Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

The Roo has been giving us a run for our money lately. We have also fallen into bad habits - I basically let him fall asleep on me, then put him down, which isn't really working anymore - the kid is onto us. Tonight we tried CIO, and then I just stayed with him and soothed him to sleep by singing, but did not take him out of the crib. For the past 3 months, we just can't fall into a good pattern at night. Some weeks are great, and then others not so much. It is teething? Is it phases? Do we need to be more diligent about self soothing? curious to hear how your nights are. Jake is 8.5 mos old.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

ds went through the same phase but i insisted on him not leaving that nursery after he went to bed...


our orutine is dinner 530, bath 6, book 645, bed 700

i did find at 10 months i had to start cutting his naps down

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

DD just went through the same exact thing! It started at around 8.5 months she would fall asleep on me and the second we put her down she would start screaming...After 2 weeks (she started waking at night wanting to be held also ) we let her cry....I hated it, but the first night it was 15 mins the second night it was 10 and the third not even 5 minutes...she had been STTN since butttt now she's sick so that's not helping us out

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

my bedtime routine starts alil later than m,ost of yours it seems, but its been working for us..we start at 7..we give her a bath, we give her a bottle, and while im giving her that, she usuall falls asleep on me, and i just wait 5 minutes and put her in, and she sleeps thru until about 615-7..if she doesnt fall asleep on me, i read her a book, and just sit with her in a quiet spot, and then she will..
i have never been able to just put her down awake..and to be honest..i dont want to..
her sleepy on me, is my fave time of day

i AM going to have to change it alil soon though..when the next one comes, i will need her to be falling asleep on her own.

eta: she naps at 9am on the dot..till about 10, 10:30--although today shes still sleeping

then again after lunch around 1 ish for about 40 minutes..
and then i try for one more in the late afternoon..yesterday i got 40 minutes from 445-530

Message edited 9/29/2009 10:58:14 AM.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

So strange! My dd is 8.5 months and did the samething- she would wake right up as soon as head hit the crib! i always rock her. lately i've been nursing her to sleep- bad habit i know! but i really enjoy it!
she was doing that for naps too.

i jsut ended up leaving her in the crib to CIO and now she does not wake up when her head hits the crib.
i would end up picking her up 2-3 times to get her to sleep and i just dont time to do that. CIO worked out great!

our routine is 5:30 dinner ( dad feeds her), i get home by 6:30 so then i tote her around and try to cook or play with her, 7:30/8pm bath, 8:30 book, 9pm nurse and she is asleep by 930pm

i prefer her bedtime to be 9:30pm so that i can spend time with her.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

DD will be 8 months old on Friday. We've basically had the same bedtime/naptime routine since she was around 2 months old.

bedtime starts at 7pm, regardless if it's a bath night or not.

on bath nights its:
Bath
bottle
bed

She loves her music so I play one of her CDs during bathtime.

DH gives her, her bedtime bottle in her room with the lights dim and soft classical music. She's in bed by by 7:30 and a sleep soon after.

On non-bath nights, it's basically the same minus the bath.

Naps are getting challenging as she is not napping as long as she used to.

Naps for us do not exist on days she is in daycare. She just refuses to sleep there.

On non-daycare days she takes her morning nap between 8:30-9:00am (depends on when she wakes up, but we have a 7am rule. As long as she is awake and NOT complaining, we don't go in until 7am the earliest). She used to sleep until 11:00-11:30, but is now waking around 10:30ish.

She goes down for an afternoon nap around 2ish(sometimes 2:30). This nap used to go until 5:30, but lately she's been getting up around 4:15ish.

She goes in her crib awake and will put herself to sleep. Somedays she is crawling around her crib, chattering for a bit, other days she is asleep before I even close the door.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

Well, IF I had one that worked I would love to share. But the lst week any routine I had is gone out the damn window. I feel like I have a NB again.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

DS was doing great for a couple of weeks (bath, bottle, bed by 730PM) but then the past couple of nights, he's waking up at 2-3AM again. GRRRR!! He isn't finishing his bottle at 715PM anymore. I think I gotta get that going again.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

They are 9 months old tomorrow.

We go upstairs and get them changed and into pjs around 6:30. Then bottle, then reading. Then a little bit of just sitting around on our bed.
At about 7 they go into the cribs, into their sleep sacks, we put on the aquariums, say good night, and then shut off the light and leave.

Most days they fall right asleep.
DD is cutting a tooth right now so for the past two days I've had to go in there.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

We do:

Dinner
Playtime
Nurse
Bath
Story
Bed

Eating usually begins by 6 and she is asleep by 7 or 7:30 at the latest. Used to be later but she is crawling and using a lot more energy now and she is too tired to stay up any later.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

We do dinner at 6 then we play until 7, which is bath time. After his bath we change him into his pjs and then he gets a bottle. I never leave his room once he is in his pajamas. I sit on the glider, read a book or two and then a bottle. He falls asleep on me but wakes up the second I put him down. I say good night and give him his lovey. He cries for a minute or two after I leave the room. By the time I turn the video monitor on he is sound asleep.

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

5 -5:30 Dinner
Bath
6:30 Bottle and lullaby video they have been watching since they were little
7 or so Bed


I rock them both for about 2 minutes and put them in their cribs. Declan may fuss for abour 5 minutes and then sleeps all night.

Ronan may cry and i just go back in and sooth him again and put him back in his crib

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

I have a 8 month old son and he is pretty good with going to bed. I bath him every night around 7:15pm and than get him dressed for bed. I give him a bottle in the crib and he finishes the bottle and goes right to bed. Right after the bath he knows it's bottle and bed time. He sleeps through the night till 7am the next morning. I never really got into the habit of rocking him or letting him fall asleep on me but thats because I have three other children. Routines help!!! It could be reading a bedtime story everynight before putting them down to singing a song. good luck

Re: Can you share your 8-12 mo old's bedtime routine and sleep habits?

DS is going to be a year on 10/13. We've been doing this routine for a long time.

He nurses between 6:30-7:00 PM.

Once he's done, he gets dinner (meat/veggies) about 7:30 PM.

Some nights he gets a bath. Either way, after dinner around 8 PM we bring him into his room to change him. The night light goes on and I start singing the same songs since he was born. DS will usually put his head on my shoulders, nuzzle in and be read for bed. The past few nights, he hasn't wanted to be sung to and basically jumps in the crib. We always put him down awake, though. He sleeps until about 6:30 AM.