My daughter is 8 wks and I am having problems coming up with a successful bedtime routine. We normally try to put her down between 7:30-8:00, but I have a feeling that it is too late because she usually becomes very fussy. She is waking between 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. I have a hard time getting her to nap during the day and she often ends up sleeping in her swing. I think part of my problem is that she doesn't have a consistent, daily routine. I just don't really know what works best for her now. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for working on this. I watch for sleep signs, but she seems too wired to sleep.

All I have to offer is my own experience and opinion. When my son was that age (he's 5mths now), I didn't not try and work on any routine. I just let him sleep when he wanted and eventually he worked out his own routine. I made sure that when it was night time that I darkened the house a bit and did not have any loud distractions such as tv or music so he would get the hint that it was night time.

From what I read, it is ok to nurse, rock or do anything else that gets your baby to sleep. I also found that when he napped more during the day, he was more likely to sleep at night. I think a relaxed baby stays a relaxed baby most of the day. If they are go, go, go all day and take few naps then they are more likely to be go, go, go at night. Remember, babys need a time to wind down in the eve. too, just like we do. So if your baby crys more in the eve. then I would just provide them with a quiet place to do that and maybe just hold them and reassure them and they will get the hang of going to sleep and unwinding.

Hope this helps some!

__________________

Thanks, that does help. I read so much stuff that talks about setting routines and such that I start to worry I'm not on target. It is nice to hear that I should just honor the sleep schedule she's on for now. DId you ever have any trouble getting your son to nap during the day? If we're home she's fine, but if we go out she will fight to stay awake and then becomes over tired. It is hard to run errands with her because she will wake up and become irritated at being in her car seat.

hi,

My son is now one year old but when he was 5 weeks he loved to be snuggled up in a sling worn by either me or my hubby. If you haven't gotten one yet there are amazing, they calm babies right down and the closness helps them to sleep better when they are apart from you a night cause they have had so much together time with you during the day, plus they are a great way to bond with your new little one and get a few things done around the house or go for a nice quite walk!!! Hope this help, my son also sleep most of the time in his swing too, and now he is sleeps just fine in his own bed- just remeber this~ In time this to shall pass~ it always help me through the tough times in moomyhood!!

cheers, aja

check out: www.hotslings.com -the fleece ones rock!!!

dear talsmmy,
sounds exactly like my ds at 8 weeks (now 9months).
i love the idea of allowing the baby to fall into their own rhythm. this would be the ultimate for me & i spend a great deal of time trying to figure out why this approach hasn't worked for my beautiful wee one. maybe it's just that every child has their own personality & this extends to sleep. i tried everything. no doubt you will come across my epic saga as you traverse this message board.
i too only have my experience to offer. i wish you all the best & congratulate you on coming to this great place so early on.

because my ds was so wired & overtired, he just couldn't tell when he needed to sleep, or couldn't relax enough or something??? i guess i'll never know exactly. eventually what worked best & what turned out to be the most important factor for my ds, was not so much WHEN (though that can be very important in helping them set their internal clocks [EP has some fabulous things to say on this subject in the ncss])... so, not so much 'when' as LENGTH OF TIME AWAKE. i'm not sure what the best time is for 8 week olds (one of the board elders will know), but even so you may need to tweak it 15min here and there for a little bit to finally settle on the right time for your baby. my ds was 5 or 6 mnths old when we brought him back from about 3-4hrs to 2.5 hrs awake (because he wasn't getting enough nap time [30min-1hr per day]). all the other babies of his age that i knew were sleeping 3-4hrs per day and could stay awake for much longer periods. it didn't take long before we settled on the right time and the results were fantastic. there are many other factors that helped us along which i won't go into unless you'd like me to. let me know.

re: bed time routine- i think it has been important for my ds to know what's coming and what is expected of him. he's not shocked & surprised when suddenly put to bed (he used to scream at the sight of the room & i was co-sleeping at night & at nap time too). he has at least 30min to get used to the idea of bed and sleep. it's a lovely quiet time for just the two of us & now he smiles when i use our key words and play his sleep music, even when we close the curtains and say "goodnight to the light"

there are so many variations you could try, but during the day we start to wind down about 45min prior to nap time. about 20min before, we go into the room, put on our sleep music, (he sleeps in a cot in our room) we have some 'positive cot time', we read a story or two, close the curtains and say "goodnight light", have a cuddle, i speak positively about sleep and use our key words, then breast, then cot, then sleep. nowadays he sleeps an hour and 20min in the morning (still working on the afternoon nap which is only 45min).
if we've been out or are running late i just do a shortened version, but keep all the ingredients.
at night we do the same wind down, have a bath, same music/ stories etc.
during the night i give him the breast if he won't settle over my shoulder or with a tummy rub.
i still have so many questions and we still have a very long way to go, but i hope that some part of our story helps you.

love&light

so sorry,
meant to address my reply to magpiered.

love&light