First of all, let’s lay the ground work. Baby G is 3 months old, and he has been sleeping through the night since he was 6 weeks old. I used to wake him up to feed during the night, but someone suggested to let him sleep and see how long he would go. So I did. On the first night he slept from 10pm until 4am. As the days went by, he started sleeping in later and later, until one morning he woke us up at 7:45am!!! I was still on maternity leave then, that’s why we didn’t have a strict hour to wake up.
As soon as I started working, I’d wake up at 5, and he with me to feed. It’s incredible how quickly they adjust to your schedule.
Anyways, going to bed was always uncertain. I’d be waiting to see if he showed signs of sleepiness, or I’d wait until he had to eat again so he could soothe by eating and go down easy. Every day was different, and every day was a struggle. Let’s keep in mind that Baby G is one of the easiest babies in the world, so his fussing never lasted more than 30 minutes (it took an hour when we had guests over last weekend, which was sad to see). But still, I didn’t want him to fuss at ALL.
So I started reading up online about bedtime routines. Here’s one site that summarized ideas for what to do to get your baby to always know when bedtime was coming: BabyCentre UK – Bedtime Routines for Babies
The ideas I liked best were (1) walking around the house saying goodnight to different objects, (2) reading a book, and (3) singing a song.
I suspected these would work perfectly for Baby G because things like baths, or playtime, tend to rile him up rather than calm him down. The only thing that calms him down is being with me on my shoulder.
So that’s what we did. We went around the house (lights dimmed), and said our goodnights:
And then put him in his © Nap Nanny, and turn on his night light. On the first night he started to get anxious because he knew I’d be leaving him soon, but by the second night, he knew what was going on and didn’t fuss.
Then we picked up a book (the same book every night), called Hush Little Baby (by Petra Brown), and I’d sing the book to him. On the first night he started to cry about half way through the book, but I kept on going. There was no stopping me. The second night, he actually started to smile in the beginning of the book, and actually turned to look at me for most of it as I sang. He even smiled a few times. It was so nice to see him so happy, even though he knew bedtime was imminent.
After we finished the book, I held his little hands and put my face close to his, and I sang a little Venezuelan lullaby that goes to the tune of the Venezuelan National Anthem:
Duérmete mi niño, que tengo qué hacer
Lavar los pañales, y hacer de comer
The first night he was crying and crying during the lullaby, but the second night he was actually very subdued and seemed to be enjoying this time with me.
After the lullaby, I gave him tons of kisses on his round little head, said goodnight, and walked away shutting the door behind me.
I watched him through the video monitor. The first night he cried and cried, but I did not go back in (that would defeat the purpose of what I’m trying to teach him: that I would not be coming back). It took him 20 min of crying the first night to calm down, and 15 min after that to fall asleep. The second night, he lied there with his eyes open. He sucked on his hands, he moved around a little bit, but there was NO FUSSING. It took him 15 min to fall asleep.
Still on the second night, 10 minutes after he fell asleep, he woke up and cried for a few minutes. Then went back down, and not a peep until the next morning. To my surprise he didn’t wake up at 5am like he usually does… I let him sleep until 5:40, but then I had to wake him up to feed him and get ready for work.
So there might be an argument there that he had a better night sleep the second night.
But then again, maybe it was all a fluke! I’ll try again tonight (3rd night) and see if I can replicate the same results! I’ll keep you posted, and wish you luck with your little ones’ bedtime rituals 🙂
ina
Epilogue: On the third night, Baby G was a little distraught (he was tired, and I was clipping his nails, which upset him), so I jumped into the bedtime routine. He calmed right down! He was asleep 10 min after I left the room, and there was no fussing afterwards!