Hellobee Boards

1. What time is bedtime? Between 7-8, depending on the day, how smoothly bedtime routine goes with big brother, etc
2. What is your routine? Bath at same time as big brother (he's in the regular tub, Henry is in infant bath), lotion, Jammie's, nurse/bottle while rocking in the glider, stand up to sway/burp him next to the crib, then lay him down with the binkie and leave
3. Do you do a dream feed or an extra feed before you go to sleep? Sometimes. If I do, he usually makes it until 3 AM. If not, he'll be up around 1.
4. Where is your baby sleeping? In his crib in his nursery
5. Do you help the baby fall asleep (rocking, patting, bouncing, etc) or do you just put the baby down and walk away? I feed him in the glider and sway while I try to get a burp, and I pat him on the back if he fusses when I lay him down, but no, I try not to do too much soothing to sleep. All bets are off on a bad night though!

1. What time is bedtime? It varies from 8:30-11 depending on the night and previous sleeping during the day.
2. What is your routine? I just nurse her to drowsy or asleep, nothing else is involved except swaddling on occasion.
3. Do you do a dream feed or an extra feed before you go to sleep? Haven't needed to since she's mostly sleeping 7-9 hours without it. I think of have trouble getting her to dream feed because I've tried to get her to eat while asleep during the day before and she's oblivious.
4. Where is your baby sleeping? Crib, though we have company so she's currently in a pnp in our room.
5. Do you help the baby fall asleep (rocking, patting, bouncing, etc) or do you just put the baby down and walk away? She does well putting herself to sleep once I put her in the crib. I will sometimes pat her back or bum to get her extra drowsy before setting her down. She likes a heartbeat rhythm or super fast patting.

Love all these answers. We did 2 nights of earlier bedtime and the first night worked really well. Asleep by 9, in her bassinet, slept until 2:30. Then shr woke up at 430 with a burp and poop and then at 6 just because...so i brought her into bed with me and she slept for 2 more hours. Last night was a disaster. I missed her window so i just brought her into bed with me. She slept 6 hrs then 4 hrs. I think i am struggling with her eat/sleep schedule during the day because it is not consistent from one day to the next. It depends on what time she gets up in the morning and how much she naps. So how can bedtime be the same every night if her eating and sleeping differs every day?

I think it is going to be hard to transition her to a crib. She loves sleeping with me. I actually love it too but it is so different than what we did with dd1 and it just feels like i am doing something wrong by cosleeping. Sigh.

Also for those with 2 kids, how do you manage bedtimes? Does baby go down first or does your older one go first? What does your older do while you are putting the baby to bed if you are by yourself?

Sooo many questions. Why do i feel like ive never done this before?!

Sleep--my current obsession! I'm also jealous of others' easy going babies. DD is 8 weeks and here's how it's going for us:

1. What time is bedtime?
Aiming for 7, but may need to tinker with this. She has been losing her baby mind at bedtime the past 5 nights or so. Yesterday she started acting ready to sleep around 6, so I went with it. However, I don't think she conked out until 8 or so. Lord have mercy.

2. What is your routine?
Trying to establish this now. Bath, diaper/pjs/lotion, nurse, sing song, into the crib.

3. Do you do a dream feed or an extra feed before you go to sleep?
No. I've tried, but ended up sitting there with my boob out and her still asleep in my arms. For those who do this, how do you make it work? Does your baby just latch on without much prompting?

4. Where is your baby sleeping?
For nighttime, in her crib since Friday! (She has been in her bassinet in her nursery for a few weeks or so.) For day time naps--wherever. She really likes her car seat and it's almost a guarantee that she'll sleep for awhile in there, but I obviously don't want that to be her go-to spot.

5. Do you help the baby fall asleep (rocking, patting, bouncing, etc) or do you just put the baby down and walk away?
I leave my hand on her chest for a little bit, maybe stroke her forehead, put in a paci if she's rooting around. But I'm having to go back and forth for a bit right now. Maybe it's the crib transition?

I haven't been a dedicated swaddler and wonder if it's too late to reconsider this. She kicks her legs in the air like crazy. Anyone else have a kicker? The other day her legs got out and I looked in the baby monitor--it looked like she was mooning me. Maybe it's b/c she in her crib now, or maybe she's always done it and I haven't noticed!

I'm so ready for some longer stretches of sleep and easier night time transitions from feedings-back to the crib.

