Talk to me about bedtime routines.

[toratoratori]

What is yours and how did you get it established?

C normally dozes on and off until about 10, when she finally goes down for the night. I'd like to try and get her to bed a little earlier in the coming weeks since I'm going back to work and will also be observing an earlier bedtime.

How do I make this happen?

[alias]

His routine has changed over time, following his lead. I never imposed a routine on him and I've never had a rigid one either.

Dinner, 5:30-6.
Play time.
Bottle (which he may or may not drink).
(Bath some nights, but not all nights)
Diaper, jammies, brush teeth.
Play time/cuddle time/books (depending on his mood).
Try to put him down when he's sleepy (around 7), but not cranky, cuddle, say goodnight, give him blankie & lovey, turn on humidifier.

[jamer]

We are just starting to try and set up more of a routine for our 4 month old. It's a lot harder with a toddler! We just do bath (every other night), feed, magic sleepsuit and rock to sleep and put in crib. After first wake up she comes to bed with me bc it makes my life easier. Soon I'm going to try feeding in her room and putting back to bed. Just not quite there yet. ..

[stretchad]

Our DS was a late-to-bed kid by nature, so we didn't enforce a specific bedtime. Rather we just followed the same routine, roughly when it seemed like he was starting to get tired. And, we've also been fairly go with the flow, adjusting when it seemed like things needed adjusting vs. being strict no matter the age.

At <6 months (while on mat. leave):
Bath (every other night), jammies, swaddle (abandoned this at about 5-6 months), bottle/nursing, sleep. We let him fall asleep downstairs in the snuggle nest that we had on the couch then we'd transfer upstairs to PNP in our room when we went up for bed. This routine started at about 8:45-9pm. Asleep by 9:45-10
At 6-9 months, when I went back to work:
Bath (couple times a week), jammies, nurse sidelying in my bed at about 9pm. He'd fall asleep, as would I at about 9:30. When DH came to bed he'd transfer DS to his crib. 
At 10-12 months:
Bath (couple times a week), jammies, bottle downstairs, transfer to crib. This routine started about 8:30pm, asleep about 9-9:15.
At 12+ months to current:
In an attempt to get him to STTN, we started to disassociate mom and nursing/bottle right before bed. Routine was Bath (every other night or so), jammies, DH to brush teeth, read book in his room, lights out while DH gets him to sllep It's only been the last month that we have been able to put DS down in the crib awake but drowsy. And it's hit or miss as to whether I can do it. DH is better at it than I am. This routine starts at about 8pm now and DS is usually asleep by 8:30. I don't know if its a coincidence, but DS did start STTN right around 12 months when we made this change to our routine. Previously he was up 2+ times a night, and I was a zombie.

Hope that helps!