Your child & Sleep

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So how does your child sleep and how have his/her sleep routines evolved with time/age?

Where does/did your child sleep?
When did your child first sleep through the night as a baby?
What bedtime routines has your child established?
What is your child’s bedtime?
Is one parent or the other usually in charge of bedtime?
Is there a favorite toy that accompanies bedtime?

Etc.

As an infant, mine was almost always held/rocked to sleep. It’s the consequence of being a first-child surrounded by lots of adoring family. She slept initially in a bassinet by our bed and then later in her crib in her own room for the first year.

We gave her a bedtime bath and held/nursed till she slept. When she was about 3 months old, she slept through the night for the first time – and it was on my birthday! Best present ever!!

Around 6-8 months she began fighting and waking up whenever we put her down to sleep in her crib. That led to a lot of uncomfortable nights holding her. But she grew out of it. She slept fine in her crib until about 1 year. She was sick and we let her sleep in our bed. After that she absolutely refused to sleep in her crib. We struggled with that for months and then we gave up, converted her crib into a toddler bed, and put it up against our bed and finally got some sleep. She often tried to crawl out of bed, but if I was the one in charge of bedtime, then I made sure she fell asleep in the crib.

Between ages 1-2, Papa was usually the one that put her to bed. I loved the extra “me”-time I got! This lasted until we took a trip and sleeping places and routines were disrupted. Then it was all about Mama at bedtime. Her habit was to have three points of contact: 1. My hand on her tummy, 2. Our foreheads pressed together OR the tip of her mouth resting in the tip of my nose (cute but annoying after the first 10 seconds), 3. Her hand under my cheek. Usually she fell asleep pretty quickly, but in the past few weeks it was taking forever for her to doze off, and often when she finally did, she pulled away and turned over on her other side. I decided it was time for a change.

She’s still in our room, and I think until inshAllah she can share a room with a sibling or until she asks to sleep in her own room, I’m happy to have her here. I pushed her toddler bed against the wall and together we stuck glow-in-the dark stars above her bed. She actually did an amazing job decorating them in interesting configurations. I was constantly trying to fix and balance until I saw what she did with it. It came out really pretty. Anyway, now she sleeps in her “starry sky” bed. The first time my little poet saw the stars glowing she said, “Look, Mama! They’re twinkling!” and then requested that I sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to her. So now the routine is she climbs into bed herself, locates her stuffed cat named “Mouse”, locates and arranges her blankie, requests a song and a story. Then we kiss her goodnight. I don’t leave the room (exccept maybe for a minute or two to get something). But I don’t sit with her. I sit on my bed and read or check email or something. She cries and demands I sit on her bed with my hand on her, but I ignore her after I’ve said goodnight. She does not get up, but does cry. The crying time is slowly getting shorter. She falls asleep on her own and thankfully lasts till morning. Things seem to be improving. Hopefully she’ll feel more ok with the process soon. Her bedtime is 9. She wakes up around 8:30. She naps for over an hour at 2pm.

Oh around age 2 we stopped the bedtime baths cuz they seemed to refresh her rather than make her sleepy.

So what’s the story of your child’s bedtime? :smiley:

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Re: Your child & Sleep

When it comes to her sleep,I love her...!!..:D
Ok, no I really love her otherwise too..!

Where does/did your child sleep?
She is now m'A 26 months old and has always slept in the crib.Her crib has been and still is in our room.I was never in favor of co-sleeping and never wanted her to be in our bed basically because I was scared I will roll on top of her and later on when she was old enough I was afraid she might fall down the foot end of the bed.She has always been happy in her crib.I have been planning to move her into her room for months now but for some reason it hasn't happened,not yet.The new target is to do it in 2 months.Lets see...:D.

