when did you start bed times?

[ruth1104]

DS is 6 weeks old and at the moment is basically wherever I am; in a moses basket or sling in the living room. We take him through to his crib in the bedroom when we go to bed (pretty early these days! about 9-10.30). His sleeping is pretty variable but he's usually up every 1-3 hours. He does sleep for 4-5hours occasionally during the day!
Im not over worried about any of that but I was wondering when people started babies on a different bedtime? Is it helpful?

Hi - mine is 7 and a half weeks old. We started a 7pm - 7am bedtime a week ago, mainly because he was so unsettled and crying in the evening when in the lounge with us. We start a short routine (wash or bath, little massage then feed) about 6.30pm and then put him to bed. I know it's not for everyone but we moved him into his own room when we started the routine.

Since moving him we have all slept much better. He is off by 7.30pm ish and generally wakes 11.30 and 4.30 for feeds. When he was next to me in the Moses basket, he was waking the same as your DS about every 2-3 hours. Now he has chunks of sleep of 4-6 hours, much better for us all!

I have found it much easier to have a routine and set bedtime even though he is young as it helps to give some structure to the day.

Good luck with yours!

When DS was 5 weeks we started taking him up to his crib in our room at about 9pm, (then it became 8pm) and just turning the light off and leaving him. Never cried (still woke up for feeds later on). We have done this every night since - he's now nearly 4yo. Try it and see!

About 6 weeks with DS1, not sure with DS2 who is 5weeks. May wait til after Christmas now as got visitors til January

When DS1 was around 4 weeks we started his bath around 7pm and put him in his crib in our room to sleep. We have a video monitor so could watch him. We moved the bath to 6.30pm later as he was just getting overtired. At that age he was sleeping 7.30ish to 1.30 and then to 5.30. Now at 15wks DH gives him a dream feed at 11pm which sees him through to about 4.30am.

Started bath, feed, sleeping bag then put down at 6 or 7 weeks. At first DS was in the Moses basket downstairs and we'd then take him up with us. Started putting him up in the cot after this routine at about 10 or 11 weeks I think. I don't ever leave him awake though, I feed or if he doesn't want to feed then dummy and a rocking cuddle until he's asleep, then pop him in the cot. It doesn't take much time and its our goodnight, I don't like the idea of leaving him awake as yet. He sleeps about 7-12 at the moment, we go up about 10-11. He's still in our room as well. You can start with a regular bedtime and keep them with you, to get used to bath, then sleepsuit, bag and then down. I also do everything in the bedroom by nightlight and we get up and come downstairs at 7 every morning (more his choice then mine!) so he knows bedroom is for sleep as we don't hang around in bed playing etc. I wouldn't mind a sleepy lie in cuddle in bed occasionally but I seem to have created a monster of routine :)

This is a few years ago now- DS is 17 - butI do remember trying toget him into a sleep routine pretty early on.

He was bathed, fed and put to bed by 7pm. Of course he would wake in the night for feeds - but the very fact that he was in his moses basket, then cot by early evening meant we could get the evenings to relax a little and not be totally tied to a new baby.

We did keep him in our bedroom for the first six weeks - but moved him into his own then. As soon as he had his own room we all slept much better. Guidelines were different back then.

He was an excellent sleeper actually and the night feeds dwindled quite soon on. He is an even better sleeper now

When he finally quit cluster feeding... He cluster fed for ages though, and so I'd usually just go to bed about 8pm to hang out in bed next to him. It was quite cosy over last winter. It was clear that by 8, he was overstimulated by being downstairs and needed some bedtime space to get ready for night time sleep.

thanks, we tried our first bath, feed, bed early last night. He slept as badly as usual but we'll see how long it takes. I do miss having a little bit of evening time with dh! And like some of you said, i think ds is starting to get over stimulated or over tired but thats new so its trying to understand all these new signals!

I'm not sure it really makes them sleep any longer at the start as they will still wake when they need to. It's more starting a regularity in their bedtime, after a while the night wakings become just about feeding and they sleep in between them, while the day is longer awake periods with naps. DS still wakes at 12am and 3am to feed so not more than 4 hours between feeds still at 4 months, but he goes to sleep easily at 7 or 8 as he knows it's bedtime. I Don't think you'll see longer gaps between feeds. I find just tweaking what he does already very slightly is my routine! I'm not fitting him to what times I think he should do something, it makes it a lot easier! But you will be able to go by his cues, if he regularly sleeps 6-9 or 10, make 6 your bath and bedtime. DS did 8-11 so we just started bathing around 7:30.

I can't remember with DS1, but DS2 is 12 weeks old and we started 2 weeks ago!

I did a bedtime routine from newborn

I always bathed dd in the morning though.

Bedtime 7pm everynight from the word go

One thing I think helped was to wake them in the day after 2hrs of napping so they aren't doing 4-5 hr stretches in the day. So still napping lots but 1-2hrs at a time

I don't understand why people put babies to sleep so early unless you've got something you need to be up early for. Mine all went to bed when I did. (10-11pm) then we would get up about 9am.

Anyway to answer your question, my 17 month old had just started going to bed a bit earlier at 8pm. My 3 year old started going to bed at 7pm in September when she started nursery.

Oh and routine:
9pm into pjs/ clean nappy and feed. Into Moses basket in living room

About 11pm wake a little, feed, put into cot into our room.

I do roughly the same as Artandco with every baby placed with me (foster carer) and do this till they don't fit in the basket anymore usually, I get them ready for bed at 6pmish after a bath if they have one that night. They all normally only wake once at about 4am for a feed once they get past the newborn stage and then by 4/5 months sleep till morning and they all stay in my room in the cot till way past a year, I just find that they seem to sleep so much better. Little one here just now sleep 12 hours plus, he was 1 yesterday and has been here since he was 10 days old.

Bedtime routine from about 4/5mo I think it was. Then own room at 6mo.

greeneyedmonster14 to have some adult time! As soon as baby is down at 7pm hubby and I have dinner and time to ourselves.

Mine were are terrible sleepers so I'd have been up and down the stairs all evening.

SIDS advice is to keep them on the same room til they're 6 months old, but I know that's not always practical. I put DD in her crib at about 7 and stick the baby monitor on. Been doing it for about a month (before that we just kept her with us) so from when she was 4mo. No way was I worrying about doing a set bedtime at 7 weeks!

GreenEyedMonster14 mine choose his bedtime! He'd be out like a light from 8-11 from quite an early age, then after a while he started to get woken by us being around him in the evening making noise, and he would rage! So we put him in the cot now at 7-8. I just get up at 7 do I can have breakfast and a coffee before DH leaves for work, he has baby duty until then!