Nighttime Routine for Baby

I like order, but I am not obsessed with it. I can easily go with the flow and have the schedule be loosely arranged. The older Stu kids were easy nappers and slept pretty good at night. Remy, our newest baby, is not like his sister and brother. He seems to thrive on routine.

I know now that Remy does not really love to nap. He will take a few catnaps here and there (usually only while he's being held) and one fairly lengthy nap in the afternoon. The older kids would just fall asleep if they were tired, I never gave much thought to scheduled naps. But he is different. He likes to be held and rocked to sleep. 

I can get over the high maintenance behavior of the day because he is an angel at night. Most of the time. 

It's difficult to live with a newborn. It's like moving in with a complete stranger. Together you are figuring each other out... while battling other stresses like sleep deprivation, hunger, sore body, jealous older siblings, unsolicited advice, etc. 

Remy and I are finally understanding each other. It only took nearly 10 weeks. (insert exhausted eye roll) Luckily for me, I have a few amazing friends with newish babies to bounce ideas off of, to complain to, to ask for help from. Moms need a tribe - but that's a completely different post.  

The bedtime routine that works for us... 

Cluster Feeding

Remy begins cluster feeding (eating about every hour or so) around 5pm. This is his way of telling me bedtime is coming... and also that I should be cooking dinner for the rest of the family. Moms have to be master multitaskers.

Bathtime

Remy will NOT go down for the night without a bath. I've tried. It was horrible. He will wake up constantly. Little man loves his baths. He completely calms down and chills out. Stu helps me with the bath because, at the moment, it's a 2-person job. We put the plastic tub on the kitchen counter and bathe him there (it's a much needed relief on my back). 

We talk to him while we are bathing him. But after we take him out, the lights are dimmed in the house. And I try to minimize the stimulation his big siblings give him. By this time though, they have also showered and are winding down. So it works for us. 

Massage

I bring Remy straight from the bath to his changing table. After I dry him off, I massage him with some Dove Baby Moisturizer and sing softly to him. He smiles and lays fairly still. It's working. Then I put his jammies on him, but before I put his feet in, I rub a little bit of Lavender on the bottom of both of his feet. I tell him he smells like bedtime. Then I zip him up. 

Zen Sack

After he gets his massage and pjs on, I slip him into his Nested Bean Zen Sack. I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical of this thing... But it has been amazing! It took two nights for me to notice a difference. On the second night, Remy slept 7.5 hours straight! Another night he went close to a 9 hour stretch! 

He fell asleep one night without it, and it was rough. He woke up several times. 

I even put him in it for a nap one day. He slept a good amount of time in his crib (not his usual sleeping spot, he's still in my room). 

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