When did you newborn start going to bed at a reasonable hour? And how?

[mistressploppy]

DS2 is 9wks and I just can't get him down before 9pm. He just resists it so much, although it's fairly easy to get him down for naps. It seems like he's overtired but even when he's had a nap just an hour before hand (albeit a short one) he still can't get off.

Is it just an age thing?

DS3 is 7 weeks and for the last week has been going down around 7-7.30pm. I have found that he is cutting back a bit on napping in the afternoon and I now make sure he is awake from 5pm-ish. He usually wants feeding when he wakes so I give him a small bf whilst his brothers have tea, then they all get into the bath (DS3 loves it...finally!). Then from 6.15 - 7ish (when he goes down) I give him a bottle of formula (I found BF at this time really stressful with trying to get two others into bed, so a bottle saves my sanity! DS3 was also really frustrated with stopping/starting and poor milk supply).

I think the combination of a really full tummy, well winded and properly tired really knocks them out.

OP: could DS2 be napping too much in the afternoon, or maybe it's just a phase with his growth.

mistress sorry to see you here. I was just coming on to look for the same so no advice I'm afraid. I hate having no evening or baby free time. When DD goes down, it's sleeping with me. Hope someone has words of encouragement soon.

We started from day 1 of putting our baby to bed at 7pm, always with a proper bedtime routine - massage, bath, milk, bed. We had to be persistent for the first few weeks, as we had no evening and were up and down calming her down for a good couple of hours. By week 8 she went down happily on her own and we've had very few problems since. I would say carry on trying and forget your evenings for a bit. Just stick to exactly the same routine. Good luck!

Keeping daytime naps spaced apart and of a good length stops them getting OT. If he's having a nap an hour before, I'm assuming you've got him on a later bedtime? I worked on a 7-7 day with naps slotted in between.

Hey mistress I would say the opposite - don't bother trying. I have dd2 with us all evening. She is 6 weeks on Monday. I just take her to bed with me when I go at ten. Recently she fusses for an hour between half seven and half eight then feeds then sleeps.

With dd1 at about 14 weeks she started beginning her big sleep at seven so started putting her in her cot in the evening then.

So currently my advice is to forget the stress of it. I am a slummy mummy though

We started a bedtime routine at about 3-4 weeks and so far it seems to be working (she's 10w now). At the moment she has a feed at 5, a powernap at about 5.45, then I take her for a walk at 6.15 for half an hour or so to get through the witching hour with some calm! Then its half a bottle when we get in, a bath at 7.15, and bedtime and the rest of the bottle at about 7.30. We give her this feed all swaddled up in the dark in her room. At first she grizzled a lot when we put her down, but now she is almost falling asleep on the bottle - hence why we feed her half beforehand .

We try and make sure DD doesn't nap too much after late afternoon, just has quick 'powernaps' of 10-15 mins or so if she is ridiculously tired, which seems to help. Then the rest of the evening is calmer, we try not to play with any loud toys or wind her up too much.

My advice would be to try and work out an evening 'bedtime' routine and stick to it, like lala says. It may take a while but there is a good chance that baby will start to learn that it is time to wind down and then to go to sleep.

Good luck

DD is 11 weeks and goes down between 1700 and 1800, sleeps till 2200, has a feed then 6 nights out of 7 sleeps through till 0700. She's done this since she was 8 weeks with the very occasional feed at 0300.

A friend told me that her secret of getting her DCs to sleep through at night was plenty of sleep during the day, putting them down to sleep before the 3rd yawn and NOT going in the instant you hear a peep after they've gone down. Like everyone, I've learnt the difference between a "I want some attention but don't need it" grizzle and a "I need you" cry and react accordingly. Oh and I feed to wake except at 2200 and the feed between 1700 and 1800.

I feed on demand and DD's "routine" is one that she has put herself into so if it deviates then that's okay, they're her rules. She drinks about 200mls per feed and weighs about 15lbs at the moment. She's growing out of her 3-6 months jumpsuits already so not a little girl, not fat I hasten to add just very long!

Rough routine is as follows:

Wake at 0700, feed, playtime mostly cuddles as she's delicious, pottering about
Walk the dogs 0800
Snooze at 0930
Awake at 1100, feed
Playtime, pottering about
Snooze at 1230
Awake at 1400, feed, playtime
Walk the dogs 1500
1700 Bathtime, story, feed and bed
2200 feed

This is my first child and I purposely didn't read any parenting books so right or wrong.......this is what works for us.

Don't worry! You absolutely WILL get your evenings back eventually. According to our baby book (since when do babies read them?!?!) it is a development thing.

It sounds as if you're doing everything right so I think just keep at it and little one will get it soon enough. Our DS had a proper bedtime from about 12 weeks. Prior to that we still went through the motions of a routine (bath/feed etc starting at about 6.30) and popped him in his Moses basket but didn't force the issue if he wouldn't settle. He almost always didn't and we invariably ended up keeping him downstairs with us where he'd eventually fall asleep on one of us and we could then transfer him to his pram until we went to bed when we'd be waking him for a feed anyway. Then one day, as if by magic, he went down at 7 and stayed there!!! I say hang in there, try not to make it a battle at this stage and I'm sure if you remain consistent it'll all fall into place. Good luck

Thanks Hodgie. It's tricky as we have a 2.5yo as well so I feel I'm disrupting his bedtime by trying to get a yelling baby to stay in his basket!

We'll get there...

Sorry, how rude - thanks everyone, all useful stuff esp Haddock's schedule

One of the main probs is that he'll only nap for 45min at a time (on the dot) so it's really hard not to let him get overtired

With you on the short naps. So frustrating. I can sometimes get a longer one in the sling but touch and go