DH put our daughter to bed for the first time ever tonight. It took an extra hour and involved a lot of crying. And then she woke up screaming shortly after I got home two hours later.
Does your spouse have better luck? I'm out so infrequently I don't think it matters for us, plus he has better luck than me putting her down at nap time!
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
Yes we agreed on a bedtime/naptime routine early on and stuck to it. I also have DH put DS down for bedtime anytime he's home so that there's no preference. I've done most all night wakings since birth (he is 17 months) but since we have LO2 on the way in May, I'm having DH get up in the MOTN on nights where he won't have his long commute. DH actually gets DS to go down easier in the MOTN than with me - he's not as clingy and goes down without much protest.
honeydew / 7463 posts
Yes! He didn't for a long time - and when he first started he was very nervous and didn't like it. Around 14 months when we dropped that last bottle and all we do is PJs, story, and teeth he volunteers to do it several times a week and I love it! It gives me an occasional break and I love that extra time they have together. Hearing him do the voices in the books makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
I also felt nervous and guilty if I went out to dinner with friends and he had to do bedtime, but now it's just no big deal.
Keep having your husband do bedtime once or twice a week so it becomes more and more comfortable. You can even do it together the first few times so he can see exactly what you do. Then he can try on his own. That way when you DO have to be away for bedtime it won't be a big stress!
ETA: although he doesn't need it anymore, I know my husband still appreciates when I help prep. So if I know I need to bolt when he gets home and he'll have to do bedtime, I lay out PJs, get the milk cup ready, make sure humidifier is filled, etc. that way there's less stress and he can focus on just getting the task done and not fumbling or forgetting anything. Again he doesn't need this but I think we all appreciate a little extra help 
grapefruit / 4085 posts
Yes, he's the primary parent who puts her to bed and I do it when he's not able to be home.
honeydew / 7622 posts
Yes. Every night unless he is out of town. She does well with me putting her down when he's gone.
nectarine / 2591 posts
He has been doing the bedtime routine since we started one, I just pop in at the last second for a kiss and to tuck her in. He also does it solo 3 nights a week when I am at work so he has no issues.
clementine / 856 posts
yes. we usually do the first 2/3 together (bath, brushing teeth, etc) but then I leave and he finishes up with books and songs and cuddling, which takes another 5-10 minutes.
pineapple / 12566 posts
My son is very easy. My husband usually puts my daughter to sleep. Anytime I have to do it it is much more drawn out.
pineapple / 12234 posts
Yes, but my youngest usually wakes up a few times per night if she doesn't see me before bed. I usually sing to her while rocking her before bed. DH does his own routine with her.
nectarine / 2173 posts
Yes! He is typically the one to do it. We started that when she was having some trouble getting to sleep and the crying was to upsetting to me. He's much more patient and relaxed by nature so it wouldn't get to him as much. Now that's rare but he still puts her down probably 5/7 days per week.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
Yes of course! I would lose my mind if I had to do it every night. One of the best things since she stopped nursing to sleep!! When I was nursing, he only did it if I was gone, but she always did fine with a bottle instead.
persimmon / 1114 posts
Yes. In fact, he's the only one that CAN do it. My son insists on him every night. I only get the chance if my husband is traveling for work, and then there is no fuss. I think ds just likes that time with his dad since he does not see him much before that (dh works long hours). and I love it because it gives me some much needed downtime!
apricot / 477 posts
DH puts LO to bed every night since I went back to work. I was working evenings but now I'm on days and we kept it up since it was going well.
Either one of us can put her to bed but I prefer that he does it.
eggplant / 11861 posts
Yes! I usually do it, but he does 1-2x a week!
He always does her bath time though!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
Yep he can put both LOs down for bed. If he's home for bedtime, he always does!
pomegranate / 3779 posts
LO2 - yes. LO1 - yes, if I'm not home. If I'm home she just cries and cries until I come sing to her.
pear / 1809 posts
Yes! I don't know what I would do if he couldn't haha. We have a 6 month old and a 2.5 year old, and he can put them both the bed without me. I like to go out with my friends once or twice a month, so I need him to be able to do that when I'm out.
honeydew / 7230 posts
No. He actually helps a lot during bedtime, but we have twins and they still nurse to sleep (or nearly to sleep, then they rock the rest of the way), so he doesn't feel comfortable trying to do bedtime by himself.
honeydew / 7917 posts
We split bedtime duties. He does a majority of the prep, and we divide and conquer at the very end.
pomegranate / 3231 posts
Yes but my son has a mommy preference and asks for me to put him to sleep. He cries if I hand him to my husband, but he settles down very quickly.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
Yep, we usually alternate nights putting her to bed and she goes down easily for both of us.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
He can't do it completely alone because DD is EBF, but he is a big part of her routine. Last night she was crying until DH took over. Then she went down easily.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
The toddler yes- she would prefer me but once they are in the room it's fine. When he is home he does it more often since I usually have to nurse the baby or make our dinner.
The baby, not yet. She's only 8 weeks and we either nurse to sleep, or nurse until very drowsy and rock to sleep. So he can do that last rocking part but we have never put her to sleep without nursing right before bed. I want her as full as possible so we get a good stretch of sleep!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Oh yeah. I work nights/weekends and am easily not home for bedtime 2x/week.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
When she was EBF, no since I nursed her to sleep. But if I didn't nurse her to sleep, he can definitely put her to bed, tho I'm usually the one that does it.
nectarine / 2210 posts
Yes. When it's just the two of us I always do bedtime since I still nurse before bed. But once a month or so I'll go out so he'll do bedtime. She's 14 months so she doesn't really need to nurse before bed, but I'm not ready to give it up.
honeydew / 7235 posts
DS 1 (3yo) - DH does bedtime every night, it's a rare treat when I do it! haha
DS 2 (4 months) - I have been the only one to put him to bed, mainly because I nurse him to sleep still....
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I don't know how he does it, but he can. I was in the hospital last week for 3 days and DH had to put DS to bed.
pomelo / 5573 posts
We almost always do bedtime together, and the rare time that we don't it's because he's stuck at work or on the train so I do it myself. I don't think my husband has done solo-bedtime in over a year, and probably only twice in his life. We had a close call a few weeks ago when I got stuck in Labour & Delivery for monitoring, but I got myself home just in time for stories and even that threw my son off - I had to sit in his room and hold his hand because he was crying that he wanted to see me (unusual). We're actually going back and forth on this right now because I'm going to have to spend at least one night in the hospital for #2, and we're debating whether it's better to have my husband leave the hospital and go home to do dinner/bath/bedtime so at least he has one of us or whether it's better to have my parents do the whole thing so everything is weird and hopefully he doesn't think too much about where I am.
persimmon / 1188 posts
Yes, we take turns because we didn't want him to get too used to one of us always doing it. It works with both of our schedules so it's fine. Sometimes he'll request one of us but that happens more for naps for some reason and we don't mind since it's not all the time.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Yes. We do bedtime together when we're both home (most of the time). When one of us is out, it is business as usual for bedtime.
pomegranate / 3872 posts
Generally we trade off with no problems, but LO is having a mama only moment so dh can't help even if he wants to.
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