morning all... on the night time routine thing.. as a first time mum i found that i was militantly trying to force my ds into a 'routine' that suited me, but in the end after much struggling and endless conversations with the hv (who end up telling you what to do from something they read/guidelines by docs etc.. i found that ds wanted to create his own routine..... i.e. he goes to sleep when he feels tired usually around the same time every night!! Makes sense really when you think about it.
I was soo preoccupied by trying to do what everyone else told me that i forget to listen to myself and the baby.
the long and short of it is that as long as you lo has a clean nappy, a full belly and a dark peaceful environment, he/she will sleep comfortably.
For my ds the trick was the full belly. Up until he was 6 weeks old, he was waking up every 2-3 hours for a feed.... problem was i was listening to the midwives and hv's who only recommended 2oz of top up formula... the little mite was still hungry so wouldn't sleep for very long.
I then threw out all baby books, stopped listening to everyone else and instinct kicked in... i filled a bottle (4oz)for his last feed, gave it to ds and waited to see how much he would take until HE felt full........ he took the lot, slept from 9pm to 7am without a peep. I have never looked back since.
In short... books are frustrating, as your baby is always the one that never quite follows the rules/what they tell you to do etc and that you are their mummy, with some instincts on what can work too.
Routine for us is.. 9.30pm.... bath, bottle, bed in a dark room. He'll play himself to sleep everytime.