What is your bedtime routine for your newborns?

I am struggling with keeping a routine beyond maintaining the feeding schedule. We currently are on a 3hour schedule. What is your night time newborn routine?

TIA!

 

For the first 2 months or so we had no routine other than feeding the babies every 3 hours (or when needed)!
The only kind of schedule we had was a sleeping schedule for DH & I! I would be with the babies all day while he was at work, then go to sleep (if I could) at around 7:30 or 8 pm. DH would do the feedings from 7:30 pm until about midnight & then I would take over from midnight till about 4 am. He woud do the early morning feeding before leaving for work then it would start all over.
That way we both got blocks of time w/ no babies or feedings.
How old are your babies??

The IKEA quote at the bottom of your signature is hilarious!!

edited to add: at the night/early morning feedings we did & still do keep things dark/quiet so that we could get the babies to realize the difference between day/night.

 

QUOTE(tamaras @ Jun 28 2008, 12:10 AM) [snapback]850354[/snapback]
How old are your babies??



My guys are almost 13 weeks old, but 12 days old adjusted. As preemies they are still acting like newborns in most ways and three month olds in other ways. Because we are trying to get them to start gaining more weight since they've been home we feed every 3 hours or on demand. They've been home for three weeks and it's rough. Most mom's who go full term are starting to get at least 4 hour blocks of sleep, but we're no where near that.

 

Keeping the babies on a three hour schedule sounds about right. The newborn phase has long days (and nights), but goes by quickly :hug99: !

 

I think it was around 8 weeks we tried implementing a bedtime routine. It didn't always work, but we stuck to it. We fed (and still do) every 3 hours during the day and on demand after 8 - 8:30 pm - their "last" feeding of the day. We tried to keep the hours we feed them daily pretty consistent. No matter what I wake them at 8 for the first feeding of the day, then I keep them on the 11, 2, 5, 8 feeding schedule for the day - sometimes it varies a half hour or so, which is why the last feeding usually ends up around 8:30. At 7:45 pm we start baths and give them every night. (It was such a dreaded pain at first, but it's gotten much easier!) We add that Johnson's Bed Time Bath to the water, hoping it helps them sleep longer. But if not, it at least smells nice! We then give them their bottle and put them to bed, sleepy but awake. My daughter needs to be wrapped tight in a Kiddopotomus swaddle blanket - arms velcroed in tight (she hates it, but it keeps her sleeping longer) and we turn the heartbeat sound on in her crib. My son we can plop down unswaddled wide awake and he'll fall asleep fine. It wasn't until 8 or 9 weeks they started going from 3 hour stretches to 5-6 hour stretches just out of the blue. Actually, it seemed to happen because we noticed this 8:00 time frame was their sleepy time, so instead of trying to keep them up longer, or waking to feed them at 12 or 1 before we went to bed, they actually would sleep right through the feeding if we left them alone. I'd say from about 9 weeks until now, they sleep from about 9 til 3, we feed them once and then they are fine until 8 the next morning. My daughter usually wakes again around 5-6, but that's a whole different story - she's just hating her blanket at that point. Sometimes I try to feed her but she'll hardly take it. Unfortunately they haven't improved much from this point and are now going on 14 weeks, but I guess I shouldn't complain too much, it could be worse...

Probably wasn't much help, but I felt the same way and just wanted to get in some routine with them. Even if it didn't help now, I figured eventually it would do some good. Good luck!

 

We still don't have a bedtime routine! Well, we have the beginnings of one, but not really. At 4 months I'm going to start a bedtime routine. When they were that young they were eating every 3 hours and sleeping a lot so there was no need for one.

 

