Movement monitors and bedtime routine- questions!

[wishfulthinking1]

Hi all,
Just after some advice really- currently 27 weeks and trying to get myself prepared! I've been reading the advice in SIDS and the threads on this page...

1. did you get a movement monitor? If the baby is always going to be around (I.e. napping downstairs when I'm downstairs and sleeping in our room at night then is it necessary?)

2. bedtime routines. So, the baby will nap downstairs with me in the day, but at nighttime when they have a bath and a story etc should they come back downstairs with us? Or go into our room for a bit by themselves? What do you do?

Mmmmm... Well, I'm not an expert by a long shot (one DD 17 months who is not a good sleeper) but here's my piece:

1. I didn't bother with a movement monitor. I could just see myself turning into a neurotic person checking it every minute, and you get neurotic enough with a newborn in the house, your natural instinct is to go check on your child anyway to make sure they're alright. I left baby in her basket in the lounge or whatever room is your main hub of activity. You don't need to be with the baby every second of every day (ie you can go to the loo or have a shower and leave them for 5 minutes!) but you shouldn't really leave them to sleep on their own under 6 months because of the risk of SIDS, so have them get used to a bit of noise and do life around them.

1. Our bedtime routine developed with our baby. They do change quite a lot in a very short period of time and you will find that you evolve with it. I found myself being more of an attachment/baby-led parent than I expected and did whatever was the easiest for us. When DD was tiny and slept and ate lots, she would just go back down with us whilst we watched TV, had dinner, etc, and we would take her to sleep in our room when we went up to bed (which wasn't late, as you are in need of sleep at that point!!). As they get older, your routine changes, once they're fine being left on their own, you can leave them upstairs with a noise monitor and finally have a hot cup of tea and dinner, but that didn't happen for a while.

I hope this helps!

I'm not an expert either - one DS, who is now 2 and a half, but another baby on the way so I'm looking at a lot of the pregnancy and baby threads for advice and info!
We didn't have a movement monitor, just an ordinary baby monitor.

Our Health Visitors seem to advise all parents to get the baby into a bedtime routine and an early bedtime at around 8 weeks. We started around then, putting DS in bed about 7pm, but for about a month one of us had to stay with him until he settled or he would just cry if we left the room. The time we had to stay gradually reduced and eventually we could leave him and he would settle on his own.
We moved him into his own room at 3.5 months as he was such a noisy sleeper (suffered from reflux) and I was hardly sleeping because of it. He slept much better after that, as did I, and dropped night feeds within a few weeks.
As for daytime sleep, he slept in the pram or car seat (if he fell asleep in the car) in the hall or living room for a while, but at about 4 months I started having a nap routine in the afternoon (putting him in his sleeping bag, reading a story, feed) and put him in his cot to sleep - had to stay with him for a bit like at nights, but he eventually started to settle himself. Putting all this effort in (and it seemed like an enormous effort at the time) really seemed to pay off though - he's been a great sleeper since about 6 months, only wakes at night if he's ill and still has decent naps. I realise I might not be so lucky with the next one...

By the way, should have added that we did this because we felt we needed time to ourselves in the evening, as this was the only time we really saw each other during the week. Different routines work for different people, so if you're both around the house more during the day you might not feel you need to have a bedtime routine etc so early on.

We had/have a baby monitor that detects sound, tbh it is very sensitive and comes on when my son moves. I found it essential as was moving sleeping baby from room to room with me when he was sleeping, and this gave me piece of mind. To leave him where he was and carry the screen with me, also meant I could just sit and look at the screen if I was worried.

My son never really napped till he started walking, or when he did it was for about 5 minutes so he slept in my arms through e day. We always did bath, story, bed and left him in our room with baby monitor when we got it, which was very frequently checked when he was little. Just find what works for you and don't be afraid to try stuff out and give up when it doesn't work. Before my son arrived we were like, we live in a 2 bed flat and can see the cot from the living room if we leave the door open why do we need a baby monitor? Was very grateful when my parents bought one at our request.