Author Topic: bedtime routine for 7 month old  (Read 1065 times)

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Offline Ryan&HollysMom

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bedtime routine for 7 month old
« on: November 30, 2006, 14:42:22 pm »
hi guys.
our bedtime routine has been the same since our lo was about 2 months old. dinner with breastfeed just before or after, playtime (about 45 min), bath, BF (as a topup) with soft music on, lights off, to bed awake. it works beautifully. and i love the BF part.
this week, in preparation for saturday (dh and i are going out, and mother in law is doing the whole thing) dh did bedtime routine and replaced BF with a bottle. i know we haven't given lo a bottle consistently every so often, but he did take it most of the time from either him or other people when it WAS offered. this week (we tried mon and wed nights) he wasn't having any of it. dh said as soon as bottle touched his lips he cried. he basically cried himself to almost sleep on dh's shoulder. the thing is, both nights we expected him to wake up earlier for the morning BF, but he actually slept a bit longer than normal! which brings me to the next part:

knowing that teeth are on their way (being a dentist's wife i just can't put lo to bed after BF without brushing the tooth), i know i should probably just skip the BF (since he doesn't need it), just do bath and then bed with something in between, but i'm at a loss as to what. reading books won't work, cause he usually just wants to chew on them, and rocking him in a chair doesn't work cause he climbs all over me, and it's just too similar to BF, it'll just make him upset. for naptimes i just bring him upstairs and put him to bed without anything else, but i always feel night bedtime should be somewhat different. any advice on a routine?
or should i keep the BF since it's soothing to both of us, and then just sneak some water and fingerbrush in there. will dropping the BF be easier at this age than later?
i'm so torn, i'm already grieving and sad. i'm gonna have a serious problem giving up breastfeeding!!!!!
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and our angel, 10 weeks, 11/19/08

Offline Jaime

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Re: bedtime routine for 7 month old
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2006, 19:21:58 pm »
what about lying him in bed with one book that he can chew on while you read him a different book??

that's all i can think of off the top of my head!!   ;D
Jaime
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Offline NiknLily

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Re: bedtime routine for 7 month old
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2006, 21:30:42 pm »
Hi
I don't know what your routine is but could you drop the BF with dinner and just do BF right before bed. 
OK so DH is a dentist but will 1 BF a night be such a bad thing, what if your LO was still taking DF or night feeds, you wouldn't even consider cleaning his tooth! afterwards.  My LO is same age and so far no teeth, she has her last feed right before bed, simply wont take it any sooner, but I'm certainly not going to clean her teeth after feeding when they do appear, it will ruin the whole sleepy fuzziness of the bedtime BF.
DD also likes to chew her books and shut her books and turn them over and over rather than actually listen to me read a story but i keep persevering as I figure just to have an interest is better than none and the sitting and listening intently to the story's will come with age.  Really its just laying the foundation for when bedtime follows a good story read in bed with mummy or daddy before lights out.
newmum x


Offline Ryan&HollysMom

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Re: bedtime routine for 7 month old
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2006, 00:19:37 am »
i absolutely agree on the book thing. don't get me wrong, dh is not a harda.. it's not like he's lecturing me. he says a little water would do, i'm just a planner and i kn ow that sometime down the road i have to drop it anyway. right now i still top him up, and probably will for a while yet, knowing myself. in terms of dropping the feed around dinnertime, i had it dropped for a while, but a lot of times he's so hungry by the time dinner rolls around, he doesn't trust the solid food to fill him up yet. he frequently needs to partially eat before he can have dinner. weird, but then he sits and is a lot more patient.
i think for now i might do bath, book, BF til i'm really ready to drop it (and get him used to reading before bed). when i am ready i've decided to just let dh handle bedtime for a while til he gets used to the idea of not having a boob that time.
thank you guys for your opinions. i really think book is the way to go whether he eats it or not. i will get him to hold one and read another to him.
as for going out, ryan will just have to either take that bottle or not. maybe we just need to go out more often.  :-*
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and our angel, 10 weeks, 11/19/08

Offline MDHmommy

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Re: bedtime routine for 7 month old
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2006, 00:40:54 am »
i kn ow that sometime down the road i have to drop it anyway. right now i still top him up, and probably will for a while yet, knowing myself.

Hi there! Why do you have to drop it anyway? Seems like your LO sleeps great, and it's working for you! I can tell you - my LO is just over a year, and i kept that last nursing in as long as I could...i BF'd till 8 mos.
He still loves his bedtime bottle - of cow's milk - I just brush his teeth right before his bottle and then again in the AM after his breakfast.
I say keep doing what you're doing, it seems to be working, and don't fret too much. He'll take a bottle if he's really hungry! ;)
Kate
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