when did u start a bedtime routine?

Question

When did you start having bath and book before bed? My baby is 6 weeks old and right now he's going to bed when we go to bed. We don't give him nightly bath because he gets too dry. We will give him a bottle and he is usually too tired to even look at a book after that. What are you ladies doing that works for your little one?

Answer

We started at one week. She breastfeed while we read a book and sing a song and then she gets rocked to sleep on her dad. We expect it to evolve, but reading to her can't hurt ever. She's now 5 weeks and it hasn't changed much yet. Eventually, I'd like to be able to just set her down for bed and have her look st the pictures in the book. We aren't there yet and that's ok!

Answer

We tried starting around 8 weeks, but it didn't hold, as my daughter basically laughed in our faces when we tried. We quit, and started listening to her cues. We had a routine, but we did it when she appeared to be getting sleepy rather than forcing a specific time. When she started rubbing her eyes, we would turn lights off, music on, do a baby massage (if she was up for it...some nights she was tired instantly without warning), and I sing to her while feeding a bottle. Then I would lay her down, walk away, and she would fall asleep. I would say around 15 weeks she started consistently finding an earlier bedtime, and we started planning for bed between 8/8:30 each night. Now she's 6 months, and it's almost a guarantee that she will be sleeping by 8:30 (except during leaps/after shots). I know some people swear by it, but I truly believe a baby does better with a flexible schedule, and will find their own groove with time. Some babies will obviously do better with a strict schedule, but most babies seem to find their own with time.

Answer

I think we slowly started around 6-12 weeks. We do massage or bath (alternate days) with coconut oil then pjs and sleep sack, book, song and nurse to sleep. When we started though it was just massage or bath, sleeper, then song and nurse to sleep. We slowly added the books in.

Answer

Between 9 & 12 weeks for routine that we stuck with. I have three boys. I still don't do baths every night, unless of course they get really dirty, which they sometimes do. I have 2 red heads, a blond, and all 3 are very very very pale skinned. They have very sensitive skinned. A bath every day is a disaster for them. Our bedtime routine just does include a bath every day. We wash faces, brush teeth, Jammie's, snuggle and story time. When they were babies we ended every night with GoodNight Moon. It signals that bedtime is fast approaching and eventually baby knew that the crib was coming and we would leave. After three kids I could recite it and draw every page from memory! Ha

Expect changes though and disruptions all through the first year. That's just normal baby growth stuff. Just keep muddling through the routine and things will level out.

Answer

We started one at about 6 weeks. She gets changed, rubbed down with lotion, and put in PJs. then the lights go off and I'll feed and rock her. She usually is passed out pretty quickly.

Answer

I let him pick his own as he got older. Around 3 months is when he started always needing to sleep around 9-9:30. Sleep regression has changed that a few times but now we're back to 9pm. I just followed his ques. Our bedtime goes: brush teeth (I brush his baby ones) then he chews on the brush while I brush mine. Diaper change (sometimes outfit change), book and he gets nursed to sleep. Upon laying down he's out in 30min.

when did u start a bedtime routine?

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