Sleeping routines - when do you start?

[Cakemuncher]

Hello all.
I have tried to talk to my health visitor about sleeping routines but she is a little non-committal. To be fair, she is very much of the opinion that routines will happen in their own sweet time, but as my DD is now 12 weeks old and I am starting to think that sleeping routines should be on the horizon now. I have a moses basket in our sitting room as well as a crib in the bedroom. In the evening, we put her in the moses basket if she wants to sleep. She still doesn't have a set sleeping time, but I am beginning to wonder if I am not doing something right. We take her ustairs when we go up to bed and, generally, she will sleep from 11 or so till 5 or 6 the next morning. What I am unclear about is when we should start putting her upstairs with the baby monitor and from what time in the evening. Is it still too soon, or should I have started doing it ages ago?

I am a first time mum and am clearly utterly clueless!

Gina Ford 'Contented Little Baby Book' and Dr. Richard Ferber 'How to Solve your Child's Sleep Problems'

I think she's doing very well to go so long at night without a feed at her age. They reckon babies don't notice routines until they're about 3 months so you're certainly not too late.

Sounds like you are doing great- just do what you feel like and what seems to work for LO.

FWIW I put my LO upstairs by herself from 10 days at 7pm. I used to sit downstairs and miss her until I went to bed and could check on her.

A point hear is that the sleeping in your room till 6months also applies for naps and sleep in the evening as well.

DD had a bedtime by 4 months and was going to bed at around 7.30pm I spent week's trying to estabilish this but in hind sight think she just got there on her own. This time I'm going with the flow and 12week old DS is showing a pattern of sleeping and has started in the last two week's to sleep most evenings although not every day. So I'm just letting him find his own pattern.

As for going out and about DS has to fit in with DD's preschool secdual so if he needs to sleep when we are out it's in the car or sling (don't realy use the pram). With DD she was a terrable sleeper during the day and only really slept well while we where out, either on me or in the sling/pushchaire.

Thanks for the replies folks. Spoke to HV again today and she also mentioned that the 6 month rule applied to naps and evening sleeps. Think I am going to try to put her down in the moses basket in the sitting room with us in the evening and see how that goes.

I totally believe in routines being something YOU set - not your baby. My twin DSs slept 7pm-7am every night from four months old on even though they were prem.

My DD slept from 7pm to 7am from 10 days old - no word of a lie! Seriously --->>> follow the book's routines. My children really were content!

I think trying to keep a baby in the same room as you whenever they sleep for half a year is for the birds.

By 12 weeks both my girls were doing 11pm (or so, whenever I went to bed and gave them a last feed) to morning (7ish) and napping in their cot (can't be doing with too many sleeping places - cot from first day home upstairs, carry cot downstairs, pram if outdoors)

Totally agree spidookly - we had big cot upstairs or basket downstairs.