What time do you start bedtime routine?

For a couple of months, we didn’t have a bedtime routine, I feel like we were running around like headless chickens, not knowing what was what. If we managed to get to bed at some point, that was a bonus 😂 Now that baby is 4 months (it’s taken us a while 😂) we’ve been in a good routine for a while, either bath, sleeping bag, bottle, cuddles & bed, or sleeping bag, story, cuddle & bed, or just sleeping bag, bottle & bed. All depending on the time, how tired baby is and when the last bottle was. For a while, 8pm was a good bedtime and we’d start the bath routine about 7 and it worked out well. But now (especially with the 4 month sleep regression 😵‍💫) starting the routine at 7 is far too late. This evening he was really tired after very few naps today, needed a bath though and absolutely loved the bath, was giggling and splashing away, then started crying the house down as soon as he was on the changing mat to be dressed, it was horrible. He didn’t calm until a few mins into having his bottle 😥 it was horrible! So basically, what time do you start the bedtime routine? And how do you fit your dinner around it all? We’ve tried dinner before (baby gets too overtired) and after (far too late for us).

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We go up for bath at 6:15, then story, bottle and baby is usually asleep by 7. We eat at 7:30/8. It’s a bit later than I’d like to eat but it’s not that far out of the norm for us as my partner didn’t used to get home until gone 7 when he worked in London.

Rather than having a set bedtime go by the wake window after baby’s last nap (unless baby has naps at the same times every day). Bedtime is usually between 7 and half 7 for baby at the moment then we eat after (so we can eat in peace 😂)

Thanks @Sophie & @Sarah we’ll try making it a lot earlier and having dinner afterwards. We don’t usually go by wake windows because baby’s naps are generally rubbish. He slept for a total of about an hour today and was so tired!

I do last bottle at 7 then straight to bed I used to keep her down stairs to the late one but she sleeps right through till 4 from between 7/8 at nite

I try and leave the bath until as late as possible before she gets cranky which is usually around 19:15 and she’s usually asleep by 20:00 ish but I lay with her for about half an hour after she’s asleep before I transfer her and then I have dinner after that!

We have a vague bed time but it works for us- in pjs and sleep bag at 7ish usually falls asleep downstairs with us around 7:30/8 then we put her in her own room at 9:30 with a bottle whilst she’s still asleep and she goes through til 7am. We do baths in the morning as it wakes her up and she gets soooo giddy xx

My baby was going to sleep at 10 but that's too late so been trying to put her to bed earlier, give her a last bottle and a book and put in her bed and she goes to sleep herself, don't do bath before bed as she dislikes them 😂 so she normally has one in morning x

Depending if my LG has a nap after 5 I start either 6:15-6:30. I don’t bath her every night but I’ll still let her have nappy free time and give her a massage and just wind down/play/read to her etc until she shows me she’s tired then I take her into bed and settle her down x

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