Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Sleep

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler. Need more advice on your childs development? Sign up to our Ages and Stages newsletter here.

Help me get 5 month old to bed in evenings!

3 replies

badkitty · 21/12/2011 14:52

My 5 month old DS2 is still awake all evening usually till about 10.30 when I go to bed with him. I really want to start getting him in bed in the early eve so I get a couple of hours to myself. He is EBF and to date hasn't had much at all in the way of routine - DS1, who is 3, is disabled so DS2 tends to have to fit around him. DS1 has a bedtime routine starting with dinner around 5-5.30, bit of playing or Cbeebies, bath, stories and bed at 7 - he now goes to sleep by himself really well most of the time but we have had battles over this so don't want to change things too much for him. Because he can't do anything for himself really it is like having another baby to bathe, change, get to bed etc I just don't know how to fit in a second bedtime routine for Da2 at same time so basically at the moment he has to wait till Ds1 is in bed. As DH will be home over Christmas I thought I might be able to use this week to start getting DS2 into a routine but I don't even know where to start - he is wide awake most of the evening and any attempts to put him in cot (or indeed put him down at all!) before he finally conks out about 10.30 just result in him getting in an absolute rage!

So basically any tips on how to introduce a routine and get him to bed, and how to combine this with other routine, would be appreciated! Oh, and I can't bathe them together unfortunately due to DS1's disability, obviously would be a lot easier if I could.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Nevercan · 21/12/2011 15:06

I have 2.5 year old and 6 month old. I follow pretty much the routine you describe. I leave DD1 watching tv whilst I go up and dunk baby on bath, feed and bed between 6-6.30 and then go back down for DD2 and dunk her in the same bath, milk, story etc 6.30-7. If DH is not working away we do one each but put them in the bath together.

badkitty · 21/12/2011 15:29

That sounds feasible if I can get over feeling guilty at leaving DS1 in front of Cbeebies ( he would be perfectly happy with this of course!) - now just need Ds2 to willingly go to bed at 6.30 rather than screaming the house down...

OP posts:
GuineaPigMum · 21/12/2011 19:53

Hi Badkitty, I can't advise on a routine for two DCs since I only have one DS who is 6mo. I don't let him nap after about 4pm, so by 6.30 / 7pm he is rubbing his eyes and starting to whinge. After bath and change, I read him the same story (appreciate this might be difficult for you!) followed by a bf before sleep. He now knows that a bf is on its way after the story, so starts to roll over to get into cradle position when I get halfway through the book! I think having that as a bedtime 'cue' really works for him. The first time he went down at about 7pm and we got our evenings back was really momentous - good luck, you will get there x

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread