Night routine please help 😪

I normally do bath about 6pm then bottle about 7pm. She might have another bottle about 10pm then will sleep till about 4am

… We have a consistent routine of bath, balm/massage, feed before ‘bed’. (But bed for us is still contact sleeping on my lap in front of the TV, then at around 9:30pm we head upstairs and transfer him to his crib.)

I don’t feel like we have a set routine, we’re still baby led, but we have a rough routine - we’re consistent about the order of things to help build sleep associations and we’re following some consistent guidelines: The thing that’s helped us the most is trying to stick to wake windows. At this age, babies wake windows are meant to be around 60 - 120 mins (the time they are awake between naps) and they typically need around 4 hours nap per day. I’m using the free huckleberry app to track naps during the day, then as we get closer to bed time (for us it’s around 8pm) I’m a bit more mindful of nap times and length, to make sure his last wake window before bed is at least 1 hour 15 mins, and max 2 hours. Apparently sticking within 30 mins of bed time every day is best (so for us could be anywhere between 7:30 to 8:30pm)….

i’m 3 months in and we still don’t have a routine! But he roughly falls asleep between 10/11 at night and wakes about 4:30 for a nappy change then goes straight back down until 6/7. i go with the flow and it works alot of the time. My baby likes to stay away for a long period of time after his last nap

I think it’s what works for you. I know someone who has nailed getting her baby down at 7pm and I was feeling really bad that ours doesn’t go until 10-10.30. But her baby has never slept more than 4 hours at a time, whereas mine managed over 7 hours last night. That meant I didn’t have to get up until after 6am. If I’d put him down at 7 I’d have been up twice in the night, and would feel worse for it. Our routine includes having all the lights down, bath every two nights but always baby massage, changing into a sleep suit and feed in the dark.

The only reason mine has any semblance of a routine is because I have a toddler to put to bed! I wouldn’t worry too much about not having one yet, and any bedtime routine can be super basic so you probably do one without realising!!

I have a 12 week old and we do bath at 7-7.30, bottle afterwards and then into bed around 9. This will change as he gets older but we’ve found if he skips that feed he’ll wake up in the night, if he has it he sleeps through. He was 8 weeks early though so in some ways only a month old. His wake periods are still small. As he gets older and is more awake and alert in the day, as well as taking a higher volume of milk (to last through the night) he’ll be going to bed earlier. For now this is what works for us. He finally gets up for the morning drop 8-9.30. Every baby and routine is different and they will constantly change. You’ll find you probably have a routine without realising 😘

Tbh my baby’s routine isn’t set either. He goes to sleep at half 8 usually but sometimes he will go to sleep as early as 6 o’clock. I just go with the flow as if he hasn’t slept much that day I’m not going to force him to stay awake until his bedtime

I aim to get her down for 9:30 every night. It doesn’t always happen today she was tired early so she was in bed asleep just after 9. Yesterday she was in a playful mood & was still on her play mat giggling away at 10pm (probably why she’s tired today!) most nights she’s in her cot around 9:30 though. Watch for baby’s tired cues in the evening & do not let him sleep until he’s in bed. After a week or so of doing that he’ll get himself into a routine of being ready to go to bed at that time. I know my daughters bed time is definitely on the later side but if we put her down sooner she’ll wake in the night. 9:30 bed time & she’ll sleep right through to 7:30/8am!! Find what works for you even if it’s a tad unconventional x

We started going to bed earlier initially as he was getting fussy downstairs and we then realised he was just tired and ready for bed so I started going up with him at more like 8/8:30 instead of taking him to bed around 10. He was happy to go down then and so we started to migrate a little earlier, after a couple of weeks I stopped going to bed at the same time and instead did bottle upstairs with him and then put him to bed and took the monitor with me. It’s worth also having a look at your baby’s wake windows in the day and when they want to nap and maybe try and base bed time off a couple of hours after the last nap?

Thanks everyone I've been panicking about it ,

Pick a bath time and try and structure around that. Don’t feel bad because it’s not easy and it won’t always go to plan. I bath in the middle of his feeds so he enjoys his bath and then is hungry when we get out and got pjs on. Then it’s a bottle in the dark and let him fall asleep on me then we both go to bed. It doesn’t matter what time just try and establish an order to things.

My baby’s naturally made himself a routine. He just gets tired between 7/8pm and I rock him to sleep him then. He’s been doing it since about 12 weeks until 4 days ago (he’s almost 18 weeks) because he’s going through a sleep regression now! They say to do your bath/story/songs or whatever you put into your routine solidly the same time and order each time so your baby learns what the next steps are. This is something I’m going to have to start doing now 🙈 x

If you want him to go to sleep at 8, I’d recommend starting the bedtime routine at 7 and not to let him sleep past 6. Babies at this age can’t stay awake for more than 2 hours. I currently bath my little one, get her dressed for bed, then feed her, read her a book and sing a song as I put her into the cot to sleep, (obv it won’t always go to plan)!