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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

Ideas for bedtime routine for active 9 month old...

11 replies

bobblehead · 07/03/2006 14:02

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to get my 9m dd to wind down for the night. She used to be great at going straight to sleep in cot but off and on now ( mainly on!) she is taking forever to settle. She is very obviously tired, but either can't or won't go to sleep. If we try rocking or cuddling her, she snuggles in for around 10 seconds, eyes closing, then starts to wriggle, pull my hair, grab nose/glasses, pull dummie out, laugh,etc. This all alternates with crying/ moaning as she is so tired.
I'm thinking she is maybe overtired when we put her down, as she starts showing signs from around 4pm, but as I get her down at 6.30 anyway I don't know if earlier would help. Also she is like this even if she naps until 4pm.

At the mo her routine is this;

4.00 dvd, play herself with me talking to her/ joining in now and again.
5.00 dinner, while she crawls around as will not sit in highchair
6.00 bath
6.15 bf and bed.

I think maybe she needs more quiet time to wind down, but even reading stories seems to get her wired again- she just never stops. Any ideas/ experiences of very active babies gratefully received, Sorry this is so long.

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jodie1984 · 07/03/2006 14:46

ds is 8moths and goes to bed very well hop this helps

5.30pm tea (veg + yoghurt)
playing in walker or rolling arround
7.30pm bottle
7.45 bath (with lohnsons bedtime bath and wash, i find this helps loads)
8pm get him dried in his room, apply baby lotion and kinda quick massage. i then turn the lights off and put his pjs on with just the night light, quick kiss + kuddle and then straigh into his cot. he has a musical fimble that lasts 8mins and he is always asleep before it finishes.

hth

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Bozza · 07/03/2006 14:51

What is her daytime routine like. My routine at that age with both mine was:

6pm dinner (definitely in high chair)
then play
7pm bath, milk, teeth and stories and in bed at 7.30 pm.

Have you tried an afternoon nap and then a later bedtime?

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bobblehead · 07/03/2006 14:55

Even with an afternoon nap she seems very tired by bedtime, but think if she naps this afternoon we will try to keep her up. The trouble is she just never stops! I think she would fall asleep quickly if she just lay still long enough, but it just semms to be go go go! Would playing more vigorous games before bed help to exhuast her, or do you think that would make her worse?

Having the same problem with naps. Falls asleep in the car if very tired but I think thats cos she can't move! At the moment it is 9am and she has been up since 5 and still I can't get her to nap though she has been tired from when she woke up!

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Bozza · 07/03/2006 16:04

I think you need to have a firm routine with her. So she knows when nap times and bedtimes are.

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CorrieDale · 08/03/2006 20:52

DS is 8 1/2 months and active! And not a great sleeper so please feel free to disregard my advice!!!! Our routine is as follows:-

PM Walk (during which he naps. 30 mins to 1 hour 30 mins)
4.00 Playing while I potter. I find that TV after 4 really gets him going, so no telly!
5.00 Tea. BLW so typically takes over half an hour. ALWAYS in highchair!
5.45 ish (depending on how long tea takes) Upstairs for post-tea clean-up, & nappy off time.
6.00 Bath (may be at 6.10 - never later than that)
6.15 Dry, and quick massage with lavendar oil (not neat, obviously)
6.30 Quick story with daddy
6.35 Feed, lights being dimmed, mummy singing lullabies - same ones every night. Then the monitor takes over with a lullaby.
7.00ish Baby in cot - sometimes drowsy, sometimes asleep, sometimes fratchety and fighting sleep. On those nights, I stay in the room until he goes off. Am completely silent and only pick him up again if he's crying real tears, as opposed to merely shouting abuse at his muslin.

Recently he's been sleeping mega-badly coz of his teeth, and calpol or medised made a big difference. I also put my day's t-shirt into the cot with him for him to cuddle.

HTH

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bobblehead · 08/03/2006 21:29

Thanks Corrie, bit about TV interesting as I suspect that maybe stimulating her more. Wish we had more success with the highchair but she will eat much more out of it. Last night went for way earlier bedtime of 5.15 and she went down great, like she used to. She then woke at 8 and took 2hrs to settle despite being visibly tired, so think overtiredness may be the problem. Also found not using nightlight helped a little as the less she can see the better!
Do you find the lavender helps? How do you get them still enough to massage?

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CorrieDale · 09/03/2006 17:39

Not sure if it helps or not. Have been doing it since he was 3 months so am not keen on stopping now! Getting him to stay still is, I admit, a problem. But he's is wild keen on taking things out of boxes, so I have a little box that I 'accidentally' put beside him and tut every now again when he takes something out, just to make him feel as though he's being dangerous! His toothbrush is one of the items... I also drop a few drops of lavendar oil on a hanky tied to his cot. I think it does help, really. At any rate, we don't tend to have that much of a problem getting him down at night. It's naptime that's the killer. That's really why I started with the mechanically produced lullabies - I'm trying to give him a non-mummy-produced sleep association. The aim being to wean him off his feeds in due course by using the monitor. Well, that's the idea....

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bobblehead · 09/03/2006 19:12

Good idea with the box! Dd will love anything she thinks is "grown up" and unsuitable!

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fisil · 09/03/2006 19:27

ds2 is 9 months and it has been difficult to get him into a bedtime routine (unlike ds1 who was born with one, it seems). He is also incredibly active, constantly crawling, cruising and generally throwing himself around. This is what we do (obviously times do vary by up to 10 minutes, but ds1 is still pretty set by his routines):

6p.m. tidy up all toys and upstairs
6:15 both boys into the bath (I strip ds2 off while the bath is running. When the bath is ready I call to him and he comes scampering through and pulls himself up - I think this helps as it entrenches the routine in his head and burns up a little more energy)
6:30 both boys get out of bath. Get ds2 into pjs and then book and bottle. Sometimes he can cope with book first, sometimes he has to have bottle first.
6:40 quick cuddle with lights out and song then tuck up in sleeping bag say prayers (same words every night) and walk out.
6:45 - 7:00 reading ds1 his bedtime story and talking to him. Sometimes ds2 cries throughout this time and needs a quick cuddle once ds1 is finished with, but usually he is through with the crying and asleep by the time we've finished.

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chocolateshoes · 09/03/2006 20:06

Sounds like you def need a bedtime routine. Lots of good suggestions here. What about playing some calming music as well? We were given a good CD called 'Swimming with Fishes' - you could try cuddle, kiss good night, & leave this playing.

Good luck!

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bobblehead · 09/03/2006 20:58

Thanks everyone. Will try some music next, just need to get cd player! Have tried stories, but book is ripped from my hand and played with. Give massage after bath but she crawls away and cruises around room. By the time we are in room in pj's and having feed her eyes are shut and she's really drowsy. Then I put her down and she turns on her side. If she stays there usually she'll drift off but most times she rolls onto stomach and then stands up and the fun begins! Use a sleeping bag but that doesn't stop her. Short of tying her up not sure what to try!