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Sleep routines
Well I bought Prima Baby magazine today. It had a free book The Complete Sleep Guide. Of what I have had read the author Gina Ford advices that babies should have a bed time routine, younger than 6 wks old. Does anyone have a routine yet?
It seems to suggest to start winding down with a bath, change and a feed at 6pm, ready for bed at 7pm. Putting the baby down to sleep whilst awake so it learns to settle is better than rocking them to sleep or putting them down whilst asleep. Then it would feed at 10pm, 2/3am and 6/7am.
At the moment our baby cluster feeds 6pm-10pm, then falls asleep. We go to bed, then he wakes at 1/2am or 2/3am, then 5/6am, then 8/9am.
Any advice?
Also, at what point do you leave them up stairs by themselves to sleep? Ours is always with us, as I'm worried about cot death.
It seems to suggest to start winding down with a bath, change and a feed at 6pm, ready for bed at 7pm. Putting the baby down to sleep whilst awake so it learns to settle is better than rocking them to sleep or putting them down whilst asleep. Then it would feed at 10pm, 2/3am and 6/7am.
At the moment our baby cluster feeds 6pm-10pm, then falls asleep. We go to bed, then he wakes at 1/2am or 2/3am, then 5/6am, then 8/9am.
Any advice?
Also, at what point do you leave them up stairs by themselves to sleep? Ours is always with us, as I'm worried about cot death.
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Replies
We never really left my son to sleep alone/upstairs until he was at least six months, and even then we have a video/audio baby moniter plugged in so we could see and hear him.
Theoretically though, as long as you have a baby moniter then there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to do so, but the SIDS guidelines recommend baby sleeping in your room until at least 6 months old.
Since then we have changed where the moses basket is - Lottie was sleeping in it next to our bed at night but we moved it to the living or dining room for her daytime naps, she was also sleeping on our laps quite a bit after feeding. Since Thursday the moses has stayed upstairs so even for daytime naps she sleeps up there. This has been very hard but it's a calm, quiet bedroom and we shut the curtains so that she can have a nice place to sleep.
I have also been putting her down awake as much as possible so she learns to fall asleep by herself. She hated this for the first 2 times but now falls asleep by herself most times. I warm the mattress first with a wheat and lavender bag and try to make sure she is fed, nice clean nappy and sleepsuit, I stay in the bedroom until she is asleep but I don't pick her up or talk to her. We have a monitor on super sensitive and I check on her hourly but she is fine. This has also been very hard but seems to be working!
We are also trying to have 2 daytime naps of no more than 2 hours, to encourage her to sleep during the night. Not quite managed this one yet and I think it needs tweaking, Lottie is fine with a morning / lunchtime nap but doesn't like going back to nap in the afternoon. We tried a bath, feed and bed routine yesterday but that didn't work so well for us, she loves the bath but hates being undressed and dressed, it upsets her so much she wasn't in the mood to sleep at all!
But she is only 4 weeks old next week so I am very proud of her getting used to the daytime naps in her basket and falling asleep by herself so quickly
Not sure if any of this helps, but I feel better giving us some routine and I think it will make Lottie feel more secure that she has regular patterns. I completely agree that it needs to be a routine that you and the baby feel comfortable with though xx
Our Mia is just over 3 weeks old now and we have no routine as such except for the one that she sets for herself, which happens to be pretty settled. She generally has a bath, feed and change at 9:30pm and is asleep in her moses basket upstairs by 10pm. She then wakes at 1am, 4am and 7am for her feeds. However, we have learnt that this is somewhat hit and miss as her personal body clock seems to switch her on to 'awake' between 11pm and 3am...not conducive to family life! We have also left her alone upstairs on occasion, but only with a sensor monitor on and we check on her regularly - with me usually heading to bed by midnight anyway. She is also just as happy to fall asleep on her own as she is in our arms, so I don't feel we're doing her wrong by occasionally rocking her to sleep.
As she is so young, trying to limit her to daytime snoozes of just 2 hours would be nigh on impossible, I think...if a young baby wants or needs to sleep, then it will do so, regardless of what you do. And if you do try to keep it awake, surely all that does is produce a grumpy, niggly baby? At this age, sleeping and feeding is about all they need to do, so we allow her to do so whenever she needs and simply catch her attention and play with her whenever she is awake, making the most of it. I'm not sure I'd want to put her to bed as early as 7pm at this stage - I'd miss her company too much!
There is so much conflicting 'advice' out there that it's difficult to know what to do for the best...but I'd echo the general consensus here that you need to do what's best for you and your baby. And sometimes the routine will work for a few days, then a growth spurt will kick the feeding routine out, and the rest of the routine follows suit.
I will only be looking at setting her up with a more settled routine once she is at least 2 months old and is staying awake for longer periods and feeding less often. (I know I may be proved entirely wrong though as I appreciate there may be a danger of leaving the routine-setting too late!)
Do what's right for you and your baby....and enjoy the cuddles xx
Since Darcey came home from the hospital we have had a routine. Some nights are harder than others where she wants to feed all the time but we do try to stick to it. About 7.30 she has a bath and it changed for bed, then she comes downstairs with us and either sleeps in her moses basket until 10 or cluster feeds. Then at 10 we go to bed she has a mini cot next to our bed. I change her, feed her, etc then put her down. She sleeps until 3ish then until 6ish when hubby gets up for work. Then I feed and we have a cuddle in bed (hubby gets me tea
xxx
Luckily Aleia has set her own pretty good routine so I can't really complain. She tends to feed 4 hourly now which is nice. She has her feed at midnight and will then sleep till 4ish then wake just before 8am and so on.
She is also in her own room in her got and she settles so much better and is happy to self settle. During the day we are normally out and about so will sleep in carseat/pushchair, on us or in her bouncy chair.
I am not keen on this books as all babies are different and they can tend to make you feel a failure when your really not. Take your lead from baby and enjoy the cuddles as believe me they grow so fast and cuddles tend to be saved for when they're poorly or upset!! Lol!!
Hope this doesn't come across harsh but 4wks really is too soon to be trying routines out!
Mjc + Aleia
3wks 3days
Xx
Love a spaced out first time Mum who is resolving not to fix what isn't broken! x
We are doing a routine - same in that its what was done with us when we were babies. Loosely, it's lots of awake time, cuddles and stimulation during the day, and naps all in Moses basket in a calm quiet place... I think the crucial thing to remember is that baby gets to decide ultimately, and not to get stressed about it if things go a bit awry.
In the day, she said it's hard to get in any routine if your breastfeeding, as they feed on demand. She said every so often put him in his basket awake. Keep talking to him to let him know your around, then he may begin to learn to go to sleep. Like she said, it all takes time.
Other half back to work this week and am one very tired mommy!
First off Nicky, Gina Ford does not have kids....so my personal opinion is that she's not exactly fully qualified to advise lol.
As some of you lovely ladies have said, I find it's best to let baby lead the way, especially when breastfeeding. They all seem to settle to their own routine in the first few months. I've never forced a routine on either of my older two so young and they both settled really well once i introduced a routine as i brought it in gradually
I am on number 4, I cuddled all my other 3 and if they fell asleep before I put them down, then who was I to wake them to get them to sleep again and they were all sleeping through by 12-13wks and breastfed too. If Harry wants it this way too, then I will follow his lead.
Its how you are with them, and you and your little one will find your own routine.
Enjoy the cuddles while you can, they'll soon be stroppy teenagers who will run a mile rather than cuddle you lol