3.5 month feedings and naps

We are trying to get our girls on some kind of better routine! !! We would like them to be in bed for the night @ 8:00 so ideally the last bottle would be 7:00 They seem to wake no matter what time you put them down between 5:30m and 6:30am.does anyone have and ideas how to acomplish this... right now we feed on demand when they wake and then 3 to 4 other times. One of the girls is eating 4 to 5 oz while her sister. is at 6oz. They take naps in there swings after each feeding

 

I've always really liked following the EASY routine. E-eat, A-activity, S-sleep, Y-you. So, you feed the babes when they wake, then let them have some activity time (at that age it won't be much. They won't really be able to stay awake much more than 1-2 hours max), then soothe them to a drowsy but awake stage & put them down (in the swing since that's working for you), and then it's you time.

If the early morning waking is really getting to you, try treating it like a middle of the night waking (lights low/off, no talking/playing, feed quickly & right back to bed). You may get another hour or two out of them.

Just out of curiosity, why an 8 pm bedtime? If you can, you may want to aim for something earlier for now. Young babies really tend to like an early bedtime & you may find they sleep longer in the morning. The more sleep they get, the more they'll want.

At this age, on average, you should be seeing about 3-4 naps per day. If you find they're waking around the 45 minute mark of their nap, you may want to try to soothe them back to sleep for another sleep cycle rather than wake them.

Stick with any changes you make to the routine for at least at week before evaluating if it's helping or not. Trying something once or twice won't tell you much. Good luck!

 

Thank you!!!

We will put them to bed earlier than 8 but it just seems they start to settle down around that time. What time.do you recommend for putting them down at night? Mom and dad would sure enjoy more quite time lol.we have some trouble letting them play right after eating due to acid reflex but it appears they are starting to outgrow that some.

 

You're welcome! Activity at that age can really be just sitting quietly in a bouncy chair or bumbo. It just really means "awake" with some interaction with the parental units.

If 8 seems to be their natural seetling down time then that's great! Follow their cues. My little guy seems to like a 6:30/7pm bedtime & my girls at various times needed to go to bed as early as 6 (usually just after they started dropping a nap).

 

My baby is that age and he goes to bed at 5 pm. Earlier to bed, better and longer baby will sleep. Try reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." I'm reading it now for the 4th time and I LOVE it!