When did your child first sleep through the night as a baby?
I think she was 3-3.5 months old.She just did.I recall when we both wake up we were worried that why she never woke up or cried through the night.Was too good to be true...!!.My mother was so worried I was starving the baby and always told me to make her wake up and feed her.Yeah sure...!!
It continued well till my trip to Pakistan when she was 6 months old.There she took a few weeks again to get adjusted (the jet lag and all),and then I returned she was 9 mo and at that time it took about 2 months for her to go back to the routine of sleeping through the night.She used to wake up once and go back to sleep after a bottle of milk.Since her 1st BD she has always slept through the night,AH.

What bedtime routines has your child established?
They have changed over time.For now it is bed time milk,change of clothes/diaper,brushing teeth,bed time story (which first either one of her parents reads to her,and then she reads it back to us).All this has to happen in our bed.This is followed by a few tricks and antics and warnings that it is bed time and then she is put in her crib.She lays there for a while.When she is sleepy,she stands up and calls for me.I bring her out to the living room recliner,rock her and read Ayatul kursi & 4 qul and she is alseep in a few mins.There are some days when she is in masti mode and wants to play even at that time.But they usually happen when she has napped a bit longer during the day and that is not so frequent.
I wish sometimes she sleeps on her own after being told to and after the lighst are out.It has happeened a few times,accompanied by quite a bit of crying,but in all honesty,I actually love the moments I rock her to sleep at night.They are too precious for me to let go so easily...!

What is your child's bedtime?
Anything between 9-10 pm.Wakes up anytime between 7-8 am.Afternoon nap for 1.5-2 hours around 1 pm.

Is one parent or the other usually in charge of bedtime?
It is me.It has always been me.I have even stopped trying for him to do it or for her to fall asleep while her abu rocks her.She is totally a daddy's girl,but at bedtimes it has to be mommy.

Is there a favorite toy that accompanies bedtime?
There is a white stuffed dog,called 'dobbie'.There are days she cannot live without it and without telling it how much she loves it.But then there are days bechara dobbie falls under the crib and is forgotten.She has 2 cotton blankets from the time she was a baby.They are small now,but she has to have them to sleep.She even has one in the car and if we are out for long,she asks for it before falling asleep.I wonder if they make bigger ones in that material because it hardly covers her anymore.

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Your child & Sleep

They slept in their crib until one day when baby A was slighty running a fever at 3 months which was alarming to us newbies and we invited them into our beds and they have not left. I give them an evening bath rather than a night-time because it energizes them sort of like your bunny Sahar. Baby A needs constant touching point as well like yours whether its scratching my elbow, or like sehlaaying her tiny palm on my arm which is so annoying at 4 am or having hwr feet tangled up in my hair. They both sleep on my bed but twinkie B loves to cuddle up with baba. Baba is afraid of crushing her plus he wants uninterrupted sleep so he literally sleeps on the carpet beside our low platform bed which was bought for the sole purpose of them sharing our bed and not falling off in the middle of the night. They do not have a specific bedtime but we try to put them in bed by 9 and I will read them a story and sing them a few of our songs, then the two of them talk to rach other and discuss stuff as they fall asleep.

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Re: Your child & Sleep

^ omg how cute that they talk to each other and doze off!

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Re: Your child & Sleep

awww all your kiddies are so cute :kiss: Mashallah

as a baby… munchkin was nursed to sleep. For the first 5 weeks she slept on top of me before the husband and my mum yelled at me and told me to move her off my chest :halo: She was in her bassisnet in our room till about 5 months at which point we went to Abu Dhabi for 2.5 months… Her sleeping pattern was still quite good. She however hated having any of lying next to her, which made her have half the bed and me and hubby curled on the other half.. not a very happy sleep..

when we got back, we moved her into her own room, and she’s been in her room since about 8ish months..

there are days when shes not well or when I am extremely tired and id like her to just hop into our bed but she refuses. She carries around her blanket (that she stole from khala at the age of 1.5yrs or age) and Goofy aka “boofy”

At the point she moved into her own room.. she was given her bottle and then she would thumb suck herself to sleep… and i had to have my hand on her tummy the entire time.. or patting her somewhere on the upper body. The bottle did not disappear till like she was 4.5.. yes i know… REALLY bad.. but it helped her fall asleep, so :snooty: the thumb sucking however has still not stopped..

