I understand that sleep routines are especially helpful with babies, but I am ashamed to say that ours has been fairly informal. Mostly, I wait until my 5 mo. old seems tired in the evening (read: cranky) usually around 6pm and then put her in her jammies, change her diaper, nurse her, give her a pacifier and then rock her until she falls asleep. She often wakes up about an hour later and the process begins all over again. If we try to put her in her crib after the first time she falls asleep she wakes up immediately, so we usually just hold her until we go to bed at 10pm. I am curious what sleep routines have worked for other families and if you have to be consistent in terms of time (i.e. every day you start at 6pm or can it be a little earlier or later depending on the day?) Thanks!
Looks like you have a routine, you just need to start a little earlier, try 5:30 instead of 6:00. Babies fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer if they go to be before they get cranky. Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, MD. Best book I've read! You will be amazed on how important sleep really is. I bought mine off of ebay for $5.99 including shipping.
Good Luck!
Get the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp...
It will make your life so much easier and enjoyable! It will also help your baby be better rested and HAPPY!!! Get her on a schedule as soon as possible. At four months of age, my son was sleeping from 7pm to 7am and taking three naps during the day. Babies need structure and they rely on you to show them the way.
Good luck!!!
My 4 month old takes a nap between 6:00pm and 7:00 pm and then goes to bed around 8:30pm or 9:00pm. Maybe your little one just wants a little rest around 6:00 and then bedtime a little later.
As far as bedtime routine I think you need to take cues from your child. My first child (now 2) required a consistent bedtime routine from an early age. We bathe her, read stories, have our milk, talk a little, and then she goes to sleep in her crib. My 4 month old is easier. When he starts getting tired I usually nurse him and put him in his bed with his binky and most of the time he goes to sleep on his own.
If you google "tracy hogg baby whisperer", you'll find a website that is free to register and you can get all sorts of schedule ideas there. But, like others have said, sounds like your routine is fine and that the first "bedtime" is actually an evening nap. If you back up the 10 pm bedtime, do it in 15-30 minute increments - it would be too drastic to try to go from a 10 pm bedtime to a 7 pm bedtime. Good luck!
Since your baby is 5 months old now she is definitely ready to be sleep trained. The longer you wait to do this the harder it is. My daughter slept throught the night (8-10 hours) by 3 months old (she was breastfed). We would put her to bed no later than 7:30, which is what most sleep books recommend for their age. She should be sleeping around 11 hours a night with 2-3 naps in the day. Our daughter would wake up around 6:30 to eat and take a nap from 9-11 and 1-3 and when she was younger a short nap from about 5-5:45. I don't think you have to be exact on the times, but the routine she be the same (sleep, eat, play etc) and try to keep it as close as possible. We used the cry it out method, but did a modified version of it, and it worked great it was the best decision I ever made. It may take a 3-4 nights for your daughter to go to sleep without crying at all, but it will happen. They need to learn to self soothe, so no nursing to sleep, because when they wake up they will need you to go back to sleep. My daughter is now almost 2 and is still the best sleeper.
With each of my children I have found that a regular routine makes all the difference. Perhaps it might work to NOT pick her up when she cries after an hour. Let her cry for 5 minutes, then look in on her, reassure her that she is not alone, but don't touch her or pick her up. She'll cry a little more, look in again after another 5 min. See if that helps.
I also followed the advise of the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book, because I had twins and couldn't NOT have them sleep. That book was a godsend. My now 7 year olds are amazing sleepers, and have been since they were 4 months old (when I read the book out of desperation!)
Good luck!
Lilia I was bleassed with the two best sleepers in the world. They were both sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old. I think it is consistency in routine. They would wake at about 7am then nap at 10am for 1-2 hrs and again at 3pm for at least an hour had their baths at 7ish and be in bed by 8pm. They are 28 and 14 now and took naps until they were 10 with no problem. I gave them a teaspoon of rice cereal mixed with breast milk before bed. They said back then to not give them food until 6 months but I did it anyway thus sustaining them all night.
Congratulations on your "first time mommy" status! Babies are such a blessing.
