When should I introduce bedtime routine?

[babyboo29]

My daughter is now 5 weeks old and wondered if she would understand the difference between day and night if I introduce a bedtime routine now?

When did you introduce a bedtime routine? and does it help your baby sleep through the night better? I don't mind getting up for night feeds, its just that she becomes wide awake at 2 am and wants to be cuddled and won't go back to sleep on her own.

 

[AnnaHughes]

The single best piece of parenting advice given to me was bath, bottle, bed, alongside a 3, then stretched to 4 hourly feeds in the day.

We introduced bedtime routine when reuben was 6 weeks old, and have never looked back since!

Start at 6:45, and he is usually in his cot ( put down awake) by 7:30 and asleep by 7:45pm.

Every baby is different, but Reuben took to it really well. It meant that we are able to eat tea together at 8pm, knowing he is fast asleep, whereas before, usually one of us would eat tea one handed, whilst holding him cos he was too little to keep himself amused for half hour while we ate.

Shortly after (around 9 weeks), he naturally gave up his 1am bottle, and by 12 weeks, had dropped his 4am bottle. Now, he doesnt sleep through, and still wakes for reassurance/dummy/quick cuddle, but only a couple of times.

 

[wishingonastar]

We've started isabel on a bedtime routine now she's six weeks... as OH doesn't get in from work til about 7pm we're trying to start quiet time as of 8pm so he gets an hour with her to play, then at 8pm lights go dimmed, voices hushed, we give her a bath or top and tail wash, feed her then put her to bed

seems to be working well so far and we're on day three...

i'm also considering a daytime routine for nap times but haven't thought that through yet...at the mo she fights to stay awake unless being cuddled during the day so i want to get her into better habits!!

 

[jenwigan]

i started the bed routene wen we got ome from hospitol, rach was 3 days old. for the 1st 2 weeks it was bath bottle bed, started at 8 and was in bed for 9.... then wen she was 2 weeks old i got recomended by a friend to try the johnsons bed time things (the purple one) so i use the bath time in the bath wash her in the wash thing, shampoo her hair with the shampoo one then cream her up with a nice cream they have as well... still with the bath bottle bed by 9 routene... ever since then she has slept through all the night. xx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

The single best piece of parenting advice given to me was bath, bottle, bed, alongside a 3, then stretched to 4 hourly feeds in the day.

We introduced bedtime routine when reuben was 6 weeks old, and have never looked back since!

Start at 6:45, and he is usually in his cot ( put down awake) by 7:30 and asleep by 7:45pm.

Every baby is different, but Reuben took to it really well. It meant that we are able to eat tea together at 8pm, knowing he is fast asleep, whereas before, usually one of us would eat tea one handed, whilst holding him cos he was too little to keep himself amused for half hour while we ate.

Agreed...same in our house

 

[Lu28]

We started a bedtime routine at about the same age, feed, bath then bed. At first we did it at about 9pm and then gradually got it earlier so that now we start at 6.15pm and she's usually happy in bed by 7.15pm. I always put on the same classical music cd after her bath for a while and now she starts smiling as soon as it goes on and gets grumpy if I don't get her into bed quick enough!

 

[Kitten]

We just kind of let him lead it and he started off going down at 10pm and feeding 4hourly in the night and now he feeds (bf) from 7-8.30 then goes to sleep. He wakes screaming sometimes from nightmares or colic betwwen 9 and 10 but OH just puts him on the shoulder and soothes him back to sleep and he stays down til 4am. He just seems to get that when it's dark it's bedtime and we swaddle him sometime during his feed marathon which helps.