Changing bedtime routine?

Hi Kaye

I had the same problem with getting Luke to go to sleep. He is also 16 months old. He refused to go to sleep without me rocking him or laying in my bed with him.

I now put him in his cot and leave him to go to bed - we have a routine, between 7:15 and 7:30 we go kiss everyone kiss goodnight and I change his nappy and put him in his cot with his bottle.

First few nights he cried and realised that Im not going to pick him up and now he knows its dudu time and that Im not gonna give into to him.

Its been hard but so far so good.

Good luck

I would change him to the sippy cup now and see how he goes with that.

With mine I used a sports bottle for the night time feed but all the rest were cups etc.

Maybe get your DH to help put him to bed from now so that if you still have "problems" when baby arrives he wont associate you not holding him with the new baby. We did this before my second arrived.

When Jack arrived now we just worked it so his bed time and the big kids bed time were the same. So he baths and is put down same time as them - mine are older so it makes it easier because they just need a kiss and a cuddle and read etc till the fall asleep.

Maybe try with every nap to get him to fall asleep on his own - that way if there is resistance from his part it doesnt affect his night time routine and he will learn to fall asleep on his own in the evening!

Thanks 1st Timer - I think we'll try change to a sippy cup in the morning first then, it makes sense. Lets hope he doesn't mind too much, and then I'll try the evenings and putting him down sooner at night.

Hi Kaye,

J has a similar routine. He gets a bath, 2 stories, milk in a sippy cup and then sits on my lap in the dark for a 5 minute cuddle and tgen gets put into his cot sleepy but awake. I usually keep my hand on his bum until he is asleep.

A few months ago I switched from a bottle to a sippy cup. I did the morning switch first for a few days and then the evening. Made no difference to be honest. You can also go straight to a normal cup but I couldn't face the mess.

I also started putting him down for his nap without holding him. I.e. He goes staright from changing table to cot. I leave my hand on his bum and he is out in under 5 minutes. After doing this for a week or so I started to shorten the cuddle time before bedtime until I got to the current set up. Basically the second he is still on my lap I used to put him down. Sometimes I would have to pick him up but mostly he would settle eventually. I kept on doing this and after about a week we got to the urrent set up. it's not ideal for a new baby but I am hoping over summer to shorten the cuddle time and remove the hand in bum. I read the Baby Whisperer a while ago which helped a lot.

When I eventually do have nr 2 my plan is to put the new baby to sleep before my older son.

Good luck and congrats kn the pregnancy!

Any advice would be appreciated!

My 16 month old currently has a bottle of milk morning and night. When its bedtime, we put him in a sleeping bag, give him his blanky and then hold him while he drinks his bottle. We then usually need to hold him until he's asleep or super sleepy and then put him down in the cot.
I have 2 questions about this:

1: When do you start weaning from a bottle? And what do you use then for milk, a sippy cup? Or is it not necessary to wean early?

2: We have a new baby arriving March 2012 and my husband is worried about putting both kids down at night. How can I change our routine that my son goes to sleep by himself? About 2 or 3 nights a week its a struggle to put him down, and the rest of the week he's so tired its quick and fuss free. For his daily nap we hold him and within 5 minutes he'll close his eyes and go to sleep, no problem. Obviously not always at night though! Or will this gradually change and get easier as when he eventually moves into a single bed?