Bedtime routine for 3 month old?

[Ellajayden]

How to start a bedtime for my 3 month old he is currently falling asleep on the sofa then we take him up with us at about 10 but want to get a routine in place, am I starting him to early?

Too early

When is a good time to start everything I've read online says the earlier the better

It’s never too early for a routine, we started about then with both ours. It’s the standard bath, bottle bed normally about half 6 - 7. We stick at it every night without fail unless we have rare sleepovers or family parties xx

Really how long did it take your little ones to get into the habit? I've got a funny feeling he's not going to take to it straight away and I'll end up giving in xx

We've started doing bath, bottle and bed With our two month old, but knowing she will wake up again sometime between 9-12 and then again at 3 and 7. So basically, she won't sleep through, but it's getting better.

Yeah he's still waking up twice in the night I'm not expecting that change straight away just want to have some sort of routine instead of him falling asleep on the sofa, he normally falls asleep when he's ready though wich can sometimes not be till half 8 or later so not sure what time to put him down x

Absolutely no point until they're past 1

Started routine from birth with first dc and it has continued (she was sleeping through the night barring night feeds from 6 weeks) maybe she was just a good sleeper. However, now I'm pregnant with no 2 I will definitely do the same again as it makes life much easier in the long run.

We started the bath-feed-story-bed routine really early with our DC, as much for our sanity as theirs. With DC1 we bought her downstairs with us after bathtime until she was about 3 months old, because she cluster fed and was pfb. With DC2, he gave very clear signals from a very young age (about 3 or 4 weeks) that he wanted to be put down in his bedside co-sleeper after his bedtime feed and not kept in the living room with us (he'd whimper and rub his eyes a lot but clearly not be able to fall asleep). They'd still wake for an approx 10pm feed for many months after that - but I'd just do that feed before I went to bed myself.

I have to say, having a cast iron bedtime routine was really important to us. Draws a line between daytime/ family time and nighttime/ grown-ups time.

We had our DS in the living room with us until 6 months, at 6 months we started a proper routine with bath at 8 then in his cot by 9 and milk whilst he's laying down in his cot. He's 17 months now and we do bath at 6:30 and bed at 7.

Up until 6 months the baby should be in the same room as you when they sleep so it's tricky to properly implement a routine until that happens.

Of course it's worth trying before 1!

With my son we did a firm bath, cuddle/massage, bottle or breast feed from about 8 weeks. It's not about forcing a routine on them or not being baby led, we used to observe him carefully and as a newborn/first few eeeks he'd stay up really late but as time went on he'd get v ratty by 9pm ish so we started putting hi down without us

Of course there is a point before 1! My 11 month old has had a bedtime routine since about 2 months. She didn't sleep through then but only woke briefly for night feeds by about 12 weeks and has slept 7-7 for months now.
I definitely believe having a routine helps them understand it's bedtime. If you want to keep them with you still I'd recommend dimming lights/keep activity for yourself low level and quiet after they are in Moses basket in lounge with you.

My 5 week old is already getting tired and grumpy by 9pm, so we've been all going to bed then. But I think in early Dec we will start her going down without us, just 30 mins ahead of us. With my son we gradually moved bedtime backwards so by 4-5months he was in bed at 7pm. It's what he needed but I really think you have to see what youhe baby wants.

We started at about six weeks. Once the cluster feeding stopped we realised that he was falling asleep by 7pm on one of us and then we were stuck there all evening.

After that we started treating his feed around 6-7 as his bedtime feed. He dictates bedtime because it depends on when that feed lands.

But we do one boob, then nappy change, sleepsuit, swaddle, white noise, then he generally falls asleep at the second boob. I give him ten minutes to settle into a proper sleep then he goes into his snuzpod (Moses basket before).

He stays in the living room as we just drag the snuzpod into the living room at bedtime then drag it back to the bedroom when I go to bed.

So it’s not a strict “8pm is bedtime” but he is usually down around 8, sometimes a little earlier sometimes a bit later.

By the sounds of it it will benefit us As Well as him, I just brought a camera monitor so I can still keep an eye on him whilst we're downstairs, I think I'm going to try and put him down at about 730 and see how we get on x

We started a bedtime routine at around 3 months. Dd was a rubbish sleeper up until then. She had a few medical issues which obviously didn’t help as a newborn but once they calmed down it was easy to get the routine started. Again we were led by her when she started getting really upset and rubbing her eyes, we decided that was bedtime. So about half 6 she has her bath, not always washing, sometimes she just has a splash around as she loves water, then has a massage some nights then bottle, sorry if she’s not already sleep then down in her cot. She falls asleep within 5 mins and sleeps amazing. Personally I think it’s good to start getting into a routine early. By routine I don’t mean strictly stick to the same time every night but just familiar things around the same time of day/eve. It helps establish day & night. Hope it helps you.

I also meant story, not sorry!

I think it's definitely a good time to start! We started bath, bottle and bed at about 8 weeks. It worked for us and I'll definitely do the same if/when we have another

Our routine at this age was bath, massage, bottle, swaddle, bed. This would be at 10pm when we went up to bed though, she was downstairs with us until then. At about 4.5 months she started getting obviously annoyed with the noise etc down stairs, so we started bedtime routine at 7pm - bath, massage, bed by 7.30. Then a dreamfeed at 10.30.

Ps - I think a routine really helps. It lets them know what to expect and that bed is coming. DD has been sleeping through the night from 8 weeks old, and will sleep fine even if bedtime is moved for any reason (out, on holiday etc). I’ve found the key is the same pattern of events, and I sing the same quiet song during the massage.

We've been really lucky with ours that they've sort of created their own routine and we've just 'set' it.

Started around 6 weeks, up to our room around 9, bottle and sleep by 9.30, sleeping right through. Bath every other night.

I hope you find a routine that's best for you soon OP!

Thanks everyone don't want to speak to soon, so far it's worked brilliantly x