a question about our night ritual

[herewegoagain]

Hi
While trying to deal with my 6 week old's OT due to difficulty going to sleep, I am trying to see what's the best way to settle him down to night sleep given that by then he is very mucn OT. What I do is, try to AP him for the nap before the night sleep although this is not very succesfull, my LO doesn't seem to want to sleep in my arms, pram, or car.... then we start the night time ritual - bath, bottle, lights out, soft music, swadlle, sit with him, and into bed. I found that the combination of bath and bottle "gets him so in the mood" to sleep that I can barely get him swaddled before he closes his eyes and doses off (this is regardless of how early i move the night sleep to due to the OT). I quickly put him down in bed and for the past three days that was it - he slept straight through to DF. Not that I am complaining but this is confusing me a bit - does he learn how to fall asleep on his own in this manner or will he end up associating the bottle with sleep and this will become a prop? if so - should I insist on keeping him awake after the bottle? for how long?
Thanks

[amayzie]

At this age i was doing the last feed well before bedtime. So would do Feed at around 6(or just after he woke from the last nap) then hang out, bath, change, wrap, story, bed. That way there was no danger of the feed becoming a prop. I'm just now putting it closer to bed time and he's 6 months. Sounds like you have a nice little routine otherwise!! Oh and i think you don't have to have him awake for LONG after the bottle- just so long as he is awake when he goes into the bed. THat's my experience anyway!

[firsttimemummy]

Just a different view - this is what I found worked for my boys.  If your LO does other sleeps without props during the day(at this age 1 independent sleep is great!) then it is okay to give milk just before bedtime (I do this as I then know his tummy is full for longer into the night!).  It is the one feed of the day that I consistently did with Murray just before bed and as he weaned his breastfeeds he just went down to bed without hassle/substitute to the milk.

Your LO is still really young so don't worry too much.  This may help http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=186622.0 (it has lots of info on different threads).  This one is good: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65842.0

Enjoy lots of newborn cuddles, as they don't last long! Sleep training can wait.  Initially just aim to do E (milk) followed by A (which is literally nappy change and quick cuddle then back to bed at this stage) then S (don't forget the Y time - housework can wait - any visitors are there to see the baby anyway and wont notice dust, etc!!).

[amayzie]

Enjoy lots of newborn cuddles, as they don't last long! Sleep training can wait.

listen to the lady with the 2 kids (and the moderator...)- I'm on my first time and was very concerned about not starting props i had to get rid of- but i think next time round i'll relax a little bit more- sleep training CAN wait!! When they are 6 months it's hard to get them to fall asleep in your arms, and it is a really really beautiful thing to atch when it does happen in those early days!!

[firsttimemummy]

Katy - you are right to try not to create props as they do need undone at some point (do-able but easier if you can avoid them!).  Yes, 2nd time round you do relax a LOT more with it all but I think part of that is you have the confidence to read cues easier and recognise different cries etc, and are not learning quite so much about what your LO is trying to tell you. 

If you do use props then try to vary them so your LO doesn't just rely on 1 (if you can - I found that the only way to get Oliver to sleep with OT/OS was to rock him - nothing else worked, but he did usually go down with no fuss other times so I wasn't too concerned!!).

 

When they are 6 months it's hard to get them to fall asleep in your arms, and it is a really really beautiful thing to atch when it does happen in those early days!!

I miss those cuddles!!

[herewegoagain]

I do sound a bit stressed don't I?
I am enjoying my LO very much and i am a fool for those cuddles, especially when an little "smile" and "giggle" accompnies them.
 He is very young so I am not expecting too much but I want to be concsious of myself in the process and make sure i understand what i am doing. 
 Thanks for the responses. as always very helpful input.

[firsttimemummy]

Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job - yes, aim for a rough EASY with not too many props, a nice bedtime routine, nice cuddles and a bit of Y time if you can, and not too much stressing about things.     Oh, to have those baby cuddles with smiles and giggles 

[creations]

Just thought I'd add my experience.
DS did occasionally fall to sleep whilst feeding from the bottle, he just couldn't stay awake long enough to make it to bed, and what I did was said (with a regular volume voice, so quite loud really, but in a loving voice), 'I'm putting you in your bed now so you can sleep properly'.  I always felt that he would hear this through his sleep and it made up for the fact that he sometimes fell to sleep on the bottle or in arms.  Often he would rouse at this point but I didn't fear that (unless we had had a really exhausting day!) and just lay him down anyway and continued with my shush pat or calm voice reassuring him I was still there.  I always liked him to know where he was being put so he didn't get a surprise when he woke up.  Sometimes I asked him to open his eyes and have a look where he was! haha!
He is 11 months now and at the end of our pre-bed cuddle, standing at the cot, I still say this sentence warning him that I am about to put him down, he is very rarely asleep but if he is drifting off he comes awake in readiness to get cosy and comfy in the cot

[*Kara*]

I did something similar to Creations... I would give DD her BT bottle in the kitchen, dimly lit and just the two of us... sometimes she would feed to sleep, but she would wake a bit when I put her into her sleepsack and wrapped the swaddle around her so she was somewhat alert when i put her down...

That said, I let her feed to sleep at BT now if she has had a rough day - she is 13 months old... and she still STTN regardless

There seems to be something about that BT bottle that isn't as "propy" as other feeds can be... I have read that many moms have found less issues with feeding to sleep at BT over other times...