Bedtime routine alone with newborn and preschooler

[Tobebythesea]

Help! DH is back to work next week and I have a 5 week old baby and a 3.5 year old who usually is in bed for 7pm. DH doesn’t get home until 8-9 so he cannot help. This week we’ve been putting newborn to bed after a bath for 7pm whilst the other parent puts the older child to bed.

Any ideas for how I’m going to do bedtime alone? Do I leave older child downstairs and but newborn to bed first a bit earlier? He needs feeding immediately after a bath. I don’t feel able to bathe them together yet.

Can you put the newborn in Moses basket
Or carry cot in preschoolers room while you put them to bed and then put the newborn down?

I used to feed my baby whilst doing my elder child's bedtime story, settle him in to bed and tell him I'd be back once I'd got the baby down, and let him read in bed until I could go back in. More often than not he'd fall sleep before I went back in. Or do the baby first, earlier on, and let the older child watch tv. Not ideal but sometimes needs must.

This isn't meant as a judgement but 5wks is very young to be putting baby to bed by themselves. The guidelines are to keep them in a room with you until 6months. Could you put the baby in a sling or Moses basket in your 3year olds room during bedtime so you can keep the baby with you?

I’ve just done most of bedtime by myself tonight (DH’s ill). I didn’t bath baby as she has just had her immunisations and I thought she would be too sore but I was thinking through how I would do it myself. I was thinking. Chuck big girl in the bath, bath baby in baby bath, get baby out and dry, brush big girls teeth, pop baby in the bouncer while I help big girl out, feed baby while reading stories in bed to big girl. Next bit is a bit tricky as big girl is back to being cuddled to sleep so either sit on the bed next to big girl while still feeding baby or if baby is asleep (unlikely) then pop in her bouncy chair.

I had the same age gap and did all the bedtimes myself, as DH was always at work.

I washed, changed etc DS2, but him into his carrycot. Then bathed DS1 and read his story. If DS2 was unsettled, I fed him whilst reading, but he was usually napping.

Then, after DS1 was asleep, I fed DS2 and out him down.

It was fine - although DS1 went through a period of nightmares, so my night times were very unsettled!

No routine for feeding yet so no idea when he’s going to ‘lose it’ and need a bottle ASAP. I could try a bouncy chair next to bath. Older child usually has a bath Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday and Sunday. Trying to bathe baby everyday but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

I do - bath baby in baby bath while big one is in big bath, then put him in bouncy chair while I get big one out/dry/in pjs (in theory - in reality he often needs feeding while big one gets all pruned and wrinkly!)
Then feed the baby while doing big kids story, and sitting with him til he goes to sleep.
Then bring baby downstairs where he sleeps on me in Moses basket until I go to bed.

Similar age gap with mine and always did bedtime by myself as dp at work. If you are breastfeeding then I did that for story time then lights off and cuddle both on the bed. Baby usually came back to living room in the Moses basket in the first couple of months.

If you don’t know when he will need a bottle then make one up just in case. They last 2 hours from making.