8 wks - too young for a bestime routine?

[Skillbo]

I was just wondering what age you introduced a routine for your little ones? I spoke with a community nurse and she said 8 wks would be a good time to start but to me that still seems very little...

My DD was 8 wks this weekend and is really good at snoozing most nights - she goes to sleep in her moses basket (in the front room with me and my DP) between 8 and 10 ish and then only wakes once in the night for a quick feed and then sleeps through to 7ish...

I would like her to start sleeping in her cot but also don't want to freak her out with huge change all at once

So basically - what age did you start a routine and what did this consist of? Is a bath every night a bit silly at 2m? Do you massage - that sort of thing?

Thanks - I just want to do whats best and not foster any horrendous habits that will come back and bite us on the bum!

[StinkyFart]

I bathed mine at around 7 pm and put them to bed in the moses basket in the cot iyswim from birth

then I just went with feeding flow until they sorted out night time sleeping for themselves

HTH

[daisyj]

Sounds like you have an ideal situation now, but worth bearing in mind that babies' habits do often change of their own accord, so may not remain so idyllic. We did a bedtime routine for our dd from around 6 weeks. Bath, massage, breast (in bedroom with music on), bed. I'm really glad we did, because she slept really well at night from 6-12 weeks, then all went tits-up when her 12-week growth spurt coincided with the heatwave. Now, at 18 weeks, she is getting back to a regular pattern after two weeks of doing Baby Whisperer Pick-Up/Put-Down. My point is, though, that I'm really glad I had an established routine, because even though it went to pot when she went through a phase of waking every 2 hours again, like a newborn, I found it really useful (and I think it was comforting for her) to use the routine as a basis for getting her back on track sleep-wise.

Bath every night, btw, not because I think such small babies get all that dirty, but because she likes it, and it's part of the routine.

[strongblackcoffee]

I started doing a sort of bedtime routine with DS1 from around 6 weeks. Bath, massage, bf, sleepy music. Can't remember what happened, but he didn't sleep through until 9 months. Think he did used to sleep through the evening after the routine stuff though. DS2 just had to lump along with DS1's routine, so sort of did the bath thing from birth. Although he was in the sling a lot, I can't remember when we started actually putting him to bed. Sorry, what a rambly, useless post...!

[strongblackcoffee]

yes, agreed on the bath thing, they don't need to get clean, but it's a useful marker to say 'bed is next'!!

(now my DSs are 1 and 3 they are covered in grime all the time - we only bother bathing them two or three times a week, I have decided it's not worth all the effort!)

[NK28a36fe8X12309084b05]

My DD is 7 weeks tomorrow and I have been doing a bedtime routine for about a week now, and find it useful (to mummy and baby!). Although I thought baby massage wasn't recommended under 3 months?

[HensMum]

We started a routine of sorts at about 6 weeks - just bathtime then feed in a darkened room.

Before then though, we did start just putting DS upstairs to sleep after about 7pm rather than keeping him downstairs with us. Felt really, really weird to do it, like we were abandoning him but it got us all used to the idea of "bedtime".

[2catsand1rabbit]

Just go with the flow. He's still really young.

[bubblagirl]

they say 8 weeks as apparently they can tell difference between night and day at 8 weeks we did start with bedtime routine from 8 weeks

[catrin]

DD was still in her moses basket at same age to sleep at night, but I put her in her cot for daytime naps so she got used to it.

[llareggub]

My DS is 15 weeks and he has no routine, but still sleeps 9pm-9am, with a quick bf at 5am. It matters not what you do, they'll sleep when and how they want.

DS sleeps in his chair until we go to bed at 11ish, when we carry him up to sleep in his crib by our bed. I've started using his cot in his room during the daytime when I'm upstairs though.

My babies sleep in daylight, through hoovers, through toddler tantrums and DS1 (2.10) is a pretty sound sleeper.

Just go with the flow. Plenty of time for routine when they are toddlers when they actually like it.

[Tee2072]

My DS is 2 months today and I've been sort of doing a bedtime routine practically from the start.

Around 9:30 he goes into his growbag, is offered a feed and then gets put in his Amby. He doesn't always go to sleep and I often pull him back out of his Amby, but he usually is asleep by 11ish. He still wakes up at 2 or 3 and then back down until about 5.

Of course, that is an average night. Most nights aren't average! We mostly just go with the flow!!

[castille]

Whatever you do, my main advice is don't make your routine too rigid.

It makes holidays, weddings, family gatherings etc a nightmare if a LO won't go to sleep because the time/story/bath/background noise isn't exactly what he is used to.

[WowOoo]

We've got no routine at the mo with our 6wk old and don't plan to until it kind of reveals itself IFYWIM !!!

It does basically follow bath/ bathroom for a face wash, breast, then moses basket. Then fingers crossed that he sleeps solidly for a few hours

[screamingabdab]

I used a bedtime routine with both of my boys from pretty much straight away

Bath, feed in bedroom. I also played nice calm music (partly to relax myself ...), grobag. Moses basket in the cot.

I think perhaps it suited me to have a routine, as much as it helped them.

DS1 slept through at 12 weeks, DS2 at 7 weeks