How to break the routine?

[Ngala]

Hi All,

I want to change Avaleigh's afternoon/evening routine.

Before Avaleigh's unsettledness started I used to be able to bath her around 8.30pm and then feed her before she goes to sleep. Now I am unable to do that because she starts getting really unsettled at 5pm and then is asleep by 6.30 or 7.30pm. (I have tried bathing her in this time, but I wont be doing that again!!)

This is how our routine roughly goes...
Midnight feed
5am feed
8am feed
11am feed
1pm feed
4pm feed
5pm unsettled
6pm feed
Midnight feed

So I would like to bath her around 8.30pm so she can have a feed at 9.30pm and hopefully sleep through until her 5am feed (HOPEFULLY!) Should I be waking her to give her a bath if she doesnt wake by herself? I just dont want to wake her and her to be real grumpy with me and be crying the whole way through.. Or should I try and change her feeding times during the day?? I'm not too sure how effective this will be because she is unsettled at 5pm until she eventually falls asleep...

So any ideas?

Thanks

oooh, she's actually stirring at the moment so hopefully she will wake soon!

[~*Niadalla*~]

No ideas... just very jealous that you have a routine and u get sleep!!!!

hehehe

[Starfish]

Hi Veronica
Congratulations on having a routine . We don't have one here - I find it is easier all round to let Diana initiate things...

If you want to bathe Avaleigh around 8:30 or so, maybe wake her up, give her a small feed, then bath, then feed again, then back to sleep... That's what I do with Diana if I want to give her a bath and she hasn't woken up yet.

[~Jo~]

Mmmm so is she sleeping after feeding from 6 to midnight then from midnight until 5? Sorry if im misunderstanding you? Is she was sleeping like that Id be reluctant to do anything because I think thats amazing for such a littlie..maybe bath her when shes feeling unsettled at 5pm?

Jo

[Ngala]

LOL Nicky - I hope you get a routine soon!

Jo - yes you have understood correctly. She will feel at 6pm and then sleep to about midnight and her next feed after that around 5am, give or take an hour either side! LOL I did try bathing her on Monday at around 6.30pm and she was really really unsettled so just cried and screamed the whole way through. I guess I could try bath her at 5pm, maybe by bathing her then we will skip the crying and screaming and she goes to sleep straight away?!

[Ashlee]

You're a lucky mumma to be going so long between feeds at night at this age!

[Janie]

Personally, I wouldn't be waking her up to bath her. Maybe try the 5pm bath. What an amazing rountine she has for such a littlie! I would be inclined to leave things as they are.......she WILL grow out of that unsettled time. I was convinced it was going to go on forever with Nicholas, but lo and behold, by 12 weeks it had stopped.

BTW everytime I think we have a good routine going here, he changes it LOL!

[Ngala]

LOL Well Avaleigh decided to break her own routine last night!! She woke up at 10pm for a feed and then again at 1am and then next one was 5am.

[Ashlee]

Ahhh that sounds more like us at that age lol

[Ngala]

LOL! When you think you are on a good thing they change it!!

Sezjm - oh I hope the unsettledness stops at 12 wks!

[~Jo~]

Sounds like you are doing a great job in responding to little Avaleigh. Its normal to have that period of fussiness in the late arvo, evening though so just see how you go.

Jo

[srv]

Your evening / night routine sounds great for a bubs of that age. Have you thought about bathing her during the day rather than the evening? Then you could leave things as they are or try to give her a dream feed before you go to sleep and maybe then she'll get through till 4 or 5 in the morning. This may not work - it doesn't for all bubs but for some works brilliantly. That way you don't have to fully wake her up for a bath when she's asleep, but can get that extra feed in and hopefully she'll be one who doesn't fully wake for the feed and you can put her back in her cot asleep.

[Olive]

i'd do the bath at 5.00, feed then bed! at that age sophie was going downfor the night by 5.45pm, did this for months, and it was 5.45 on the dot!! it was what she wanted

[Charlyfrog]

That's a fantastic routine you have there!!

I agree with not waking her to bath (I only wake for feeds if munchkin hasn't woken by the 4hr mark) and maybe try bathing her around the unsettled time, 5pm......might help both of you get through that time in a relaxed manner

[Bathsheba]

Exactly..."patterns" is a good word and they change every few weeks arond here too. When babies have growth spurts they can wake several times through out the night. Enjoy your sleep while you can!!!

[Janie]

Mmmmmmm, patterns is definitely more like it!

I know the evening stuff is hard Vernica, and it really feels like it's going to go on for forever, but honestly, one day you'll think about it and realise she hasn't done it for a week or so and you're over it!

I don't want to burst your bubble or anything, but Nicholas was doing a good stretch of sleeping through (about 7 hours between feeds) for weeks and weeks, but he has recently stopped that. I was aware that it could happen, but it doesn't make it easier to get up in the night LOL! We had such a good little pattern happening, and then it was suddenly all over! And it's changing again now. So just be prepared for things to be ever-changing

[Ngala]

Thanks guys! I think I agree with you all with not waking Avaleigh and letting her sleep. She doesnt sleep much during the day, only like an hour here or there so I think she really needs that good long sleep!! Our days are fairly busy with walking the dogs in the morning and I go to the gym in the afternoon but I will try and bath her before she starts getting unsettled at 5pm, I think 4pm would be a good time cause then her daddy is home to play with her while I am making dinner!!

Yesterday was a good day. We were at my mum's so her pattern was different again!! Got home at 7.30pm, played with her a bit, bathed her around 8.30pm, played some more, feed at 9pm and then to sleep and she slept through to 3.40am!! Now thats more like it, but I know it wont happen all the time

[Liz]

We didn't have a routine for months and months and months... still don't really LOL.

But DS's pattern for a long time was regular feeding day & night anyway.. no real long stretches.. and his bedtime for night sleeps was around 9pm.. and still is

Dunno if I agree that 7pm is the best time for their sleep - some people find this to be the most unsettled time.. and well.. 7pm just would NEVER work in this household LOL. We go out 2 evenings a week, and DH is hardly ever home before 7, so 9/9.30pm bedtime fits in great for us, and DS was always a happy well slept little man (even with his regular waking for feeds ) I think he's a very flexible co-operative little thing as a result too actually.

I too wouldn't wake for a bath. We never slotted the bath in as part of a routine.. it woke him up more than calmed him down, so it just got done whenever we felt like it.. little bubs aren't dirty anyway.. so skipping the odd bath here and there doesn't hurt As he got older, he's enjoyed having a shower with daddy every night before bed (another thing he'd miss out on if he was in bed by 7!) and they have a lovely play in there, and he knows it's bedtime etc after the shower.

You sound like you're happily going along with whatever the day brings.. and I reckon that's a good way to be.. sounds like Avaleigh is giving you pretty good sleeps at night, so I wouldnt' worry too much about it.