Bedtime routine

[Vanessa08]

Hi all,

I have a few questions regarding bedtime routine please. My baby is only 5 weeks old so I know it is too early but for some reason it really stressing me to get it right when the time comes as I feel a bit confused about the order of things. Do I do bath, then feed, then story, then nappy? And when do I start dimming the lights and keeping things quiet? Also, if I aim to get my baby to bed at 7, do you advise I start at 6 or earlier? Finally, how am I supposed to put my baby to bed if the nhs says he has to stay in the same room as me until he is 6months old. Thank you for all your advice.

At this age you can’t fit in a story before bed. Generally when they are older bath, feed, teeth and story, bed if bottle feeding or if bf bath, teeth, story, bf and they will fall asleep feeding.

With my first I stressed over bed time routine and sat in a dark room while she slept or didn’t with DD2 she feed to sleep on the sofa and cuddled in until I went to bed. Overall DD2 is better at going sleep on a night time.

Do five week old babies have a routine?

When it comes to sleep, your baby will sleep when they are ready. They will let you know when they want to be fed, which I am sure you have realised over the past few weeks.

You can put him or her to bed whenever you choose but there is a strong likelihood at that age of them waking and wanting to be out of their bed, with you.

Bathe your baby when convenient for you and tell them stories, talk to them, at many different times.

Keep them in the same room as you whether awake or asleep so they feel secure. They will get used to sounds such as their parents talking, moving around, and background sounds such as television, eventually sleeping through them.

Way too early to be worrying about this- like you say they need to be in the same room as you so you can’t ‘put them to bed’ yet.

When baby is about four or five months I’d start trying a bedtime routine to get them prepared for their own room. You can follow your instincts on this one as there is likely to come a time when the tv etc disturbs them of an evening so you might think about putting them to bed up statues but checking regularly until you go to bed. But you’ve got a good few months of them being a tiny newborn before you need to worry about a bedtime routine.

*upstairs

I know it is too early for now, I was asking in anticipation as it is in my mind, I was told to start it at around 3 months

There is no correct way to do things just what is right for you and your daughter.
At the moment I would strongly advise you to manage day by day and just go along with looking after yourself and your baby. There is absolutely no need for daily baths or stories . Because it is best for small babies to be in the same room as their parents you can't really implement your little one being down in the dark in their own bed . Have the carrycot ( or whatever) close by to pop the baby in when sleepy or asleep from a feed. They might get the hang of this or might insist on being attached to you all evening for a good few months yet. My three have been quite different in this regard. Once you are all settled for the night darkness and no interaction will gradually help them to understand day from night. Once that is achieved you can gradually decide how your evenings will pan out.

Thanks for the advice

Mine are over one year old now, but out routine is

7pm - bath, bottle, teeth, story, sleep at 8pm.