Thread: Nap/bedtime routine?

What do you do for naptime?
What about bed time?

Chloe was doing fantastic at nap and bedtime but dh was out of work for his surgery and she totally got out of routine. Our old routine is out of the window. She is a horror come bed/nap time for at least the past week or so.

Today for her nap, I changed her, read her a book, sat her in her crib with her doll and walked out. She got up and started jumping (this is what she does when she is mad and doesn't wanna be in there) So I just stood next to her crib and never talked to her again.. just gently layed her back down and covered her up when she got up to jump.. well, that didn't work because she knew I was still there so she just stayed awake.. so I walked into the hallway and kept her door open just enough where I could see her but she couldn't see me. Then when she got up.. I went back in and layed her down and went back into the hall! It worked! She is peacefully sleeping(knock on wood). I am gonna talk with dh about this and see if maybe we can try it for bedtime. I can not stand the crying and it really does not help. She wont do the whole cry it out thing.. she just gets more pissed. Last night she started gagging herself... so I just went and got her and brought her to our bed..

Aiden is so used to his routine for naps that he just lays down in his crib and doesn't fight it. At night he sometimes doesn't like to be left alone, so DH will sit in there and read on his iPad for 15 minutes or so on the floor next to Aiden's crib. It helps a lot those nights. We've just had to be consistent, even when in the middle of moving and such. We always break to do the same. Only exception? If we're out of the house during the day. I'll wear him on my back and he'll eventually conk out.

Basically for naps, I check his diaper and change if necessary. I then put Aiden on the floor and tell him to go get me a book. (This is new, I used to get to pick them out.) He gets a book or two, takes it back to me, and sits in my lap. I read the book(s). Then I go turn on his music (it plays classical lullabies) and lay him in his crib. He grabs for this elephant head attached to a blanket. I pull another blanket over him and out he goes.
At night I get DS ready for bed with a bath, teeth brushing, lotion, diaper, and PJs. As Aiden goes off to grab a book, DH takes over.
As far as times go we really leave it up to Aiden. I keep on eye on him and see if he starts going nuts suddenly, gets fussy suddenly, or signs "night" (first signs of him being tired mostly). Sometimes he'll sign, sometimes he won't. He's down to one nap, but the time he goes down isn't consistent. For the most part he shows he's ready for sleep around 7:30 right now, but he's not down till 8ish.

I've thought about starting bed time earlier.. we usually start at 8... Maybe I should try 7...

Originally Posted by Newlywed630

I've thought about starting bed time earlier.. we usually start at 8... Maybe I should try 7...

Once upon a time we had to move Aiden's bedtime up to get him going better than he was on his own. Right now as long as he keeps sleeping well, we're letting him decided on when to sleep. It made life with moving go a lot better than I thought it would.

We still nurse to sleep for both nap and bedtime. Unless its just DH then he rocks him for like 10 min. before he passes out and then puts him in his crib. I've gotta start changing this soon because I'm not sure how to still nurse him till he passes out and transfer to crib and have a newborn at the same time. Ugh. At this age DS1 would do the PJ's, book, and lay in bed to put himself to sleep without any issue. LOL...we even put on PJ's for nap time from ages like 1-3, thats how hardcore he was in the whole routine. Odin needs a warm body still.

We still use nursing and rocking for naptime and bedtime. I suppose I should work on phasing that out, but I don't wanna!
They're only little once - I'm still savoring it.

She's generally fairly regular with her sleep schedule, but we just watch her for signs of being sleepy/tired. Usually between 12 and 1 she's ready for her nap and I'll just take her to her crib and lay her down. Sometimes she fusses or yells for a minute, but then goes right out. She'll nap anywhere from 40 minutes (like yesterday) to 2 hours (like today). For bedtime we usually have dinner and then let her run around and play. We'll read books with her that she brings us, and then we go do bathtime followed by naked playtime and then we get dressed in jammies and she gets her sippy of warm milk. Then it depends on how she behaves, but if she's acting like she's full of energy we'll let her run around and play until she starts to rub her eyes and put her head down. Then I'll take her and put her in the crib with a kiss goodnight. Most of the time, no matter how tired she is, she'll throw a fit for 1 to 2 minutes and then she'll roll around in her crib for anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes before going to sleep. Bedtime can be pretty rough around here.

Last night and tonight she didn't put up a fight when I put her in the crib for bedtime, but tonight she's still standing up, then laying down, then sitting and pulling her blanket over her head. We just watch her on the monitor. If I put her in her crib too early she will scream bloody murder and I can't do that deal. DH wants me to always give her at least 10 minutes, but I can't do more than about 2 minutes of fussing. Screaming I can't tolerate at all.

Ronin is changing up so we are trying to get a new routine in. He has been falling asleep early on day care days so I am trying to rush cooking tea, shower, story and then nurse to sleep in between getting home and him going to sleep between 7 and 7:30

Naptime- we say good night to everything from the living room the his bedroom closing all the up stairs doors/saying good night to the rooms. Then I change his nappy, close the curtains, put him in bed with his white noise machine on and (usually) he goes to sleep right away for (usually) about 1.5hrs. Some days it's an hour and other days it's 2/3 hours

Bedtime (this involves DS1 too who HATES going to bed)-5.30 go upstairs. Naked time/play with DS1's car mat. Wash. Into PJ's. If daddy is home then he gets to bounce on DS1's bed for a bit (I don't let them do that because obviously I'm mean) then it's into his room and into his sleep sack. Then stories then into bed. We blow the light out which he thinks is really funny. In bed by about 6.15-6.30pm at the latest then (again, usually) asleep right away and (usually) don't hear a peep until 6am

We still nurse to sleep but I've worked in a few extras to help when she eventually weans. Usually, we head to her room where I give her a chance to go potty, then I put her in her night time diaper and PJs. Then I tell her to pick out a few books. Its always the same 5 or so books so I pick a few extras. I have DH bring me her toothbrush while we read. I try to sneak in some tooth brushing while she flips the pages. After a few books its lights out and we lie down on her bed (she's in a queen size bed with a toddler rail) and nurse to sleep. Some nights take more effort than others. She was down by 7:45 tonight and I'd call it a good night.

ETA: Oh, and naps are daycare's deal. I have no idea how they manage to get her (and the rest of them) down everyday. They must use magic. On weekends, I nurse her down or use a carefully timed car ride.