Now, I trrrry to put her to bed at 8.30.. but after the ten million stories and the “but mama…i have to tell u something…” done about 100 times.. the pilgrimage to the bathroom.. the rituals of brushing the teeth, brushing the hair so daddy doesnt have to do it in the morning… the duas.. and then finally Goofy and the thumb. Oh, and me doing Isha next to her… thats one thing I have to do next to her before “I” can let her sleep :slight_smile: makes me feel like the angels are gonna look after her at night…

hmm i think she was about 3 or so months when she first slept through the night… i had a heart attack in the morning though…

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Re: Your child & Sleep

It may sound weird but my in the beginning always slept by bouncing, n bouncing means proper bouncing yes, she was so colic for first three months ahhhh tht nights were nightmare for me n she used to sleep in her bouncer for first three months.

After 3 months it started getting better she was ready to sleep by rocking n was shifted to crib, but she was taking feed every 3 hrs n I was so sleep deprived tht I moved her to bed , thought it would be easy to feed her, but colic was still there but bit less now just once or twice a week.

Almost after 7 months, her feeding was reduced during night, but was still there. In short the 1 st year was very scary, colic kept prevailing in the whole first year.
After her first birthday, she started sleeping on her own nth rough out night, n once in a while still gets gas.

She is still sleeping wth us, but she don’t mind sleeping alone, I may be hitting her separately soon, but huby still wants her in the bed till 2 years, he loves her jumping all over us :smack2: no toys for her.

Right now her bedtime is 11, yes I know ppl say it is late, but I m comfortable wth this bc she sleeps till 9 or 10 in the morning, if she sleeps earlier than is up by 5 in the morning.

I just gave her bath n put her in her bed wth her bottle , switch off the lights n she sleeps herself allhumdullah

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Re: Your child & Sleep

My son slept in our bed first night we were back from the hospital but needless to say, my husband and I couldn't sleep at all because we were scared. Second day we had an appointment with his pediatrician and she told us to try putting him in crib in his room so we did and it worked. He slept fine and he has been sleeping in his room since then. We did have nights when he was sick we used to bring him in our bed and he also went through separation anxiety at around 6 months and 1 year so we had to let him sleep with us in those days but he has mostly slept in his crib. I'm the one who puts him to bed and our bedtime ritual is I give him some water to drink and read Ayatul kursi and some other duas, put on his musical mobile and rock him a little and have a little bedtime talk, kissies and 'good night'. He falls a sleep on his own.

Oh and he started through the night at 8 weeks!

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Re: Your child & Sleep

Where does/did your child sleep?

in his crib, in his room. We moved our bed in his room so yes husband and I also sleep in the nursery :smiley:

When did your child first sleep through the night as a baby?

He started doing this on and off at 6 months but he still wakes up at least once for bottle and goes back to sleep right away. I dont know how can I make him sleep through the night but then since I usually dont have to wake up for midnight feeds, I am okay with it. :smiley:

**What bedtime routines has your child established? **

hubby or I take him into his room, change his diaper, put on night clothes, put him in his crib or if he is fussy I just lie on the bed with him, read in fact more like sing bismillah, and kalma, over and over again until he falls asleep. It takes about 10-15 mins!

What is your child’s bedtime?
Anytime between 8-9 as soon as the thumb goes in his mouth :smiley:

Is one parent or the other usually in charge of bedtime?

Not really.. it’s mostly me but husband does that very often as well. The midnigt feeding is done by the husband because he is usually up around that time or just wakes up as soon as baby moves and then he puts him back to sleep which doesnt take long at all.

Is there a favorite toy that accompanies bedtime?

Nopse he really doesnt own many toys yet (:cb:) but sometimes he likes to hold on to his blanket while falling asleep.

