Setting a "bedtime"?

I know my twins are only 6 weeks old, so I know I can forget sttn for now. However, I will need this info soon I hope! When everyone mentions that they put their LO to bed at 8pm, does this mean you put them in bed awake and let them cry it out? Or, are the babies just falling asleep at this time and then they get put in their cribs?
Thanks ladies

 

At 6 weeks old the way I did it was after the 9 pm bottle I put them in their cribs to sleep. After the other bottles they had "awake" time - which just meant they were not swaddled. After the 9 pm bottle I swaddled them and put them down to sleep. I did not let them CIO though, I just started trying to get them to go to sleep right after eating instead of stimulating them to play.

 

When I first started doing bedtime I started at seven with lotion, swaddle, warm bottle, and then I put them in the crib awake. I would then give them a pacifier or soothe them in the crib, but I did not pick them up. I would let them cry a little and then soothe. Usually they were crying because they were exhausted and had to let a little out, and then they fell asleep.

 

QUOTE(rosecurry @ Mar 6 2009, 06:34 PM) [snapback]1217017[/snapback]
When everyone mentions that they put their LO to bed at 8pm, does this mean you put them in bed awake and let them cry it out? Or, are the babies just falling asleep at this time and then they get put in their cribs?


For us it would depend on their age. When they were young, they got a bottle before bed and they would fall asleep on the bottle and I would transfer them to their crib at bedtime.

When they got older and could self soothe pretty well around 7 months or so, I would lay them down in their cribs when they were tired and they might fuss for a bit and then go to sleep.

 

Thanks for clarifying this for me ladies. I was wondering how the heck can I just get them to go to sleep at a certain time.

 

QUOTE(aimeethomp @ Mar 6 2009, 01:41 PM) [snapback]1217025[/snapback]
At 6 weeks old the way I did it was after the 9 pm bottle I put them in their cribs to sleep. After the 9 pm bottle I swaddled them and put them down to sleep. I did not let them CIO though, I just started trying to get them to go to sleep right after eating instead of stimulating them to play.


This is exactly what we did too :good:. We also gave them a bath every night beginning at 5w 5d and kept it up for a while. This was to entice the sleepiness afer the bottle. It was really nice to start having a bedtime at this point. HTH .

 

i would suggest picking a bedtime that you eventually want them to have & start doing a bedtime routine before hand that is the same every night. then from that arbitrary bedtime until 12 hours later, any interaction you have with them is night time interaction - low lights, no talking, limited eye contact, etc. then, as they get older, you'll have all the systems & routines already in place to begin transitioning to allowing them to soothe themselves to sleep. does that make sense?

i also think that there's no harm in putting them down drowsy but awake & giving them some time to see if they'll fall asleep on their own. at your LOs age i would say maybe just a minute or two before going in (if necessary) & soothing in whatever way you choose (picking up & rocking, or just giving pacis or patting & shushing, whatever you're comfortable with & works for your LOs). just try & be as consistent as you can be. it's never too early to start working on good sleep habits in an age appropriate way. GL!

 

Even though our kiddos were not sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, we did institute a bedtime routine so they would begin to understand when it was bedtime. We started it around what was their 8pm bottle. Usually around 7, we would dim the lights, use quiet voices, use lotion, clean them up, change diapers, put them in pajamas (usually a sleep and play covered with a sleep sack or swaddler) and would put them to bed. At 6 weeks we did not let them cry it out, they were too young. Drinking the bottle would usually have them drowsy enough to fall asleep until the next feeding. Hope that helps!

 

QUOTE(miss_bossy18 @ Mar 6 2009, 05:58 PM) [snapback]1217293[/snapback]
i would suggest picking a bedtime that you eventually want them to have & start doing a bedtime routine before hand that is the same every night. then from that arbitrary bedtime until 12 hours later, any interaction you have with them is night time interaction - low lights, no talking, limited eye contact, etc. then, as they get older, you'll have all the systems & routines already in place to begin transitioning to allowing them to soothe themselves to sleep. does that make sense?

i also think that there's no harm in putting them down drowsy but awake & giving them some time to see if they'll fall asleep on their own. at your LOs age i would say maybe just a minute or two before going in (if necessary) & soothing in whatever way you choose (picking up & rocking, or just giving pacis or patting & shushing, whatever you're comfortable with & works for your LOs). just try & be as consistent as you can be. it's never too early to start working on good sleep habits in an age appropriate way. GL!


I think that's a good idea to start the bedtime routine now just to get it going. Thank you for your expertise!

 

QUOTE(itsnancycozzi @ Mar 6 2009, 07:31 PM) [snapback]1217384[/snapback]
Even though our kiddos were not sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, we did institute a bedtime routine so they would begin to understand when it was bedtime. We started it around what was their 8pm bottle. Usually around 7, we would dim the lights, use quiet voices, use lotion, clean them up, change diapers, put them in pajamas (usually a sleep and play covered with a sleep sack or swaddler) and would put them to bed. At 6 weeks we did not let them cry it out, they were too young. Drinking the bottle would usually have them drowsy enough to fall asleep until the next feeding. Hope that helps!


Looks like this might be the way to go for now. Thanks!