Routines........

[Lucy10]

.....to those of you who have one, how did you establish it?

DD is almost 6 months and just when I think she's getting into one she does something completely different. She very rarely falls asleep unless she's feeding or sucking on a dummy but is usually being held by either me or DP.

Oh and she's started arching her back and rolling over in the bath so don't want to make them a nightly thing until she's sitting up by herself

You can always get in the bath with her and hold her - it is easier at this age.

I always had a nightly bath / bedtime story / pyjamas / bed routine. I didn't do any crying or leaving though, I would just do that, and then cuddle them or carry them around until they were tired. Sometimes I would lie them on my bed or cuddle them while I read a book. I think it took until about 9 months/a year before the children realised WTF was going on and started going to bed at a reasonable hour.

But now they are older (2 and 5) they are asleep by 7 every night with no fuss at all.

They get up to all sorts of mischief through the night but at least they go down peacefully at 7!

I would say just keep things quiet in the evening and lights dimmed, and follow the above sort of routine if you want to, and see how things go.

i got my ds safety seat for the bath so can stit up unaided

ds kind of got into own routine i done the same thing day in day out such as meals at around same time bed at same time

but also had to afdapt to his changes also routine changed slightly for bed such as bottle at bed instead of before as found he settled better laying down with bottle didnt settle if already drank bottle

also sleeping hours changed on regular basis so had to adapt hour later or maybe earlier depending on time woken or unsettled night

i just made sure i never spoke to him if he woke in night i changed nappy fed bottle all in silence then he'd go back off got used to me not paying attention and learnt in morning he would get it and not in night

as for sleep i wouldnt hold him at 6 mths to sleep i put in cot used to spend hour quiet time first sing songs to him cuddle pull faces then i'd dim lights get ready for bed put to bed and feed bottle pop in dummy leave room

he used to go off may have to pop head round and pop dummy back in but few night of doing this he settled himself

used to maybe have to go in to put dummy baqck in early hours sometimes dream feed depending on his waking time in the morning

main thing is consistency and aiming for them to be able to settle themselves

We've done much the same with tweaks since DS was about 3/4 months - bath, story, bottle of milk and dp normally, or I if dp is on a late shift, stay with him until he nods off and then stick him in the cot. Since I went back to work we're trying to get him from CM normally around 5 to 5.15 though probably later tomorrow by agreement, so that there's some time to talk/play/offer food. I think she's feeding him lots of different new things, so he's not as hungry at that time as he was when we got home from baby groups etc.

We start with the bath at 6.30 and he's often asleep by 7.30, and if not normally by 8. But it has been 9 or 10 - I'm sure it helps to keep calm if he's not going along with the routine. It's often much harder if one of us has to do it on our own (dp works a late shift once a week).

But I don't think a bath's by any means essential, just that it always worked well as part of our own routine.