Is it too late to get 14wk old into nap/bedtime routine?

[flirtygertie]

Im afraid we've missed a window of opportunity when ds has gone from being newborn sleeping/feeding through day to more awake time & starting a routine then with him. he seems to powernap during the day & only after i've walked up & down the stairs a few times with him to settle him (unless in car/pram). The same in the evenings with me going up to bed with him to get him off to sleep & going straight to bed myself -advice please?

It's never to late to get into a routine

As nevercan says, it is never too late. You just need to decide on a routine and stick to it, consistency is the key IME.

Have you read any routine based books - Gina Ford, Baby Whisperer? You don't have to follow them to the letter but they are very good for information and ideas if you want a routine.

Nap routine - we pop DD (14 weeks too!) into her cot when sleepy and put on a lightshow, then I leave her, going in every 2 mins if she cries and I put my hand on her chest - this isn't for everyone but my DD wouldn't fall asleep anywhere and would get so frustrated so I realised she needed to be left alone and now she settles herself quite well within 5 minutes - getting her into her cot at the right time (sleepy but not overtired) is key so you need to observe your DS to know his cues.

Bedtime is one breastfeed at 5pm followed by bath at 5.45pm then massage and dressed and final feed by 6.30pm in a dark room so she is in bed by 7pm. At this time she usually falls asleep very well but when she didn't I would go back in and feed her until she did settle.

Both nap and bedtime might take a few weeks to establish so don't expect immediate results but if you stick with it, it will work!

Good luck and HTH

I've logged to ask the same question so thanks flirtygertie.

TerryNo2 with your DD going to bed at 7 pm what time does she get up in the morning?

Totally agree with posts so far. Never too late and at 14 weeks you'll probably find it won't be too difficult or take too long. Babies adapt incredibly quickly (usually), but the older they get, the more ingrained their habits are and so they can take longer to change routine.

As TerryNo2 says, it is probably worth reading a book or two if you haven't already. They're not for everyone but if you're interested in the basic principles of establishing a routine, they will give you some good pointers on how to do this.

The basics I would say for a routine are:

• break the day into two halves of 12 hours each, 7am-7pm is day; 7pm-7am is night (or something similar)
• naps during the day should be structured around feeds and not too long or too short otherwise nighttime sleep may be affected
• unless you're demand feeding, feeds are generally every 4 hours at this age (every 3 hours for younger/smaller babies). Don't let babies sleep through a feed and aim to give the majority of feeds during the day, not at night
• help the baby to learn to self-settle for all sleep including naps (personally, i don't think daytime naps downstairs are ideal as baby is being asked to get used to sleeping in the light/noise during the day, and then in the dark/quiet at night which is inconsistent - but again, some people prefer to have them downstairs in moses basket during day, it depends on your personal preference)

Hope that helps!

you need to find what works best for you and your baby. It might be best though to introduce a nighttime routine first, bath book cuddle feed bed etc. I did not do the baby whisperer but found the basic Eat Activity Sleep idea a good way of breaking the day up to give ME more structure.

pineapple my DD is an unpredictable monster She goes to bed at 7pm, I feed her at 10.30am (fully awake although she falls asleep by the end) and she was sleeping till 7am from 4 weeks old - lucky ole me hey! But for the past 4 weeks or so she wakes anytime from 5am-7am and occasionally at 4am for a feed. I know this is still good for a 14 week old but she got me used to sleep so its not fair If she wakes before 7am I treat it as a night feed and let her sleep till 8am at the latest. HTH

Thanks Terry that's really helpful!

It's never too late! Do some research and find a routine or structure that suits what's important to you and your day and then choose a day to start. Keep it up and you will see improvements very quickly.

Good luck

Thanks sooo much for the advice, all really helpful! Ive not really read up on the subject but i'll do some research 7 see what works for us. Currently DS goes 'down for the night anywhere inbetween 8.30pm & 10.30PM - its usually around the 9pm mark but he has been slightly erratic lately, but i can tell he's always shattered come 6.30/7 & has to have a powernap before feeding again a couple of times before finally going to bed. Am i right to start his 'night' at 8.30/9pm? he doesnt currently go through the night, he disturbs around 1.30am then again around 4.30am & wkes for the day around 7am so it seems a bit early to be putting him down at 7pm. Maybe when he goes back to going longer stretches through the night i'll start bedtime earlier.......... I'm also trying to introduce a bottle each evening so my husband can be more involved & i can have more freedom - any tips on this i would be grateful as our attempts so far have not gone well. He was taking expressed milk by bottle but this wasnt a regular thing & he's now refusing the formula & expressed milk :-( Thanks again for the advice, feel happier now ive discussed it :-)