With our twins (now 17 months) bedtime routine was solid and in place by 4 months old. We gave them their bottles (bath was/is every other night)and had them asleep at 7:30. We eventually moved their bedtime back to 6:30 and that remained their bedtime for about 8 or 9 months. I'm breastfeeding our new DD, who is now 3 1/2 months old. Once I get her to sleep she does very well. Sleeping anywhere from 8pm until 1:30am or as late as 4:30am. I'll feed her when she wakes and then put her back down and she usually sleeps until morning. Here's where I'm a little confused. Getting her to go to sleep at night is the hard part. The twins go down at 7pm and I start trying to get her to go to bed right after they go down. It seems like I wind up nursing her for about 30 minutes and then burp, put her in her sleep sack, burp again and then she goes in her crib. If she's asleep when I put her down she usually wakes up two or three more times before finally falling asleep for good for the night. I'll rock/burp/soothe/bounce/etc. and feed her again as a last resort. She weighed 14.12 a week ago so I'm guessing she's close to 15 pounds now. She eats plenty and I don't think being hungry at bedtime is the issue. I'm now in the process of sleep training her (no CIO though) because I want her to have an awesome bedtime routine like her brother and sister. I'm putting her in her crib for all naps and bedtime, trying to put her down sleepy, but awake so she can drift off to sleep on her own. Every other night is bath night for her and aside from that I keep the routine the same every night. I recently stopped swaddling her and she seems fine without it and isn't waking herself up by startling anymore. I use a floor fan for white noise too. I mention all of this because I know these are always part of the "getting baby to sleep" checklist that I used with my older two. I've tried putting her down at 6:00 - starting bedtime routine at 5:30 - and I've tried putting her down at 9:00p - starting bedtime routine at 8:30. The result is always the same. She'll wake two or three times before falling asleep for the night for good. So in the end it usually takes me an hour or a little over to get her to sleep. She is a very happy, laid back, low maintenance baby during the day and that also makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong at night. Is this common with a breastfed baby? Is this just something she'll outgrow? Will getting her to sleep eventually become easier? I don't remember it being this hard with my big babies. Thanks for any advice or thoughts!
Well, I have to say it sounds like you are doing a great job to me! At 3 1/2 months, I had very little routine with my two & most nights I didn't get them to sleep until much later. Keep with your routine & I think it will most definitely get easier as time goes on.
It sounds pretty good to me too. I don't think you are doing anything "wrong" -- some babies just have a little more trouble falling deeply asleep. One of my twins would often wake a few times within the first hour or so -- which was definitely stressful, since we were so desperate for them both to be out cold, but she would sleep fine for several hours once she was really out, so we were really lucky. A lot of babies (especially a lot of BF babies, it seems to me, though this is just anecdotal from talking to my friends) wake a lot more often at night, and in the middle of the night, not just the first hour or so. It sounds like you were extremely lucky with your twins, and this one is just a little bit trickier, but still on the right track for being another good sleeper.
I agree with Tina and Minette...it sounds like overall your DD is a good sleeper. I would keep up with the routine. My DD had a harder time falling asleep when she was that little but like yours once she was out for the night, she was done for the night.
