Nighttime routines

My DH and I do not want to get in the habit of rocking the boys to sleep in case he should happen to get a job that requires him to work second shift (currently unemployed due to the economy :~( ) and then I'd have to tend bedtime by myself. Up until these past few days we've been able to feed them their last bottle and off to bed they go pretty easily. Now we're having a hard time getting them to sleep w/out having to rock or pick them back up to sooth. They are about 18 weeks ... is this usually about when the transition to "I don't wanna go to bed" starts to happen or have we just hit a rough patch?

Any ideas on how we can make bedtime a little easier ... now it seems that when we put them in their cribs it's one cry, we all cry!

 

At 4 months we were still trying to get ours out of the swings. Swaddles helped a ton (don't know if you're doing that) and we just tried a lot of back patting. Neither of mine liked being rocked though. They just thought it was time to look and play with Mommy/Daddy. I did try to pick them up as a last resort.

They may be going through a growth spurt or about to hit a milestone. Sometimes mine had interrupted sleep during those times, so you may see their sleep patterns go back to normal in a few days.

 

At 4 months mine were still falling asleep on the bottle. Then they would go into their cribs and most of the time stay asleep. If they woke, I would do the shhh, patt and turn on their crib soother and soothe them back to sleep. If all else failed, I would rock them. Getting them to sleep by yourself will be a lot easier when they mature and can self soothe to sleep.

I would start a bedtime routine, like bath, books, bottle, bed and be consistent with it so they learn that it is bedtime with consistency. Also some white noise in the nursery can work wonders. I like the swaddle idea from the pp too. GL!

 

I agree with Rachel and Gina. They are still young enough for the swaddle. I would institute a bedtime routine if you don't already have one. I know we had a hard time of breaking ours of being rocked to sleep (my DH still won't give it up at times!)...but they are young enough to be rocked if all else fails. Good luck!

 

I would definitely try while they are young like this to get them to fall asleep unassisted by you.

Like the others said, Swaddling (to keep their arms from jerking them awake and taking pacifier out - if you use)., White noise, Routine.

I read all these books and they all seem to gel in my head as to which one said what...

The Baby Whisperer - she talks a lot about patting them and not giving in to picking them up and walking around etc to soothe them. I can't remember what age, but maybe at 4 mo. she talked about picking up and giving a quick hug then putting back down to the crib and patting them. Just being there to remind them that you are there... 7pm bedtime... is what she recomended... we never did that, but do try to be consistent - that will help. She talks a lot about "props"... rocking to sleep is a prop, that you are instilling... so that they can't go to sleep w/o being rocked...

BabyWise - lay them in the crib awake so that they can fall asleep on their own

The Happiest Baby on the Block - he talks a lot about Swaddling, and White Noise - shushing right in their ear, but also playing white noise all night long...

Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby - I read this last and can't remember, but it seemed to have lots of the same elements listed above...

We are able to put our babies down for night and naps fully awake and they settle in within a few minutes... since they are used to it when I leave them they are not full out crying... if they are full out crying, I tend to pat them to settle them in...

I hope you can find what works for you, one of the books talked about more sleep helps more sleep... so make sure they are getting good daytime sleep so that they are rested enough to sleep deeply at night.

 

At 4 months I usually did bedtime on my own. What I would do is bring them both into their room, put PJs on and then put one in the crib with a crib toy (we have the one with the little mirror), and then fed the other in the rocker. After the bottle, I'd burp gently, rubbing her back and then would lay her down in the crib and repeat with second baby (except first baby was usually asleep by the time second baby finished eating and burping). I didn't take my girls long (a couple of days) to get used to the routine and bedtime was usually a very peaceful time and I miss feeding them and cuddling right before bed. GL getting into a routine :hug:

 

@ 18 weeks, I swore by swaddles. For my boys, it instantly soothed them & they fell right asleep. Of course, all babies are different and assuming swaddling didn't work for you, basically at this time, it's all trial & error. I also used and currently still do use a white noise machine. It kind of blocks out all outside noises & for whatever reason.. works! GL