How to start a sleep routine?

Question

My baby is almost 4 weeks and I would like to start a sleep routine with him but he isn’t cooperating! He will fight sleep so bad and stay up for 4 hour stretches, if I am not feeding him,
Bouncing him on a ball or holding him in my arms he will scream. I have tried to put him in the ergo, moby wrap, And another carrier and he hates them all. He will only go in his swing or the rock and play if he is completely asleep. It’s so hard to get anything done and I feel like I can’t leave my house with him because he cries and screams. Help!

Answer

He’s way too young to start a sleep routine.

Answer

Far too young. Baby needs to get used to things and learn to regulate sleep in their own time and environment. It took my first born about 3 months to get a good pattern down and even then he still cluster fed, was up every two hours to feed, and didn’t sleep through the night until he was about 9 months old. At this point baby is still trying to figure out Day and night, witching hours, and so on. The first 3 months are such a transition period. It does get easier, hang in there. ❤️

Answer

Just be as consistent as you can with him. During the day keep it bright and at night make sure it is dark even when you are up doing feedings and changings in the middle of the night. Have you tried putting him in swaddles at all? Sometimes babies like that because they feel snug and secure. My son always loves being swaddled so that was part of the bedtime routine. When he was a newborn his bedtime was pretty late, like around 11 pm. Mainly because it would let me have a few hours of sleep at a normal time. So I would feed him and put him to bed around 11 pm and he’d sleep until 3/4 am then he’d be up, id change and feed him and then he’d go back to sleep until about 8 am. You have to remember that as a newborn the odds of your baby following a set schedule are limited however, that doesn’t mean you can’t start a routine and work towards consistency. We always had a routine with our son. Made things easier especially when I went back to work.

Answer

I completely disagree with the others. You won't see results right away, but doing the same thing each night will start to signal to him that it's time for bed. The sooner you start, the easier it will be. Just prepare to be flexible.
We started when my LO was a little under 2 months. It's really simple. Just the same few things happen each night in the same order (PJs, diaper, lotion, white noise on, etc.). At about 2.5 months, this routine became so familiar to her that she no longer fights sleep. 
For now, your LO is going to keep fighting it, but it will get better soon, especially since you're being so proactive with a routine.

How to start a sleep routine?

Let’s Glow

Glow is here for you on your path to pregnancy

25+ million

4.8 stars

20+

Getting Pregnant

Pregnancy

1st Year (Baby & You)

Baby Products