when to start a bed time routine?

[TheGirlAtTheRockShow]

DD is 11 weeks old, 6 weeks adjusted. In many ways she is more like a 6 week old. She is starting to set a routine and a pattern but last feed of the day can vary between 9-11pm (generally at 10). I want to get a bedtime routine of bath/feed/bed going, but not sure when to start. At the moment she has this twice a week, but other days we just have last feed in bed and sleep from there.
Is it too early to set a routine like this? Will she get the association and start going to sleep around the same time?

Some people will say its too early but its whatever suits u/ur little one. I started routine from about 3/4 weeks and 4 1\2 months in we still do exact same thing, we bath around 6.15\6.30 (depending on how grouchy she is) then we have a little ritual where my partner puts her in her bed clothes and I go upstairs and hide in one of the rooms and they look for me (lo really taken with this now she will look for me in each room - just a silly little thing we started) once I'm 'found' I will feed her (ebf) then she goes to sleep prob 9 out of 10 times she does feed for bout 45 mins but sleeps then until 1am/2am then wakes for feed then will wake bout 5\6 for another feed then sleeps until 7.30\8.15 so I'm pretty happy with that think once she moves rooms she will prob drop a feed but it works well for us. It took maybe a week to implement properly xx

We started one at 2 weeks and at 2.5 years (yes!) the kernel of the routine remains the same. Don't worry about when the last feed is. My philosophy was that some time after 6:30 I began a routine of massage (now replaced by stories), then a bath, warm milk in the cot (used to be a breastfeed) and teeth. Then he is tucked in. Now when he was a baby after that breastfeed I would put him down either sleeping or drowsy and put a hand on him. Then if he woke up any more times between 7-7 all activities including any change of clothes/nappies would be in the dark. He would have a dream feed at 10 and another feed at 3/4 and both would be in the dark room. He got v used to the routine and even now is one of the few kids I know of his age amongst my friends who really does go to bed happily. The aim is to a) induce sleep so the dim light and warm bath and milk b) distinguish day from night c) establish a clear end to the day d) see bedtime as a pleasurable thing rather than something to be resisted. So I would definitely start a bedtime routine at 6 weeks adjusted.

And yes, the silly bits of the routine they get really attached to. We used to wrap him in a towel and make a boxing like announcement 'in the blue corner, heading for his bath, the undisputed champion of this house is....' one day when he was 3 months old we forgot the 'announcement' and as we neared the bathroom there was a loud wail and much grunting. Took us a while to figure it out, back we went to the bedroom, did our 'announcement' and off he went for his bath pleased as punch! Babies are funny creatures.

Thanks for your replies. I think we will start something tonight. She has a pretty good feed routine she established herself -2am, 6am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 6pm, 8pm, 10pm ish. I guess we could do bed routine around the 8pm feed.

Kewrious - I love your "announcement" thing. So cute!