QUOTE(DeniseT @ Jun 28 2008, 10:03 AM) [snapback]850617[/snapback]
I think it was around 8 weeks we tried implementing a bedtime routine. It didn't always work, but we stuck to it. We fed (and still do) every 3 hours during the day and on demand after 8 - 8:30 pm - their "last" feeding of the day. We tried to keep the hours we feed them daily pretty consistent. No matter what I wake them at 8 for the first feeding of the day, then I keep them on the 11, 2, 5, 8 feeding schedule for the day - sometimes it varies a half hour or so, which is why the last feeding usually ends up around 8:30. At 7:45 pm we start baths and give them every night. (It was such a dreaded pain at first, but it's gotten much easier!) We add that Johnson's Bed Time Bath to the water, hoping it helps them sleep longer. But if not, it at least smells nice! We then give them their bottle and put them to bed, sleepy but awake. My daughter needs to be wrapped tight in a Kiddopotomus swaddle blanket - arms velcroed in tight (she hates it, but it keeps her sleeping longer) and we turn the heartbeat sound on in her crib. My son we can plop down unswaddled wide awake and he'll fall asleep fine. It wasn't until 8 or 9 weeks they started going from 3 hour stretches to 5-6 hour stretches just out of the blue. Actually, it seemed to happen because we noticed this 8:00 time frame was their sleepy time, so instead of trying to keep them up longer, or waking to feed them at 12 or 1 before we went to bed, they actually would sleep right through the feeding if we left them alone. I'd say from about 9 weeks until now, they sleep from about 9 til 3, we feed them once and then they are fine until 8 the next morning. My daughter usually wakes again around 5-6, but that's a whole different story - she's just hating her blanket at that point. Sometimes I try to feed her but she'll hardly take it. Unfortunately they haven't improved much from this point and are now going on 14 weeks, but I guess I shouldn't complain too much, it could be worse...

Probably wasn't much help, but I felt the same way and just wanted to get in some routine with them. Even if it didn't help now, I figured eventually it would do some good. Good luck!

I agree with this post! I do my feedings at the same time during the day. We started a nighttime routine around 2 weeks, even though it had no effect on their sleeping. We get them ready for bed around 7: wiping down face, hands, neck, feet, underarms with a J&J body wipe. Clean out ears with cotton balls, wipe gums with a damp washcloth, diaper change, put J&J lavender body lotion on Sophia and Aveeno fragrence free cream on Luke (he has ezcema). They get their bottles and it's bedtime. Bath night is every other night and pretty much the same routine is followed. When they were newborns and not sleeping through the night, we still put them to bed at 8 even though they fought it at first and gradually began to go to sleep earlier and earlier. They were on a three hour feeding schedule over night and then eventually went to 5-6 hours and then STTN by 2.5 months (9-11 hours overnight). During the day, their feeding times are still 8,11,2,5, and 8.
Also at night time, we have a nightlight on and a lullabye CD going. When they were newborns we used the swaddle me blankets (awesome, highly recommended product) and the babies weaned themselves off of that quickly. By the time March hit, they could Houdini themselves out of the swaddle me blankets and now we use the Halo sleep sacks. The important thing for a bedtime routine is consistency, eventually they will get it and even if they are spending the night elsewhere or being babysat, I make sure the nighttime routine is well known, so they sleep well.
Hang in there! It will get easier!

 

When the girls were that little, we did an 8 pm feeding, swaddled them and layed them down in the pnp in the living room with the lights dimmed. DH took over watching them while I went to bed. We tried to make sure to make sure they understood this was night-time and time to sleep.. sometimes it worked and other times, not so much. Then they'd wake at 11pm to eat. DH fed them (sometimes I got up to help) and then immediately swaddled and brought them into our bedroom to sleep in the pnp. They woke at 2am and again at 5am and both those times, they lights were dim and it was ALL business- diaper, bottle, swaddle, bed. At the 8am feeding we brought them back out into the bright living room so they could see it was awake daytime! GL!

 

Like pp we have a minimal routine now… we always feed then at 7:30 (only really set feeding time, the others give or take up to an hour) and then change into pj’s, swaddle them, kiss them, say goodnight I love you and leave the room (in bed around 8 pm)… they sometime grunt and stuff for up to an hour, but never cry… I don’t do the bath thing yet, as I’m tired in the PM so I do it in the am until they sttn… I have a night nanny (mon-thur night) so she takes over from 9pm to 6 am so I can sleep… but fri- sun I went to bed at 8 Pm, my DH stayed up for the 12-1 feeding then came to bed… and I got up for the 4-5 feeding and dh slept in… but this week they started only getting up once at 2:30 then again at 6-7… so I do the 2-3 and dh now does the 6-7

Elizabeth

 

We didn't have a routine until 2-3 weeks (can't remember :blush: ). Then I would put them down around 10 pm, when I would go to bed myself.

 

argh am i supposed to have a routine?? lol i feed them every 2-3 hours and they usually sleep in between so there isnt really a bedtime yet. im curious to see what others do though! im gonna steal ideas

 

we always fed when the babies were hungry, and there was nothing like a schedule for it at that age... our routine was at that point, also, was whatever we had to do to get them to sleep. baths on some nights, but mostly just soft music for them, a feeding, and our hoping and prayiing that they would actually sleep instead of fuss.

swaddling, for sure!

best of luck, jl