Dumb question

[wishing3]

Hi, I'm pregnant, clueless and trying to do my research about babies and sleep. Sites and books (including UK ones) talk about trying to introduce babies to the idea of night time with putting them in their cot in a darkened room, with no noise suggesting at about 7pm. This is starting from a few weeks old. Surely this is not possible though, as doesn't the baby always need to be in the same room as you to minimise risk of SIDS? Unless you also just hang out silently in the dark room?? Does anyone have tips fro how to semi-achieve this, or is it all a load of tosh anyway? Thanks!

In the early weeks they just slept downstairs until we went up to bed. They didn't have an earlier bedtime in their cot until they were several months old. Don't think bedtime was ever as early 7pm though

You are correct.

The NHS and Lullaby Trust recommend that until baby is 6 months old, all sleeps are in the same room as you are in.

This means daytime naps downstairs, or you on your bed as baby sleeps.

Thanks so much! So did you try and make the room you were in downstairs darker or quieter or anything, or is it not really worth it?

Tbh for the first few months going to bed at 7pm might not seem like a bad deal! But we just kept dc downstairs with us until we went to bed, since we weren't exactly staying up late. We had a moses basket downstairs for them to snooze in, although dc 2 definitely preferred to sleep on me. As well as night and day they need to get used to household noise, plus babies are used to constant sound, not total silence. So a bit of noise is no bad thing. If you want to have the baby in bed by 7pm, you can watch TV in your bedroom, read, or sleep yourself. A little noise won't bother baby.

Thank you, that's really helful!

@wishing3

Thanks so much! So did you try and make the room you were in downstairs darker or quieter or anything, or is it not really worth it?

More subdued, yes, but not silent. You can create a rod for your own back is baby cannot sleep through any noise. This is especially the case for first children, in households with older siblings live is generally noisier anyway so much more easier to get used to background noise. With your first, you can easily get into the habit of whispering and tiptoeing around, then you end up with an older baby who's woken by a door opening or toilet flushing.

Whereas my now 3yo who is not a great sleeper generally, but has always lived in a house right by a main road, which creaks and has barking dogs, will, when he's asleep, sleep through pretty much any noise.

He stayed with us in the evenings for several months although often asleep in the moses basket

Every baby is different. Ds1 wasn't ready for his first stint of sleep until really late (midnight ish) when he was newborn, so we kept him downstairs with us while we watched telly. Ds2 very quickly started his first stint of sleep at around 7pm. I took him up and went to bed too! I am an early bird and need lots of sleep so I always went to sleep as soon as my babies were down, especially since I ebf so did all the night feeds. It gets easier when they are older as you can put them to bed knowing they will (probably) sleep through and then going to bed early yourself becomes less of an issue. I'd see what suits your baby and how you feel. Baby books can be a bit misleading with the routines they present!