whats your bedtime routine for a 14 week old like?

[kbaby]

So far DS sleeps for 30 mins every 2hrs which normally means his last nap is at 5pmish then we do the following.
5.30pm wakes up and plays for a bit if happy to do so otherwise gets carried around
7.30pm bath
8pm feed on boobs until he falls asleep, I wind him and offer 2nd boob until hes asleep
9pm ish- TRy and lay him in his cot upstairs to sleep.

He wakes every 3hrs for a feed during the night and from 4am-5am ish wont go back to sleep unless being held and stayed held. I was wondering if maybe our routine is too late and his last nap too late which is why he wakes so early.

Any suggestions?

sounds totally normal to me. is 9pm his last feed?
I used to give ds a feed when i went to bed at 10.30/11ish

My DD is 14 weeks old, and she seems to be on the same evening routine as your DS - bath at 7.30pm, feed at 8pm and then try to sleep at 9ish (it mostly takes her half an hour to settle as she's still having her evening screaming ab dabs).

And she's also on 3-hourly feeds during the night. She sometimes wakes between 4 and 5, either to fill her nappy or talk. At these times, I change her, listen to her (but not talk back and put her in bed with me until 8ish in the morning. Nice for her mummy

I used to think I was doing things "wrong", having been constantly told by people that "so and so's baby is 4 weeks and ALREADY sleeping through the night" etc. But since I made a conscious decision to enjoy my baby, listen to her cues, and try to fit in with her, I find I'm much more relaxed about things.

Last nap never later than 5:15pm. Bath at 6:00pm. Feed and bed by 6:30. Slept through until about 6:30am.
She was bottle fed which does seem to make a difference regarding the number of night feeds and when they sleep through.
I made a big deal of the bedtime routine from the begining and by about 2 months, had no problem putting DD down at her bedtime. She began to recognise the whole bedtime ritual and started to settle very well. Now at 20 months, she is still in bed by 6:30 and never ever moans about it.

I have 18 week old now - I'm a complete control freak so very strict on routines, but we have 6pm bottle, bath and usually down in bed by 6.30pm. He is knackered by then and I can't get him to stay awake any longer. He naps during the day from 9 - 9.45, 12 - 2.15 and 4 - 4.45 - after his last nap, he struggles to get to 6.30 so he's out like a light. He's been much easier to settle in the last 4 - 5 weeks - in a grobag - thumbsucker (this may make a difference as he finds it easier to settle). He sleeps through from last feed (10.30) to 7am.....
You need to do whatever suits you and baby or try to tweak things if you are finding it doesn't work for you both...everyone is different in their approach and no one approach is right or wrong.....if you find your way is suiting you both - stick with it !

PS - have you tried to structure his naps a bit more so that he gets a long sleep at one point in the day - preferably lunchtime with a couple of shorter ones? Also making sure they feed enough in the day can (but not always) prevent such early/night time wakings.

im trying to stucture his naps but he will only sleep 45mins so it means he never sleeps long for the lunch time nap, hence why he has to have another 2 naps later on.

last night i bathed him at 6.45, fed at 7 and then in bed by 7.35, i also woke him at 10.30pm for a nappy change and feed. it pushed his feeds during the night back slightly but he still woke twice at 2am and 5.40am[wide awake and playing]i brought him into bed at that point.

my 2yr old dd had a set bedtime routine and has always gone to bed awake and happy but she still woke in the night until she was 2, im trying to get him in a good routine so that he will hopefully settle on his own and reduce the wakings!

I have just joined and not sure of netiquette, but hope it is OK to join this thread. I am trying EASY, but my 10 week DS has never slept more that 45 mins in the day. He yawns about an hour after feeding, goes down well for a sleep, but wakes after 45 mins and it's too early to feed him and he's not hungry! By the time we get to next feed time, all 'activitied' out, totally tired and so it goes on! Refuses to sleep after 4pm feed, cries loads as probably overtired, and so often knackered by bath at 6pm - if I make it that long! I do the dream feed, but he is still waking once in the night. Any help? Am I worrying too much?

2By2, this sounds very like my DS was at 10 weeks. Mine always woke once in the night at this age and has never napped for much more than 45 mins at a time (though will occasionally have up to two hours). I always had to wake him for the 10.30pm feed so a couple of weeks ago I tried letting him sleep through it. He didn't wake any earlier for missing that feed. He's now 15 weeks and regularly sleeps for 9 or 10 hours from his last feed (normally around 8pm).
I've been pretty relaxed really about naps and bedtime routines. He naps when he's tired, for as long as he needs. A bath wakes him up so I tend to bath him in the mornings. He knows it's bedtime when I put him in his sleeping bag. He has a cuddle, then bed, and he usually settles very well, as long as he's tired.
Try not to stress too much. I think all babies throw a paddy when they're overtired. Mine will sometimes fight sleep to the bitter end during the day so we often get tears in the late afternoon/early evening. But he sleeps well at night and wakes up refreshed so I'm not too concerned.