It sounds like you are doing a lot right. You realize that babies need routine and have created one that is simple and repeatable (jammies, diaper change, nurse, pacifier...) I've read people's responses and most seem quite reasonable. I will echo a couple of the suggestions, just to give you more of a consensus:
Try making the 6pm "bedtime" an evening nap instead. My son is 6 months old and still takes 3 naps (instead of just 2), one around 10:30am, one around 3pm, and one around 7pm. We put him to sleep at 9 or 9:30pm, and he wakes up at 7:30am or 8am. He gets fussy in the evening too, but isn't quite heavy/big enough to sleep for 12 hours straight (he's only about 13 1/2 pounds at 6 months).
Also, try not rocking your baby to sleep. This causes them to be disoriented and perhaps a bit scared when they wake up in their crib after having fallen asleep in your arms. Babies begin to hit separation anxiety around this age, and this can compound their fear. Better to rock your baby, set her in her crib awake and walk out. She may cry for a bit the first couple of nights when you do this (each of mine cried off and on for 45 minutes the first night I did it, then went right down thereafter). Most likely, she'll learn and begin sleeping well with your consistent routine.
Here's a sample of our routine for our 6 month old:
Between 7:30-8am - Baby wakes naturally, breastfeed + cereal/fruit
9am - Change clothes, play, floor time or whatever...
10:15am - Nap in carseat(usually while I run errands)
12:30pm or 1pm - Baby wakes. Breastfeed + veggies/fruit
1:30pm - Playtime
3:00pm - Nap in crib
4:30pm - Baby wakes. Breastfeed + veggies and fruit
7:30pm - Catnap wherever
8:30pm - Begin nighttime routine: PJ's, nurse, book, prayers, bed.
Hope this helps!
Blessings on you and your family!
S. J. (mom of 3 year old and 6 month old)
9pm
Hi Lilia,
Your routine sounds fine. The only difference in my baby's routine - even now - is that we always had a bath at bedtime. The warm water seemed to soothe him.
The other thing I would say is that the rocking is fine, but don't let her fall asleep in your arms. Put her to bed when she is just on the edge of sleep but not quite there yet.
I know it is easier said than done and she may cry a bit until she gets used to the idea, but if she falls asleep in your arms and you put her to bed without her realising it, when she comes into a lighter sleep (which is usually about 40 minutes later in a normal sleep cycle) she'll realise that she is no longer being cuddled by her mommy and protest, whereas if she had fallen asleep in her bed by herself then she wouldn't be surprised and may surprise you by turning over and going back to sleep.
My last comments is that it sounds like she is treating what you consider her bedtime as an 'afternoon nap' and then bedtime is 10pm. I think she needs a schedule change rather than a routine change.
We followed Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby Book, so at 5 months my litte boy followed the following schedule:
7am - up for the day and a breastfeed
9-10am - Nap
11am - breastfeed
12-2pm - Nap
2pm - breastfeed
4pm - 15-20 minute catnap if he didn't sleep well at lunchtime or just seemed like he needed it. I would usually take him out in the stroller for this one.
5.30pm - bath, massage, dress
6pm - breastfeed and cuddle
7pm - Bedtime
10.30pm breastfeed
This is what worked for us, you can do what works for you and your baby, but the proportions should probably be similar.
I hope this helps. Good luck. D.
With both my girls I always started my night routine at the same time every night. Now with my first she was a terrible sleeper at night. The night routine helped her get ready for bed, but she was up every three hours and I had to rock her to sleep every time. (I blame alot of this on the NICU as she was there for the first 10 days of her life and they woke her every three hours.) Now my second has slept through the night in her crib since she was two months old. I start my routine of bath, lotion rub, pj's and then last bottle of the night at 6:15. I lay her in her bed awake at night and she normally will talk to herself and then fall asleep until 6 in the morning. Good luck and just remember that babies love routine!
You have to be consistent with all routines. Out of my three girls my youngest who is now 16 months was the easiest to get to bed at night. She goes to bed by 7. Before she goes to bed she gets her cup of milk, mind you before that she was nursed. My youngest has been on this routine since she was 4 months old. Every once in a while I let her cry herslef to sleep. Good luck!
thought i would pass this on...
