Sleeptime rituals/ Wind-down ideas

[Jaqi]

Hi there ..

I would like to find out what sleeptime and/or wind-down rituals are being used.

In our case our lo fell asleep during our ritual (I know ...we should not have been rocking him), and now I'm basically starting over (in terms of rituals ... as well as the fact that I'm putting him in his bed for his ritual this time)

(It's still a little bit early for the PU/PD .. but we'll most likely start in his 3rd month)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[GG]

What temperament is your little one?

My lo is spirited/touchy.  For our wind down ritual, I put him in his crib, I sing him some songs then, he inevitably starts whining.  If it progresses to crying, I pick him up and sing him a couple more songs or just hold him.  Sometimes it's PU/PD.

I's not a very good wind down ritual for him but, honestly, I have yet to find a very good one that works (and I've tried a few).  He just seems to go from okay to overtired within minutes.  Also, he doesn't sit still long enough for me to do something relaxing with him.  If I sit down with him, he wants to climb the back of the chair or play with the crib (which is next to the chair), or he starts whining/crying (which I know is a touchy/spirited trait).  All I can say is SHEESH!

[Isom'smom]

Isom has dinner at five or five thirty, plays for a while bath by 6.30, bottle by 7.00 in his room, quick cuddles and rocking (5 minutes max).  Then to bed.  Sometimes he really needs to be held cause his little muscles spaz out when he's worked super hard, but usually, he rolls over and tucks up his feet and talks for two minutes.  I don't hear a peep until 6.30 the next morning.

[GG]

Wow!  Wouldn't it be nice if babies could 'train' other babies.   :wink:

[Jaqi]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah it would be great if we could just get the babies talking and get them to sort out their sleep issues that way!!

Georgia: My lo is textbook/spirited. I've got the same problem that I can't really sit still with him. When I try the 5 minutes sitting quietly he does the same thing: push up against me and his little legs and feet tries to climb higher in my arms (where he wants to go to I've got no idea ..)

We try rocking, and he likes that, but it depends also on how we hold him. If we block out visual stimulation completely he could sometimes start crying right away as he still wants to look around  (which only tires him out more ... but sometimes that helps him get the 7-mile stare, and at least he's a lot calmer).

We're planning on starting the pu/pd method in about 2 weeks time, so in the mean time we're just trying to get him to sleep as much as possible (even though this still includes the rocking).

The best nap that I usually get out of him is early in the mornings when he wakes up. He is still so calm and relax from sleeping during the night that I can either just rock him or put him in his bed with a little singing and he would drop off to sleep earlier. After that it's mainly a battle as he just wants to look around and 'play'.

[Smarti]

What has worked for my highly spirited one is the Shh-pat.  It took about four days to get him used to it, but now wind down is 5 min of rocking and singing and when he is calm put him in the crib.  pat him for a few minutes quietly and even if he is still awake I can leave the room and he will go to sleep on his own.  It took some hard work getting there because he figits so much.