Babys First Year Blog
Our Nighttime Routine
Little Bean awake in his crib
We are on day 7 of crib sleeping and day 2 of our new nighttime routine. Right now I’m staring at a calm baby laying awake on his side listening to his new mobile and hoping, no, PRAYING, he figures out this self-soothing thing soon.
I’m all about routines. My almost 6 year old has had the same bed time routine since he was 2 months old–teeth brushing, PJs on, read story, bed. He’s so accustom to the routine that if we can’t read before bed he gets upset. I’ve even threaten "no story" as punishment and it straightens him right out.
We decided to follow pretty much the same routine with Evan but with a short bath interjected in. He LOVES the bath! The warm water calms him down instantaneously. It cracks me up as his older brother hated them at this age.
Anyway, for the past two nights we’ve fed and given Evan a short bath, put him in his PJs, read him Good Night Moon, turned on the mobile music, shut off the light and shut the door. He then falls right asleep.
NOT!
Sorry for my cheesy Wayne’s World reference but I need to laugh about this or I may cry.
It takes about an hour after we shut that door for him to actually fall asleep. There’s a lot of cry deciphering, back rubbing, pacifier offering, burping, and repositioning. I want to instill that bed time is bed time so I don’t take him out of the crib unless it’s time to eat. Which is about every 2-4 hours.
Last night he went down around 8 and slept peacefully until midnight when I nursed him. He then went back down until 2:30. I nursed again and he went back down with a little coaxing until 5. Another nursing session and he slept until 7.
Not bad. At least I don’t think so. He is only 6 and 1/2 weeks. The way I see it, from here it can only get better. If I’m consistent he will hopefully go down faster and easier and as he gains weight he’ll need to wake less and less overnight. At least that’s what I HOPE!
I started this post about an hour ago. I got up around 5 times to calm him down and now he’s….
Little Bean Asleep in His Crib
I probably should go to bed NOW. Don’t you think?
What are your night time rituals?
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6 Comments
Anon commented on May 01 11 at 11:18 pmWonderful story! But is it okay for him to be sleeping on his stomach?
Kelly commented on May 02 11 at 9:34 amGreat job Roni! Stick to your guns, use your best mommy intuitions and soon he’ll be sleeping all the way through! :)
amanda commented on May 02 11 at 12:10 pmIf he sleeps better on his belly, sleep he will. Good for you for following your gut. You know what is right for him. Both of my boys were tummy sleepers. It worked for us and they are both fine.
He’ll get the routine, he just may be a little more stubborn than his older brother ;)
Laura commented on May 02 11 at 2:19 pmgood job! it’s all about the routine! we also started early and our 6 month old goes down in his crib at 7pm without a fuss…up at 5am for a quick snack and back down again until 7:30am.
Jen commented on May 08 11 at 1:28 amHey Roni!
Congrats. on little Evan! I have followed your pregnancy since day 1! You may not believe how similar our stories are (in weight loss/gain and in trying to figure out the baby routine). I was so surprised to come home from the hospital after having my own baby girl on March 18th to find that you had already had Evan!
Anyway, I just wanted to ask if you have ever tried a Kiddopotomaus Swaddle Me Infant Wrap Blanket? I used/am using these with both my girls and, it may be just a coincidence but I have never ever had a problem putting either of them to bed. I just lay them in bed and they always fall asleep on their own. The idea is that they like the swaddle because it reminds them of being back in the womb (where they were held so tightly). Like I said, perhaps it’s just a coincidence that my girls sleep so well in these but they are only around $10 so it would be worth a shot if you haven’t tried already. The only thing is, it would seem really dangerous to put them on their belly to sleep in this blanket so if you are set on tummy sleeping then perhaps it’s not the right path for you.
Anyway, just thought I would mention it as an option! Best of luck and CONGRATS!
Jen
p.s. – I would love to converse you with a bit more on trying to manage breastfeeding and WW sometime. I gained right along with ya girl! And I’m back again trying to get back to goal. Let’s face it…I just don’t do pregnancy gracefully. :)
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