confused about putting baby to bed under 6 months

[thefudgeling]

I have read various bits of advice on starting a bedtime routine, putiing the baby to bed at, say, 7pm after feed, cuddle etc., however the FSiD guidelines state that it is safest to have the aby in the room with youat night up until 6 months. But i don't want to go to bed at 7pm! Advice please!

We would put DD in basket in living room to sleep until we wanted to go to bed - gave her routine, but close to us

Thanks JoinTheDots, that's what we've been doing, but my husband seems to think it might encourage bad sleep habits in our son (who is 10 weeks old). I disagree, i think he's too young to get into bad habits, but am interested in what others think.

Definatly too young to think about habits imo. At that age they need to be near you. The advice to keep them in the same room is to avoid them falling in to too deep a sleep as this is thought to be a cause of SIDS.

They change a lot in the first...well we're up to 15m and still changing regularly. So i personaly would take their lead when it comes to routine etc.

There is nothing they won't grow out of, just so long as they feel secure. Keeping them near you and responding to their needs builds security.

We had ds in our room for 4 months but we still put him to bed at 6.30 and had a monitor in the kitchen / living room. Babies need lots of sleep and they can't possibly sleep as well in the living room with hustle and bustle imo. I think they also need to learn to go to sleep in a room by themselves. We started a bedtime routine at 3 weeks and by 5 weeks he went down no probl and has done ever since (now 6months). I don't think its ever to early to get a settled bedtime routine.

Agree with anmum. Our living room much too noisy with older kids, TV sometimes, friends, etc. Nnot a place for a sleeping baby! Still used to check on them from time to time every evening and both always woke at 10:30pm on the dot for a feed, after which usually went to sleep myself. Not convinced that my presence would stop a baby falling into a deep sleep, I sleep like a log and so does DH.

Bedtime routine from birth pretty much for both of mine (4 & 11m) and both tucked up by 7.30 and asleep with no aids such as dummies or breastfeed etc.
You can start a routine whenever but the older they are the more stubborn they are,, think supernanny and screaming 4 yr olds.
My house is so tiny no need for monitors.
I'd say go with your gut feeling as it's bound to be the right choice for you

anthony apparently the thinking behind the guidelines is that even the sound of your breathing is enough to lessen the chances of sids.

We put DD in the cot in our room at whatever time she went to bed and we just went up later, we used a baby monitor so we could hear her downstairs (needed to keep the bedroom door shut as we have a cat). TBH it's worked really well as she's used to a bit of noise and we don't need to sneak around the house being quiet. Do what best suits you and your baby.

i've got my 3rd baby in our room and he's 4months. i kept my older 2 in with us till 6months then had a real battle getting them settled in their own room cause they were used to being right next to me all night long. even moving across the room was too much for ds1! 5months it was still v.easy to make changes and they would adapt easily but after 6months they really protested about it! if you're worried about bad habits then you've got till just under 6months from my experience.

i have a moses asket in the office so have been putting baby for all his sleeps and naps there during the day and at 7pm, then taking him up to our room at 10pm for the dream feed when we go to bed.

Thanks everyone. He sleeps in his cot at night, and I'm on a mattress on the floor so at least at 6 months when I move out he'll still be in the same place, not having to get used to a new room. Our noisy sitting room doesn't seem to stop him sleeping, so I'm happy to keep him downstairs till we go to bed. Just didn't want to commit the terrible sin of making a rod for my own back!

Do what feels right. IMO it takes 3 days to change a babys/toddlers routine.

i have a 4 month old. we put him in his PJ's and in his moses basket at 7.30 but he stays in the lounge which we keep quite dark.

We tried to put DS to bed with a 'routine' at about 10 weeks from having previously had him in the lounge with us. At this stage he was still doing to the newborn sleeping / waking / feeding / sleeping all a bit erratically thing and on reflection wasn't ready. It didn't work as he only cried lots and didn't settle! We then realised a few weeks later he would go on to tell us himself when he was ready for a 'bedtime' when he started falling to sleep around 7 and sleeping then through until his next feed around 10pm every night. We then started a bedtime routine and put him upstairs at 7pm and this has worked since (he's now 8months). I guess he was about 3-4 months old then. At this first stage we did not give him a bath etc (as he hated baths then) but would feed him in a darkened room with the same music on and then lay him down with the same mobile music every night. We still do this with an added bath before all that and I can honestly say 95% of the time we just put him down in the cot, he rubs his eyes and self settles. It's as if his bedtime button has been triggered. IMO they tell you when they are ready for this.

Thanks, hope mine ends up being so easy to put to bed!