Thank you twinklemegan! I could almost weep with relief and thanks at an encouraging response! It can get a bit lonely and confusing at times! I never used to be a stress head! DS was sleeping through from 7-3am before he was ill last week and before I started dream feeding. He still wakes around 3 now, so I think tonight I'll give it a miss and see - he feeds well in the night, but lately has woken at 7ish as usual but not fed well at all - they are such a puzzle - we shall see! thanks again.

Glad I could help. BTW my LO was also starting to feed less well in the morning which is the other reason I started dropping the late evening feed. Whats EASY??!

EASY is what I see as the less strict version of she-who-cannot-be-named, by Tracy Hogg, 'the baby whisperer'. Her suggested schedule is Eat, Activity, Sleep and You time = EASY - no set times, but a clear schedule....I sort of do it, but it goes more Eat, Activity, Sleep, 45 mins of You (me) time and then activity, eat....common sense really...BTW, DS slept for 1.30mins this morning - typical...though not again for the rest of the day..early bath again!

Just to add in something too - I tried waking dd for a last feed when I went to bed - and didn't really find it made much difference to the time she woke up next. I kind of figure there isn't much point disturbing their natural sleep cycles. Some people seem to swear by it though. Might try it again, as from about 11 weeks dd has been waking up twice rather than once as she was before.

Bedtime routine for her now at nearly 14 weeks - try to get as much milk into her as possible at around 6 ish, even if fed not long before(find using a bit of EBM often helps here), then bath around 6.30 with same music playing each night, put in sleeping bag, then a final top up feed in the dark in our room where she still sleeps. Once she starts dosing or isn't as interested in the boob, put her down (if possible awake) at around 7-7.15 and she usually drops off on her own, sometimes having to put the dummy back in once. She'll then sleep to anything between midnight and 3 - and I don't seem to be able to work out what influences how late this is!

2by2 - Interested to know how you find EASY... I have vaguely been trying it too - but there are a couple of things I don't get. I think by this age it is suggested they only have 3 naps a day, yet also 6-8 feeds or something? So do you just leave out the S sometimes (and then the Y goes too??)

newmum36.... just wondered how you can structure their naps? Any tips? My dd will not sleep if she doesn't want to... just have to watch for the cues and try to get her off when I can.... and try to wake her if she has too long a nap - as Hv suggested not to let her go more than 4 hours between feeds in the hope that she sleeps a bit better at night.

hello sjcmum - I have to be honest and say I haven't read the whole book - no time! just dipped in and out....so not sure about no. of naps - I'll have to look again - I was beginning to wonder about it too actually! I know that by 4 months I should take him to 4 hourly feeds (!) We were out all day today at a funeral, so lots of people and he napped the most ever and slept in the car. I had to wake him for 2 feeds to ensure he had enough - I've never had to do that and really don't like to wake him! He didn't feed well either so clearly wasn't hungry - but he rarely shows me that he is!
He won't usually nap after his 4pm feed, so then we don't have the Y time, just a catatonically tired baby by 6ish! I did the 10pm feed last night as he hadn't fed well during the day - still woke up at 3ish as usual and woke at 7 but not at all interested in bottle...might drop the feed tonight - I am really getting the impression that they don't function on a 24 hour clock, no two days are ever the same! Only taken 10 weeks to figure that out!
BTW, I used to feed him at 6, then bath and top up at 7, but he went through a patch of mega up chucks and wind, so I worried I was over feeding his little tummy, so now we feed after bath, as much as he'll take and he goes down really well by about 7.

Just re-read this and realised it is a bit rambly - hope it will be of some use! I also went on www.babywhisperer.com, which was quite helpful, if not just a little filled with some mad Americans who follow it like a religion! I'll go and check the book on the nap front....

hmm.. Ive just started waking ds at 10.30 for a feed and tbh he still wakes at 1am and 4am.
I may give it a miss on Sunday and see how he wakes then.

Sorry have only read 1st post.

Sounds just like ds at that age. I used to bring him into bed with me at 4am and he'd sleep till 7 on my chest. Luvverly. He doesn't sleep till 7 now!

The main thing I've learnt from my second child is there is no point wasting energy trying to 'fix' problems. Work out how to survive whatever it is, and the child will grow out of it. They'll grow into something else, but that's another story!

..so, no luck on finding anytihng on dropping naps in the Baby Whisp. book..she seems to leave it out, or I'm just not looking hard enough. Have been feeding DS around 10.30 - still not liking disturbing such a sleepy boy, but did go through the night on Sat, but not last night...up at 3 as usual , starving! It depends on how much he feeds during the day, and I can't make him take anymore than he wants! great advice fruitful, I'm beginning to come around to that conclusion!