She did one glorious 6 hour stretch of sleep one night, so I know she has it in her.

@Happygal: YES to the kicking! (Do we have the same baby?! Seriously.) E is a maniac, even when she's swaddled. She kicks like crazy and also does this thing where she balls herself up (kind of on her side, she's crazy strong for a little thing) and explodes out. She can seriously do it so much overnight that her head ends up on the opposite end of the crib from where it started. She'll do a complete 180! She definitely hates GETTING swaddled, but once she's all wrapped up she sleeps better for sure. It's a fight to get there, but worth it in the end for us. Good luck!

@Happygal: I kid you not, as of this past weekend, E has started lifting her head and shoulders up off the back of the Rock-and-Play while she's laying in there! Which is fine, I guess, except she also gets super ticked that she can't sit up. It's going to be a long few months if she stays that mad about not being able to sit up on her own.

Work is going great! It's actually really nice to be back. Even though I really miss her during the day, being a working mama is definitely the best situation for me right now. I go back full time a week from today, and that'll be a new hurdle--I have to take her to her daycare lady's house instead of just leaving her at home with her grandma/aunt/friends! I might be feeling differently about loving being back at work after that.

@mfa_lady: So glad you're enjoying being back at work! I'm sure next week will be fine.

@namaste: Good for you for getting A into the crib! Hope it was a smooth transition.

@Radish: oh no, hope the girls are feeling better soon!

@namaste: yeah for a successful transition to the crib.

@Radish: Oh no! I just saw this (we must've been posting at the same time earlier. Hope your girls feel better in no time.

@mfa_lady: i really liked going back to work too! Although I am enjoying this maternity leave more this time around, i still feel like I would not be a good sahm. Glad it is going well for you. I am sure she will love daycare too.

@Radish: Oh no Sending healing thoughts to your home!

@Happygal: Hah! She definitely has her moments. She's extra clingy today which is a little difficult to navigate with my deadlines.

Question from a FTM over here. How much/how often are your kiddos eating? We've been doing every three hours for the most part, but more and more often she's screaming when I try to feed her. Honestly, I think she's just not hungry yet when that happens! She'll take a pacifier and stop crying, so I know she's content or at least able to be. And sometimes she still latches on absolutely no problem (aka it seems when she's actually hungry), and she's taking bottles fine when I'm at work.

She's 12 weeks old tomorrow, so is it okay to stretch her to 3.5 or 4 hours between feeds? That would sometimes mean only 5 or 6 feeds a day! I'm so terrified for some reason of her not getting enough.

@SleepyMonkey: Man, this makes me feel SO much better. I feel like it was just recently that I was stretching her to three hours--but really, it was a month ago! And a month ago is a lifetime when your lifetime isn't even three months long. Ha!

As for the bedtime fussiness, I think it's VERY normal. I joke and say E gets grumpier as the day goes on, but...it's actually not a joke.

@SleepyMonkey: Definitely not alone. Honestly, I think we'll end up having to do CIO, too. I'm just not quite ready yet. I'll feel better about it when she can soothe herself a little better. When she's not swaddled and in her RNP, she's already getting good at using the pacifier and her favorite teddy bear to calm herself down. But when she's swaddled she's still kind of helpless, so for now we're doing lots of rocking. I know it's bad, but you know...mama's gotta do what mama's gotta do. And for now, it's rocking her to sleep so I can then at least have the tiniest bit of my evening back.

@SleepyMonkey: If this is dramatic, I think you're doing just fine, mama! This sleep business is tough with these little monsters in the house. I'm going back to work full time next week and am dreading how it's going to go. I love being back at work, but I've felt totally drained by my drive home this week--which has been at 2PM because I've only been part time the last two weeks. Sheesh--I know I'll survive, but dang.

Oh, also, H is almost 15 freaking pounds. 14 lbs 10 oz at his 2 month appointment on Monday, and 24 inches. These kids are beefcakes (DS1 is 24 months and 33.5 lbs) My poor back!!

@keepcalmcarrie: I'm so sorry to hear about the MSPI--I know that's tough on you (and it sounds like H isn't making it any easier!). But it sounds like the switch will be better for you guys in the long run! I hope the fighting sleep is a phase for your little guy. Unfortunately once it started it hasn't seemed to stop over here...but I wish you much better luck than we've had.