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Hi Lilia! Kudos to you for having a routine already and sticking to it! I, too, have a 5 month old...so I can feel your pain. Like some others have mentioned, I am a big fan of the Marc Weissbluth book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. Based on this book, the first thing that jumped out at me is that you start getting your little one ready for bed once she's cranky....by the time she's cranky, she's already overtired...which means she'll have a harder time getting to sleep and staying asleep. So, I agree with the other recommendations to start the routine earlier. Watch for early cues...like arm and leg movements slowing down, and getting a far away look in the eyes (when she's not looking at you...if she looks at you she'll perk right up and smile and you'll think she's not tired!). I'm not sure if your little one was colicky or not. Mine was....and she had reflux too....and so because we'd basically done ANYTHING to get the crying to stop and get her to sleep....she'd learned to only sleep when being held. So, last week, I had no choice but to do the cry-it-out thing...and now...she fusses for 10-15 minutes and then is out like a light! If you get the Weissbluth book, I'll warn you, it's a little wordy. But, there's a short summary guide for exhausted parents at the back of each chapter, I can't recommend that enough. I'd also be happy to talk you thru the main concepts...as I'm sure you have no free time to read!
Good Luck!
We also loved the Baby Whisperer - we used the book The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems with both of our kids, who slept through the night beginning at 3 months. I don't have the book handy to go over the schedule, but I noticed a huge improvement within the first day of implementing the schedule and by 2 or 3 days it worked so wonderfully for my first that I've been recommending it ever since.
Best of luck whatever you try,
C.
What worked for my daughter is watching for her signs. For her it is rubbing her eyes and getting whiney. Then we start the process. We do minimal rocking because for some babies, and she is one, rocking is actually stimulating. At times when she might have waken up we would let her go a bit and she will get herself back to sleep. At first we started with going in and putting in her paci, covering her, patting her, maybe even her mobile, but didn't pick her up because then she was wide awake at times.
Now our schedule is pretty even. She is use to it, and so are we, she is down about 6:30-7p for the night. Good luck, this is a tricky thing to get down at first. But trust you will read her and get into her pattern.
Jammies, nursing, rocking isn't a bad routine at all. It's short and predictable. The one thing you could do to make it more effective is to make it proactive rather than reactive. By that I mean transition from bedtime when she's tired to tired when it's bedtime... if that makes any sense. If she is usually cranky at 6, back up to 5:30 and start her routine. That way neither one of you has to experience the overly tired crabiness. She'll drift off to sleep more easily and may stay that way for longer.
Good luck, hope this helps.
Oh, PS, my ds always settled down with a little massage... after you undress her but before jammies, gently rub her in long strokes (no kneeding or anything). It's a great bonding experience and is supposed to help with sensory integration.
T.
we've done the same thing for 5 years now & it seems to work out OK. we always start at the same time each night.
7pm - bath, jammies, nursing (only when the kids were infants), rock them while i read 2 books, brush teeth & go potty, last book, lights out, each child in his own bed, prayers (this way i am still in the room for a bit after the lights are off, the kids get used to the dark while i am there) good night kisses, close door.
the kids never took pacifiers, not sure why, and always babbled themselves off to sleep. if i rocked them at all, i never let them fall asleep while i was rocking them. when they were younger & woke up in the late night/middle of the night for feedings, i changed them , fed them & put them right back down ( no playing, no rocking, nothing but food).
since they went to bed at the same time, they woke up about the same time everyday, so it also naturally led us into a kind of schedule during the day. it wasn't set in stone, but we were always within about 15-20 minutes for feedings, naps, awake time/playtime, etc.
Check out the Ferber method, or if that seems to hard for you go to the Dr. Sears website. they both are very good resources for taking care of babies. They also have differing methods of care.
Hi Lilia,
We start our dinner and bedtime routine at 5. Our daughter gets a bottle (she's weened herself from the breast already :p) at 5pm or 5:30pm while I warm up her solid food. Then she has some solid food until she decides she's done which tends to be at about 6:30pm. We give her a bath after dinner and then it's story time. Used to be we'd just give her more bottle or breast, but she wants that less and less now. I say story time, but mostly she tries to eat the book, but we had to introduce it now so that she will know that it's time to go to sleep after that. She's asleep in bed by 7 or 7:15 every night. She usually doesn't wake up until 6 or 7am the next morning. Occassionally, if her diaper is extra wet or she's hit another growth spurt and she's hungry she will wake up. But, it only takes 15 minutes to get her back to sleep when that happens.
We started the bedtime routine when she was 3 months old-- minus the solid food. It was pretty loose in the beginning. Just breast and then a bath and then breast again. She's 7 months old now. Now, she knows the routine and let's us know what comes next.
