So, sick of 2 hr nightly battles with 6 mo DD...

[BarrelOfMonkeys]

... I have given in and brought her downstairs again tonight.

She was going to bed at 7pm but since it's been hot she goes up as usual, looking tired, feeds and then grumps til 9.30/10pm. She cries if the grumps go unanswered, but she's happy again as soon as you pick her up. DH thinks I have wrecked her routine tonight - although two nights last week we skipped the bedtime routine and fed to sleep downstairs...

So, what should I do/should I have done??

[Confuzzeled]

Personally I think 6mo is still a baby, so you have plenty of time to establish and ruin routines.

If it's hot and it's easier to have dd with you then don't beat yourself up about it.

[BarrelOfMonkeys]

Thanks Confuzzeled. Tried rocking her for a bit but she's now happy as larry on her playmat, laughing at DH pulling faces. Just waiting for the next opportunity to feed to sleep!

[BarrelOfMonkeys]

Btw, when do routines start to be more important/inflexible?

[Confuzzeled]

Well.........I'm perhaps not the best person to ask. My dd now 2.4yo has big sleeping issues and we have struggled with routines and sleep for a long time.

But I have tried every type of sleep training thats out there and read about a million books. The only thing I found helpful was the No Cry Sleep Solution by E Pantly. I think you just stick to the routine you have as much as possible but allow for things to happen, like heat, illness, teething, fun nights out with family etc...

I don't know what age they start sticking to a routine, I think you just have to go with it and your lo will settle when they're ready.

[BarrelOfMonkeys]

I will have to look No Cry up, thanks. We don't really have the sort of lives that work well with rigid routines so a plan that does allow for some flexibility without things going to hell in a handcart would make life a lot easier! (And DD has just gone down, rocked to sleep -- and I still have a couple of hours of time to myself before my bedtime, bliss.)

[MrsBadger]

another vote for NCSS

dd was 9m or so when we realised we needed to do something - I'd gone back to work and was in utter bits.

[ches]

They don't start processing sequences (know what comes next) until around 13 months. Until then, routines are not all they're cracked up to be. (Though some will swear up and down they are, it's more that routines are based around good sleep-inducing habits.)

[seeker]

6 months is too young for a routine. Relax, go with her, and she'll settle into the routine that suits her. Honestly.

[seeker]

And babies love to be rocked/fed to sleep. They are little animals - that's what all animals do!

[BarrelOfMonkeys]

That's good to know, thanks. I shall keep on ignoring the "don't feed/rock to sleep" stuff and do what seems to work...

[seeker]

[missmelly]

this sounds just like my 6mth old. I think we are doing everything 'wrong' for getting her to sleep, starting by rocking to sleep, and if we cant transfer her without waking her, I'll feed her to sleep. We put her down in her cot at night, but she usually wakes around 11 and wont settle again until I feed her to sleep again, then she spends the night in our bed next to me, where she wakes every few hours for a feed. Sigh.
I just tried to put her in her cot for a nap, and thought I'd leave her and see if she settled, while I stayed in the room. We had 15mins of crying, until I gave in and fed her to sleep on my bed again.
Oh boy. Good to read there's plenty of time to sort this out.....

[Confuzzeled]

I fed to sleep, this moved to rocking to sleep, then back rubbing, now I just put my hand on dd's lower back as I sing her bedtime songs.

My ds is due in August, this time I'm not going to stress about it, I want an easy life.