How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

DS is soooo active. I try to read to him and lay with him in his room, rock him in the rocking chair, he just wants to climb on me and stand and grab things. Its so hard for me to get him to settle down. What do you do?

Re: How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

I've had the same bedtime routine with DD basically since she was born. Change her diaper, get the room ready for bedtime (turn on nightlight and sound machine, turn off overhead lights), and spend some time rocking her and talking/singing/reading to her. I've never had a problem putting her to bed, and I think it has a lot to do with the routine that we've been doing for so long (plus the fact that she loves to sleep ) ... it helps her switch to that "sleepy" state of mind immediately--even if she had just been playing around like a mad woman 30 minutes earlier.

Do you have the same bedtime routine every night??

Re: How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

Posted by Mere09

I've had the same bedtime routine with DD basically since she was born. Change her diaper, get the room ready for bedtime (turn on nightlight and sound machine, turn off overhead lights), and spend some time rocking her and talking/singing/reading to her. I've never had a problem putting her to bed, and I think it has a lot to do with the routine that we've been doing for so long (plus the fact that she loves to sleep ) ... it helps her switch to that "sleepy" state of mind immediately--even if she had just been playing around like a mad woman 30 minutes earlier.

Do you have the same bedtime routine every night??

Re: How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

Posted by carissa1643

Posted by Mere09

I've had the same bedtime routine with DD basically since she was born. Change her diaper, get the room ready for bedtime (turn on nightlight and sound machine, turn off overhead lights), and spend some time rocking her and talking/singing/reading to her. I've never had a problem putting her to bed, and I think it has a lot to do with the routine that we've been doing for so long (plus the fact that she loves to sleep ) ... it helps her switch to that "sleepy" state of mind immediately--even if she had just been playing around like a mad woman 30 minutes earlier.

Do you have the same bedtime routine every night??

No, bc I've been trying different things at night . I do turn the lights off and give him his bottle on the rocking chair maybe I'll do it with the sound machine on. Reading to him he gets excited too.

Re: How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

I put the sound machine on, give him his bottle in the glider in his room. He isn't always calm - on the days he is more active, when he is done with his bottle he goes in the crib anyway. He will play around in there for anywhere from 5-20 minutes and then fall asleep

Re: How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

DS has had the same routine since he was 2 weeks old. Bath, bottle, bed. We used to put him in his swing and he'd fall asleep in it. Since he's out grown it, we have started to watch sesame street with him sitting on our lap then we do 1 of 2 things:

DH take him into our bed and puts him to sleep

or

i put him into his crib with the mobile on and the sound machine.

Re: How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

I just put him in his crib and let him settle himself down

ETA- bedtime, it's bottle in the rocker, with music on and then put into crib.

Message edited 9/13/2010 12:27:48 PM.

Re: How do you settle down your infant for naps and bedtime?

For naps, I put her down and run away LOL if she sees me she will fight to stay awake. If I leave, she will fuss for a bit but then fall asleep.

For bedtime, I change her into PJs, give her a bottle, all in the dark and then put her in her bassinet. We can't run away since it is in our living room BUT she can't see us so even if she fusses, she eventually falls asleep

But, my 6w old is still sleeping like 18 hours a day so I may just be lucky!