Good sleep habits/ opportunities to sleep

[ZebraZeebra]

I have a toddler and now a newborn and I'm thinking I want to try things a little different to how we did with the toddler.

With DS we were very baby led, had no routine and kept him downstairs with us in the evening long last six months. This was all fine and worked for us at the time but I'm thinking with DD that I might start implementing an early routine. But I have no idea how to do this or what expectations should be.

She's five weeks. She won't sleep on her back but I have a side wedge. She also has a bad cold! As she's so little I have no expectations for a routine yet or "putting her to bed". But I'm thinking maybe when she's around four months I might start. I have a sensor mat so feel ok in terms of SIDS guidelines.

I keep reading about making good sleep habits or creating opportunities to sleep but I'm pretty clueless and don't know how to do this. What did you do/what do these things mean to you?

I used to think my DS was hungry all eve as he would be on my boob for about 5 hrs straight.
I now realise he was using me to get to sleep and probably ended up passing out thru sheet exhaustion every night around 10pm.
So recognising they need an early bedtime is a good start, doing the same routine every night even if it feels pointless if the baby isnt doing the thing its supposed to - they will get it eventually.
We put a soft toy in his cot which he ignored for about 2 months but now 10 months later he cant get to sleep without it.
Realising how long they could go between naps and trying to put them down just before they meltdown too. When i first had DS i thought in the am he was getting up fornthe dayand was just meant to nod off when tired... little did i realise he needed a nap 1hr after being awake when he was tiny.
Hope some of that helps. Just start doing some stuff but do it the same each day or eve and even tho it might seem pointless at the time its all about setting the foundations for good habits... i think!

Fab post and advice, thank you. It's amazing how clueless you can feel!

Around what age did you start introducing cues and routines?

A good routine to start with is EASY (Eat, Activity, Sleep, You).

I started as a newborn on a 90 minute routine of feed, 20 minutes awake, sleep and kept asleep until 90 minutes since starting the last feed. Then repeat this though the daytime.

This basic routine can then be tweaked in a baby lead way, but maintaining structure, as baby grows. So maybe having longer awake/happy time between feed and sleep. Or maybe lengthen the sleep time.

The great thing is that this structure separates feeding and sleeping since feeds happen upon waking, not upon going to sleep.

I kept a 90 minute EASY routine from 6-12 weeks and the a 2 hourly EASY structure through to 5 months old.

Think i started a bedtime routine at about 8 weeks and a proper day routine about 4/5 months.
Took me that long to figure out what the hell was going on!