BF and bedtime for dc3

[LooL00]

Things are going pretty well bf dc3(3w5d), but we seem to have got stuck in a 'routine' where i feed her at 5pm and 6pm as she gets hungry in the afternoons and then put dc1 and 2 to bed (age 4 and 5) DH arrives home part way through this and by 7pm dc1 and 2 are in bed and then I sit and feed dc3 for about 45mins and generally she is asleep by 8 or so.This is ok but I feel dc3 should be asleep earlier. I don't have time to give her a really good long feed at 6pm.

I'd like to know what other people do and can't remember how i dealt with bedtime when dc2 was a baby.

I wish DC3(7w) would go to bed at 8pm. Routine is similar to yours but she prefers to spend all her awake time in the evening from 5pm until 10 or even 11pm, feeding and fussing intermittantly. Sorry I don't really have any advice - I've just thought it's probably a bit early for a set routine. Will be watching responses with interest.

I'm not sure she's ready for a routine but she seems to have got shoved on the end of the other dc's routine!! I'm wondering what we should be aiming for maybe at 3 months when maybe we can have some sort of bedtime.

hi, my dc3 is 11 weeks and still does not have a bed time. I know that dc1 and 2 were going up to bed before they were this age but dc3 is such a fusser and I feel I can give her a little more time to feed when dc1 and 2 are in bed. Things are starting to get easier with her.

Last night I put her in bed at 9.15 so I will probably start doing this once she starts sleeping a bit more. (anytime soon please!)

I have DD age 6, DS1 age 4 and EBF DS2 aged 3 months.

Regardless of what has happened in the day I feed DS2 at 4ish so he is not ever hungry at DD and DS1's dinner time or bathtime. It would be normal for him then to sleep say 4.45-5.30.

At 5.30ish I give the older DC their dinner, and then at 6pm I bath all three DC.

Then DD and DS1 either play themselves or watch TV while I BF DS2.

DS2 is tucked up in his cot at 6.45pm, and then I sort out the older DC.

My DC3 has always gone to bed after the other two. This tends to be about 8 o'clock. Never earlier than 7.30 and can sometimes be after 9pm. He is 14 months now and still has a later bedtime than the other two.

Blimey, some of you seem to be much more organised than me!

i have 4.4yo, 2.7yo and 2 month old ds. i try to feed ds3 whilst others are in the bath and doing story, then if there is anyone else around (dh, mil) then i hand ds3 to them and settle the others to sleep, otherwise i do struggle as ds3 is often unsettled and crying/feeding lots at this time. ds3 goes to bed with me at 10-11pm. none of my children went to bed early evening until about 6 months.

Thanks for all these. I'm now wondering if it takes me a ridiculously long time to do tea and bed for dc1 and 2. If I have tea on the table for them at 5pm we then do dc1's reading after I have tidied up tea and while i feed dc3 (again having generally fed her at 4 and 5(while dc are eating tea)) and by that stage it is 6.15. At least the summer hols take the reading out of the problem.
Both my other 2 went to bed earlier than dc3 but maybe that's why dc3 is having a lie in at the moment when the other 2 would have been up since 6 and on 1st nap of the day.I think I'm aiming for something like mumnwlondon which is vaguely what I did with dc2. But not until I can trust dc3 not to cry the house down and keep the other 2 awake!

DD3 is 9m/o and goes to bed at 9/9.30. She still likes to feed a lot in the evenings (usually 3-4 times after DD1&2 have gone to bed). DD1 4y/o & DD2 2.8y/o go to bed between 6.30 & 7.30 depending on what has happened that day. They have tea between 5-6. DD3 usually eats at the same time as them but sometimes is not interested so will have a bf instead.

Many a time I have got DD1&2 ready for bed whilst bfing DD3 it's not ideal but we muddle through . It's amazing what you can do one handed - change nappies, put pjs on wriggling toddlers, supervise teeth cleaning.....

If baby wants a big feed when it's bedtime just get the older DC to chose a few books for you to read to them whilst baby feeds. My DDs have been disappointed on occasion when DD3 was tiny and DIDN'T want a feed as normally they have 2 books before bed and if she was having a mammoth feed they would get 4 or 5 .

Similar to the others here. I have a 5yo, 3yo and 6 week old. She tends to fuss and feed a lot in the evenings too - eventually conking out around 9.30/10. I do feel she could do with going off earlier mind - I'm sure a lot of the fussing is overtiredness as she doesnt sleep well in the day.

Wow truthsweet one handed nappy changing! I've never managed that. Dc3 actually got up with the rest of us at 7 this morning, recently it's been like having a teenager lolling in bed after everyone else is up. Thanks for all this everyone.