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Original poster

At what age did you introduce a bedtime routine?

29 replies

LucyJones · 28/09/2006 15:43

Just wondering really when to start the whole bath, bedtime routine and keen to draw on other people's experiences. TIA

OP posts:
jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 28/09/2006 15:45

about 3 months with Jessica, day 1 with rebecca!

it took me a while to find my feet with jess - my mum died when she was 2 weeks old so things were a bit manic.

Because of the tiny age gap between jess and becky, i just did the same with becky of an evening as i did with jess, and suprisingly she has been an angel to go down at night.

Macdog · 28/09/2006 15:49

we started routine when we came back from hospital in basic form
tried to give dd her bath around 7pm then feed then into cot. maybe we were just lucky, but she worked it out really quickly.
from about 1 month her routine is 7pm bath/ feed/bed and up again about 10.30 for nappy change/quick feed/bed again
this worked for us, but i think we've maybe just been very lucky.
hope it helps

Flossam · 28/09/2006 15:51

simple bath bed routine within days of being home - strict bath, boob story and bed at 7 by 12 weeks.

sugarfree · 28/09/2006 15:52

As soon as home from hospital with all 3.

collision · 28/09/2006 15:52

day one!!

lockets · 28/09/2006 15:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

trinityrhino · 28/09/2006 15:54

hmm boob stories, what are they like

sleepfinder · 28/09/2006 15:58

week 3 - as soon as the very experienced nanny started and told us useless parents how to start one.

LilahRose · 28/09/2006 16:07

2 months. We were just seeing that at that time she was getting into the habit of falling asleep around 9.30 so introduced a bath at 9, feed at 9.15, bed 9.30. Since then we have been pushing it back slowly and her routine at 11 weeks now starts at 7.30. She would prefer it to be 7 but as I'm appreciating the later morning wake-up I make her wait!!

chocolateshoes · 28/09/2006 16:19

from day 1 here

kellywellyboots · 28/09/2006 16:29

i was a bit more 'relaxed' or random than these posts...ds's 1, 2 and 3 all came in quick succession, so have been a little overwhelmed at times but in brief
ds1 - had bath/bed routine not at set time from v v early, and started setting the time and making it earlier after a few months, maybe as much as 6 or 7 months, but by that time already expecting no2 so was preparing for that really
then with 2, i was lazy and went with the flow STS and didnt do bath routine with any regularity till he could sit in the bath with his bruv. was a mistake i think as he was a bugger to get into a bed/sleep routine uiltimately - down to routine or personality? who knows, but with no3 i have been a bit better (got bath/bed routine at 7 with other boys underway before 6months) and he seems to be settling better.

in short, i didnt have routine much, but would recommend one!

ProfYaffle · 28/09/2006 16:36

12 weeks, would have been earlier but dh was in hospital before that. Stuck to it almost rigidly ever since.

Kiwiem · 28/09/2006 16:37

Not til about 3 or 4 months in our house. DS had bad reflux and could not be bathed properly for a while because of an early op. He refused to sleep, breastfed every hour of the day and night, our house was a disaster zone and I got totally sick of people saying 'get him into a routine' - we were trying! He finally got sorted once he found the way he liked to sleep, on his tummy, which he did the minute he learned to roll. Now he has dinner at 6, bath at 6.30, bottle at 7 and then bed. Whatever works for you - just try and be consistent but don't worry if it doesn't happen straight away!

LynnC · 28/09/2006 16:40

stuck to a routine right away with us too and was great till teething started - now its all to pot . Just have to go with what suits you best.

MumRum · 28/09/2006 16:44

Day 1 here as well....

Original poster
LucyJones · 28/09/2006 17:41

thanks everyone. Dd is 2 weeks old and at the moment we put her down in her moses basket after an evening feed which is anytime btw 7-9pm really. We leave her in the lounge with the lghts down low as we sometimes have to use the dummy to get her to sleep so if she was upstairs we'd keep having to go up and I worry she might wake ds. Then I go to bed and when she wakes for the next feed dh gets me up and she goes into her room in her moses basket. So sort of a routine but I was wondering whether to just feed her that evening feed upstairs and put her down in her room

OP posts:
Carmenere · 28/09/2006 17:44

HA! I was just thinking that once my dd starts going to morning pre-school(she does afternoons atm), then we will have to introduce a strict routine rather than the casual affair that passes for bedtime in this house.. I'm sure you all think I am a hoorendous mother

jambot · 28/09/2006 21:18

Week 3.

mumfor1standfinaltime · 28/09/2006 21:20

About 5 weeks old. He slept through from 6 weeks.

Original poster
LucyJones · 29/09/2006 16:34

wow - sleeping through at 6 weeks - now that's what I like to hear!! How did you do it?!!

OP posts:
mumfor1standfinaltime · 30/09/2006 19:09

I left ds to cry for a few minutes each time I put him to bed.
I did this for 3 to 4 days and he then went to bed without crying each night.
After a few more days he stopped waking in the night for his feeds.
Probably a coincidence, I don't know. He only woke once in the night anyway, at 2am each night then at around 4am (which to me is the morning as I have always got up at 4am for work anyway!)He dropped the 2 am feed and slept from 7am to 4am.
Eventually 4am stretched out to 7am.

maewest · 01/10/2006 11:33

Started routine - bath boob bed - at 7pmish when DS was 6 wks old (so only 3 wks ago, lol). I then go to bed at about 9 and if I'm lucky he wakes me once or maybe twice for feeding (altho last night he went until 5.30 this morning, which I'm a bit shocked about). He is a big lad (over 12lb already) and really calm during the day, when he has no set routine, just feeds, sleeps and plays whenever he wants to. He has also discovered his thumb which helps him to settle himself, we did try a dummy, but it can't compete with the thumb . Also don't do any chat in the night, and bf with the lights off.

maewest · 01/10/2006 11:35

oh, and before 6 wks I was so tired that I was going to bed at 7pm myself . DH does any further settling needed when I've put DS down after his bedtime feed, but often he will settle himself.

DelGirl · 01/10/2006 11:39

from about 11 weeks. Started bath, feed bed by 7pm. It took her up to half an hour to settle for the 1st couple of weeks, gradually reducing each night. Now she's in bed usually by 6.30 and quiet if not asleep and has been since about 6/7 months??

DelGirl · 01/10/2006 11:40

she's 17 mths now btw