How to establish bedtime/morning routines before returning to work.

[tipp2chicago]

Hi everyone.

I will be returning to work on Jan 2 after ML. I have one child. I would like to get her fairly well established in a sensible sleeping routine before I go back- say 8pm to 7am. She currently has no routine, but is a great little sleeper.

So, how do I go about getting her to a point where she gets enough sleep overnight? I should say, she currently sleeps about from 11.30pm to about 9am, wakes up for a feed, and sleeps again from about 10-12. She doesn't really sleep properly them for the rest of the day.

I need to leave the house at 8 to drop her to nursery and get myself to work for 9am.

Help me wise mumsnetters!

How old is she? Only one nap per day is rare in under 1s and that may be why she's sleeping so late in the morning. If you need to leave the house by 8 I would start getting her up at 7 in the morning and having breakfast, then try putting her down again for a nap at about 9.30. Make her afternoon nap later (after lunch, which is childcare settings is usually 11.30-12ish). You may find that getting more sleep in the day means she will go to bed earlier at night (sleep begets sleep).

So she is pretty much doing 12 hours sleep with 1 feed between 11.30pm and 12 noon. How old is she?

I would say maybe bring her bedtime forward by 15 minutes every night until she is going to bed at 7 (or whatever time is best). Make sure you have a good bedtime routine -bath, feed, bed etc.

This is what I find works best with my ds who is 8 months.

Wakes between 6-7am

Morning nap 9am on school run. I wake him at 10am. He would sleep for 2 hours of I didn't wake him then is difficult to settle for a nap later in day.

11.30-12.00 lunch

12.30 bed. He woke today at 2pm. I let him sleep until 2.30 at latest as we need to feed and leave for school by 3.

4-5. Quick nap before tea. He went to bed at 4.20 today and woke at 4.50.

5pm - dinner

6pm bath with older ds. I like to have baby ready for bed and feeding by 6.30 then into bed at 7.

We started encouraging a routine for our DD quite young; I went back to work when she was 6mo and DH is a SAHD. Figure out what routine you will need then try and move her towards it gradually. Don't worry if it all goes out the window one day, you start again the next.

This is what we have done for the last 6 months (DD now 1yo)
I get up first and sort myself out
DD up at 6:30, milk feed
7am all leave the house (DH and DD walk me to the station, I go to work)
8am DD has breakfast
12-1 ish lunch
5:30ish DD and DH walk to station and pick me up returning at 6ish
6:30 tea followed by Bath, milk, story and bed for DD (usually by 7:30 ish)

During the day she usually has 2 naps (roughly mid morning and early afternoon) but the times are irregular - we never managed to get a routine partly because of the different timings of groups she goes to.

What time will you get back from work/nursery in the evening? I'd use that to determine a sensible bedtime and take it from there.

It's a bit hard to say without knowing how old your lo is. I was very baby led when they were small but found that fixing bedtime gently encouraged them into establishing their own routine. I'd work on moving that bedtime back towards something more compatible with work.

I should be home by 6pm. The nursery closes at 6.15 so one way or the other that's the time I will have to collect her. The nursery is 2min walk from my house. DH is horrifically unreliable, time-wise so cannot be depended on for this task. So I'm guessing that 8pm bed is the way to go.

Jesus I'm not looking forward to this at all. Trying to get settled back in at work, wean DD, hope she's settled at the crèche, and the usual household crap. But everyone else does it, and so can I. I hope.

I would say earlier bed than 8pm. Home, supper, bed at 7.