Hellobee Boards Topic: When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of

Hellobee Boards Topic: When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 18:20:04 +0000 Mrs. Bee on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285754 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:48:37 +0000 Mrs. Bee 285754@https://boards.hellobee.com/ we started right away but her bedtime didn't start being more consistent until around 3 months. before that her bedtime was based on when she woke up from her last nap. littlek on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285732 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:39:14 +0000 littlek 285732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Our LO was in a routine when he came home from NICU so we stuck with that. His final feeding is at 9 pm, we give him a bath, read to him and feed him. Shimmer on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285722 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:36:59 +0000 Shimmer 285722@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! Our bedtime "routine" starts around 10 pm with their early night nursing session. Last night, I tried the double swaddle with the swaddleme and a light swaddle blanket on both boys and it made our night SO much better!! They woke up for nursing as usual but only took 10-15 minutes to settle back down as opposed to the 1+ hours that it usually is! Hopefully this is the beginning of better sleep at night! :) winniebee on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285694 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:27:53 +0000 winniebee 285694@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started around 3 months because he didn't seem ready for a routine. It's bath (but I only use soap every other day or every 3rd day), lotion, PJs, dim lights, some of bottle, swaddle, rest of bottle while rocking in glider, crib, turn on mobile song. We've been doing it about 3 weeks and it's still hit or miss with whether he fusses when going to sleep. He kind of freaks out after the bath still but eventually calms. I try to get him in bed sleeping by 8 (or no later than 2 hours after his last wake) but sometimes he wakes up and needs soothing. I'm considering moving it up by 1/2 hour. prettylizy on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285684 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:24:47 +0000 prettylizy 285684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Around 3 ish months we stared to try a routine. It's was hard because they grow so much and their needs change so quickly. Now at almost 6 months we have a pretty well set routine. heffalump on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285680 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:22:26 +0000 heffalump 285680@https://boards.hellobee.com/ At that time we didn't have much of a routine. We didn't bath LO every day, I think it was every other or every three days. We would just put her pj's on and give her a bottle. She was always a good night time sleeper though...... Weagle on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285676 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:20:11 +0000 Weagle 285676@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started around 4 weeks, when we noticed she started sleeping a really long stretch around the same time every night. Our routine is bath (every other night), lotion, diaper, pjs, and nursing/bottle while reading a book. We've kept the same routine, but moving it earlier over time. plantains on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285380 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:23:30 +0000 plantains 285380@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started when she was a week old. Bath, lotion, pjs, nursing, swaddle, rocking and then down for the night. pinkcupcake on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-285367 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:11:42 +0000 pinkcupcake 285367@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We didn't really get started until LO was about 5 months old. I usually give her a bath, baby lotion massage, change into PJs, and put on her sleep sack. We then sit in the glider and I'll read or sing her a song, nurse her, and then rock for about 15-30 minutes until she's drowsy enough to go down w/out a complaint. Many times though, our routine gets shaken up by life so I've learned to be pretty flexible and just keep it as close as possible (for example, we were out tonight and didn't get home till later so no bath or book). mediagirl on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283728 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:51:12 +0000 mediagirl 283728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We didn't start until 10 weeks but it seems to be going well and I don't think we could have done it any earlier. We do bath (or no bath depending on the off-day), sleeper, medicine, bottle or boob, burping, books and singing. It's hard to keep it consistent. Sometimes the bottle has to come first because she's so fussy/hungry when we start the routine. If that is the case, we skip bath and go right to sleeper, books and singing and rocking. autumnlove on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283720 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:47:51 +0000 autumnlove 283720@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think we started right away. Our routine was always changing into pajamas before bedtime (or what I wanted bedtime to be in the early days) in the nursery with dimmed lights. I want to add storytime to bedtime soon! stiffaknee on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283694 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:33:35 +0000 stiffaknee 283694@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started at 2 weeks. Our routine consists of a bath, baby massage/lotion (and a little song while we moisturize), dimming the lights, starting the sleep sheep, swaddle, bottle and bed. At two weeks we would start this around 10, then gradually moved it earlier and earlier and now (at 4 months) we start her bedtime routine around 7:45. meredithNYC on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283687 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:23:32 +0000 meredithNYC 283687@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started a routine around 5 weeks. At that time, we weren't bathing LO every day, but we would start to quiet down/dim the lights around 8 or so and she eventually began to associate that with the first stretch of nighttime sleep. At that time she started out the evening in her swing or bouncy chair, too. Then around 6 weeks we started bathing her every night, just to set the routine. We would put her in the bath around 7:00, massage her with her Burt's Bees lavender lotion, put her pajamas on and give her a bottle. She would sleep from about 8:00pm until my husband work her up for a "dream feed" around midnight. Then she would sleep until 6 or 7am the next morning. She still started off the night in the swing before being transferred to the bassinet. We didn't make the transition from swing to crib until about 12 weeks and now we're pretty set in our routine. The only thing we need to work on in the coming weeks is dropping the "dream feed". I think she's ready, but I'm a little afraid to mess with our routine since she's doing so well. That said, I think babies adapt pretty well! So in short, I think you can start setting a routine in small ways any time - just don't expect too much too soon, but know that every bit helps and it's never too early to start. Mrsbells on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283680 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:14:08 +0000 Mrsbells 283680@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started it very early because her night time sleep was terrible and I wanted her to get used to nigth sleep routine. Once her belly button healed around 3 weeks, we started a night time routine which was basically a bath, mini massage with her cerave body lotion, nurse and then dim the lights and bed time. Sometimes I read her a story too or say a prayer with her. anytime that I skip her bath she doesnt sleep well that night and has trouble falling asleep. looch on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283677 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:06:23 +0000 looch 283677@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started a night time routine when we started doing baths every night, so IIRC, it was around 3 months or so. Before that we were only doing baths every couple of days and there was too much variation in our day. Around 6 months, I started changing my son out of his sleeper in the morning, before that, I'd change him when he got it dirty, lazy mom! Mrs. Pen on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283672 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:01:38 +0000 Mrs. Pen 283672@https://boards.hellobee.com/ sadly we didn't do one until 5months... I would do it earlier if I could. I think kids learn routines quicker than we give them credit for. I read that babies thrive off of repetition. 3 weeks may be too early, but you should be able to start soon. Even at one month - just doing all the same things every night so they learn to associate sleep time with a certain pattern of events. It will probably make your life much easier! Shimmer on "When to institute a nighttime routine and what it consists of" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-to-institute-a-nighttime-routine-and-what-it-consists-of#post-283667 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:52:28 +0000 Shimmer 283667@https://boards.hellobee.com/ So my boys are 3 weeks today. Their schedules have been all over the place and we've been doing anything that works to get them to sleep - bouncy seat, swings, pack and play, rocking them in our arms, co-sleeping (though we didn't want to do this!), etc. We are still up for hours during the night trying to get them both fed and back to sleep. My question is - when do you institute a nighttime routine and how did you decide what would be part of the routine? Right now, their nursing schedule is so sporadic that I couldn't even fathom when we could consistently start getting them to sleep.