle her and put her in her Moses basket next to our bed for sleep. It's working really well - she pretty much goes straight off then stirs around 1am and we are waiting until she wakes for food around 2-3am, then she stirs again around 5-6am and we feed her 6-6.45am. She will then sleep until about 9.30am, eat again and go back to sleep for another couple of hours before being awake until a nap around 3-ish.

How do we go from this routine to her going to bed before us? Do we go and just do the bedtime routine earlier and see what happens? Or is it too early yet to start this?

At the minute she spends most of the evening grizzling, she doesn't seem hungry so I wonder if she's just tired?

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[KittyCat83]

Firstly, I think you're doing great! At 4 weeks, my LO had no semblance of a routine at all - he wouldn't sleep in his Moses basket so we had to do some co-sleeping even though I never thought I would. He also wouldn't settle properly for the night till about 12am and then his longest stretch would only be about 2 hours.

We just went with it and then one day when he was a little older, we found that he would go into his basket. From here, we then noticed him becoming really fussy around 10pm and showing real signs of tiredness so tried putting him to bed at this time and it worked. This didn't last long though and we gradually found that he was increasingly difficult to settle at this time, so we tried 9pm and this worked well.

Basically, we just followed his lead and watched for clues that he wanted an earlier bedtime. Generally being fussier at his usual bedtime and being harder to settle are the signs we watch out for. He now goes to bed at 8:30, though I suspect this will change soon. He's 4 months old and will also wake once in the night for a feed.

Just go with it is what I would say and you'll know when to introduce an earlier bedtime. When LO was going to bed at 12am, I worried that we'd never end up with an early bedtime but he got there in the end.

 

[BabyMamma93]

at 4 week old i think my LB was still sleeping all day apart from waking for a bottle lol.. i think we started putting him to bed at about 8 week old, even then there was no routine really as he was starting to be awake more by then, i just used to wash and put his pjs on him, give him a bottle, get him to sleep then take him to bed, leave him till he cried for a feed which usually wasnt until like 4-5 anyway..

 

[bumphope]

Thank you! I knew she was a good sleeper, but perhaps I haven't appreciated how well things are going

I guess really my question is about whether she's tired in the evenings and I should be putting her to bed, or if she's just grizzly and we should carry on as we are...?

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[BabyMamma93]

do u mean for a nap? i never put my LB in a moses basket or crib for a nap, he just goes in his swing chair thing.

 

[bumphope]

Not sure what I mean really. I think I'm just wondering if actually she wants to go to bed at 7.30 when she starts whinging, then to wake up at 10 and 2 to feed, rather than feeding at 9.30 before bed and waking up at 2.... Am I making sense or am I overthinking?!

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[KittyCat83]

Yeah, I think you could definitely try putting her to bed at that time. The whinging might mean that she wants to go to bed that little bit earlier. It usually does with my little one. However, if he goes down but wakes up soon afterwards and keeps doing this, we know we've tried to put him down a little too early and we adjust it the next night. There's no harm in trying to put her to bed at 7:30.

 

[bumphope]

She's just whinged now for half an hour, but didn't really 'mean it' if you know what I mean... So I offered her more food, which she wasn't really into, so I left her to it and she's gone to sleep! Really pleased about that, as usually I'd have picked her up! Just then had the same 'feel' to it as it does in the evening. Maybe I'll give it a try tonight! Will report back! X

 

[pixiefairy]

Your a little bit early to worry about it yet- and it sounds like your baby is doing great anyway!

For the next few weeks track the times your baby sleeps, feeds and is more alert. When you have a general idea (you will start to notice a pattern eventually)- start putting baby upstairs to sleep for a nap in the afternoon and then have a set bedtime and don't allow any naps for an hour or so before hand- so try to keep her stimulated as much as possible. Decide what your routine will be- from when DD was 8 weeks old DH has given her bath etc and then i've fed her and put her down. You don't have to put her down when she's fast asleep- it does help them to learn to fall asleep alone if you put them down when they are very sleepy and about to drop off.

Don't expect perfection at first but you will eventually get into a routine that works for you.

 

[Doodlebug88]

Your lo sounds like she is a great sleeper already. I noticed my lo was whiny around 7pm every night so I started a bed routine of bath at 6pm, pjs then feed and he now is asleep by 7.30pm.
Only downside is he is up earlier in the morning but I can't complain as I get a nice amount of sleep at night.

Definitely worth a try even if you get a hour with your oh. Good luck

 

[bumphope]

So. Bed at half 6, pj's, bottle, swaddle and bed. Out like a light... Obviously was grizzling because she was tired in the evening!

Wasn't sure whether to wake her when we went to bed.... What do you do?

We left her and she didn't wake up until 12.45am! Was quite sleepy so didn't take much of a feed, straight back to sleep, woke up half an hour later, offered more food and she fell asleep before she'd opened her mouth... Then all fine until 4.30am when she wanted another small feed, went back to sleep but stirred again not long after so thought it might be her nappy. Error. Wide awake after that! So brought her into bed with us for a cuddle where she slept until 8am! Just had huge feed and is wide awake ready for the day!

Think we will try waking her properly at 9.30 tonight, nappy change, lights on etc and see if she will then wake once around 2-3am them go through to 6-ish.

Success??

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[Doodlebug88]

That's great for the first night. My lo wakes 2-3 times a night but will only have small feeds so I am doing a nappy change about 2 am and will nurse back to sleep. Doesn't take long and will hopefully mean he will sleep a bit longer. He is going through a growth spurt though which I think is why he is up a lot.

I think it's a lot if trial and error to figure what works and what doesn't.

 

[Linnypops]

I started putting my LO down at 7 from about 4 weeks. Then I wake her for dream feed at 10, then she wakes at 2/3, then 5/6. I think you can just try getting her up earlier one day and putting her down earlier and see how it goes?

 

[bumphope]

More success last night. Put her to bed a bit too late as she'd been dozing for a while, so took longer to settle her but all ok in the end.

Woke her up at 10, she didn't eat a huge feed but did ok, then she woke at 3 and had a big feed and then slept to 7. Fabulous! Hoping in time she'll learn we want her to wake at 10 and to only wake for a snack at 3 if she needs it.

V pleased! No evening grizzling and a pretty damn good nights sleep with a 4 week old baby!!

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