When/how did you return to a "normal" schedule

[catbus]

I feel ridiculous. E is six weeks old and H and I still basically go to bed with him. For reference, we aim for getting him to bed around 8:00. E sleeps in a Pack-N-Play in our room, and we've so far just also been getting into bed and reading at the same time, and are usually asleep by 9, 9:30 at the latest. This isn't normal, is it? We should be going back out to the living room and having normal adult time and conversation that doesn't require worrying about waking the baby.
We do this partially because we know E's longest sleep stretch is the first one of the night, so we want to maximize our own sleep and have it overlap with his as much as possible. Again, probably just need to get over this, right?
So... if anyone else dealt with this, do you have any tips on getting back on track?

[Deleted]

Ridiculous is expecting "normal" with a 6 week old.

You just do what works. I still go to bed (and get up) earlier than I did before DS. His bedtime moved earlier, though, and around 6 months or so he was going be bed between 7 and 7:30 pm. At that point we reclaimed our adult evenings.

Cut yourself some slack! Americans are so obsessed with acting like having a baby is no big deal.

[Deleted]

Well, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "back on track..." But, I guess in the way you are describing...he was about 8 weeks? maybe 10? I think 8. We started getting our stuff out for bed, then we'd put him down in our room, then when we were ready for bed we just got in our PJs and were all set. Around 14 weeks he started sleeping in his own room and our schedules kind of normalized I guess. Some nights I still go to bed at 830 though. LOL.

My whole thing was (and still is), whatever works and results in everyone getting more sleep. If you are getting more sleep with your current routine, I'd stick to it for a bit longer.

[drloretta]

Ditto token. I remember nights she slept in a "nest" in our bed (the first few days), times I tiptoed past her crib to get to the bathroom, afternoons I watched a movie while she slept on my chest, etc.

Do what you need to do for now.

[ijack]

we didn't really "put her to bed" until she was about 3 months old and in her own room. before that she would sleep in the swing or wherever until we went upstairs to get ready for bed.

[bunch]

At 2 mos I stopped sleeping on her floor and came back to going to bed with h around 10, but dd was always a1x a night waker and would go right back down after eating.

[MadamePresident]

I don't see a problem with your current arrangement. It gets dark so early anyways, I'd go to bed early even without a baby.

[jackpackage]

Nov 15, 2012 14:14:58 GMT -5 ijack said:

we didn't really "put her to bed" until she was about 3 months old and in her own room. before that she would sleep in the swing or wherever until we went upstairs to get ready for bed.

Same here. It got so much better at 3 months. DS sleeps 7:30p-9:30a, so we go to bed around 10:30. Do you have a white noise machine? We worried about O waking up too, but after sleeping through a wood floor installation, I'm confident that he can sleep through anything.

[catbus]

OK, you guys are making me feel a whole lot better. This is obviously my own neuroses getting the best of me. I figured most people start the routine of putting baby down to sleep, then grabbing the monitor and hanging out until their own "normal" bedtime (10-11 for us). I guess I should just be thrilled that we have a fairly established bedtime routine for him, huh?
We totally tiptoe to the bathroom. Let's not talk about actually flushing the toilet...

[ohgillian]

Nov 15, 2012 14:07:28 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Ridiculous is expecting "normal" with a 6 week old.

:Y:

[hski2349]

I agree with others. Do whatever works so everybody is happy. "Normal" is relative anyway. Everything falls into place as it needs to .

[pugz]

you are being smart. My baby goes to bed between 8:30-9:30 and I often stay up til midnight, so I usually only get 5-6 hours of sleep.

[karinothing]

I think we had special adult time around 2.5-3 months when he finally slept without me holding him. BUT I still go to bed an hour after his bedtime

[Deleted]

It took me a much longer time after #1 than with our subsequent children. Months. Pretty much until he was reliably STTN 11-12 hours (so around 5-6 months).

With #2 and #3 it was a much smoother transition because we were already in "kid mode" and knew what to expect. Try not to be too hard on yourself! You just went through a big change; it'll take a little while to adjust.

[Deleted]

We started to reclaim adult time around 12 weeks. Before then I was petrified to stay up later than 7:30-8:00 just in case he woke up at 3:00am. I was so worried and he STTN from 7 weeks on.

[gibbinator]

We haven't yet. Our schedule changes when his changes. If ds has been sleeping well a few days in a row, we might chance staying up until 10pm. Usually we're in bed a half hour after him though.

[Brie]

He is still so unpredictable, it's hard to say. Some nights he conks out at 7 pm and we turn the monitor on and have a few hours of adult time before we go to bed. Some nights he will scream and want to eat until 10 pm, so then we go to bed with him.

[arch01]

We started a bedtime routine/time at 6 weeks, I went back to work at 8 weeks. He STTN on my first day back to work, and has relatively regularly done so ever since.

We finally got into a groove at about 12 weeks. It took me awhile to balance everything. I still don't go to bed when he does, but it's a relatively normal time (10pm).

[Deleted]

Nov 15, 2012 14:17:38 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Lucy didn't have a "bedtime" until she was four months or so. That's when we started hanging out alone in the evening again.

It goes by so quickly!

This was us too. From 0-4 months he would fall asleep in the RnP and I would wake him to nurse when I went to bed at 10-11ish. Around 4 months he stopped falling asleep in the RnP and would rub his eyes and start yawning around 7-7:30, and would start crying at 8. So we made 7:30 his bedtime. He's asleep by 8, and we stay up until 9:30 or so. I kick myself every time we stay up later (like tonight), 11pm is just too late for me now.

[satama]

You have a newborn, just get the sleep you need whenever you can. Eventually the desire to hang out and watch TV or whatever will be stronger than the desire to just pass out in bed. Lol. I often still go to bed around 8 or 9 since my kid gets up at 5am. If I need sleep it is worth it to me to skip out on alone time with my husband some nights.

[satsuma]

Nov 15, 2012 14:07:28 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Ridiculous is expecting "normal" with a 6 week old.

Ummm, this. Maximize the amount of sleep you're getting. Bedtimes start moving earlier as they get older and you'll sometimes want to start staying up later than him. Other times, crawling into bed at 7:30 will seem completely reasonable.

[hocus]

To me the answer is yes and no. When my kids were really little and not close to STTN I went to bed at 9 or earlier. I needed that extra sleep. Now that my kids STTN we put them down and have our own time at the end of the night. To me it sounds like your tired and need an early bedtime. When you don't fall asleep so early then you'll know that it is time to make a change.

[badtzmaru22]

Maximizing sleep is smart. I should go to bed when DD does, but I need some me time at night. What generally happens is I get caught up dorking around online and stay up way too late, and then get annoyed at myself when I don't get enough sleep.