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Your child & Sleep

MashAllah your babies are so adorable:hugz: I cant wait for mine to grow up..
Shes been sleeping through the night since she was 2weeks old i guess..she loves to sleep..even if i wake her up for feed, she doesnt feed so I started giving her the bottle at night time so she stays full for longer..
She has a habit of waking up at 6-6:30 am since birth..
Shes been sleeping in her crib(in our room) since she was 2weeks old(I just couldnt sleep with her in our bed)
I swaddle her(she loves being swaddled and cannot sleep without it) rock her to sleep and put her in the crib.. If she wakes up after I put her in the crib, I give her the pacifier(which she pops out of her mouth when she dozes off) and we have a good night sleep:hehe:
She is still a baby lets see what happens when she grows up:wub:

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Re: Your child & Sleep

Where does/did your child sleep?

She slept in her bassinet for the first few months in our bedroom. Then we moved her into the crib in her room at 6 months. At about 2 years (or so), she transferred into a toddler bed after she magically found her way out of thecrib on to the floor in the dark and freaked us out....all without crying or getting hurt. It's still a mystery to us.

When did your child first sleep through the night as a baby?

At around 3-4 months.

What bedtime routine has your child established?

As a baby, it was bottle, bath, massage, change into sleeper, read a book, read some dua. We'd rock her a bit until she'd get drowsy, and off she'd go into bassinet or crib. We had to stop the bath pretty quickly cause we realized it only made her more fresh.

As she got older, it's been changing into pj's, brushing her teeth, reading a book and some duas, tuck her in and bid goodnight. She then usually talks and sings herself to sleep. She's pretty good most days, minus the ocassional night when she wants us to stay longer...especially if
her baba is the one putting her to bed.

What is your child's bedtime?

In winter it's 7pm, and summer 8pm.

*Is one parent or the other usually in charge of bedtime?
*
It's usually been me, but hubby also does it sometimes. These days, however, it's usually hubby.

Is there a favourite toy that accompanies bedtime?

She's had a stuffed monkey (Georgie) that's been her favourite since she was about 10 months. There's no bedtime without it. A few months ago, she got mickey and minnie mouse, which also accompany bedtime. Since their arrival, there's actually a whole team of stuffed animals who sleep with her. However, georgie still has a special place on her right side, while all the rest sleep on the left side.

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Re: Your child & Sleep

i think my Lo's sleeping routing is my proudest accomplishment...mashAllah
Where does/did your child sleep?
in his crib, from day one
**
When did your child first sleep through the night as a baby?**
he started sleeping throughout the night at around 3 months then he started getting up again at around 8 months and then went back to whole night around three months later
**
What bedtime routines has your child established?**
Lo's routine is pretty " strict" he gets clothes/diaper changed, drinks milk out of a cup ( since only two weeks now) and then hes given hugs, kisses and cuddles and layed down in his crib. he talks to him self for about a minute or so .. curls around like a cat and falls right to sleep
What is your child's bedtime?
9 pm sharp
Is one parent or the other usually in charge of bedtime?
its both of us, depends on whose available
Is there a favorite toy that accompanies bedtime?
His favourite blankie:D..

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Re: Your child & Sleep

Where does/did your child sleep?

In her toddler bed in OUR room :bummer:

** When did your child first sleep through the night as a baby?**

Never. She has not till date slept “through the night” she still wakes up at least twice every night. I have given up.

** What bedtime routines has your child established?**

Brushing teeth, washing face and hands, reading a bedtime story and reciting surahs. Although she’s too little to repeat she loves to listen. I give her a goodnight kissie and tell her to lay down and go to bed. Lights go off and she “tries” to sleep. Takes her up to an hour to go to sleep depending on the day.

** What is your child’s bedtime?**

9pm sharp!

** Is one parent or the other usually in charge of bedtime?**

I am. Hubby likes to catch up on TV or exercise while I’m getting baby to sleep.

** Is there a favorite toy that accompanies bedtime?**

No toys, just her favorite blankie. She can not sleep without that thing :slight_smile:

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Re: Your child & Sleep

Where does/did your child sleep?
He started off co-sleeping with me in a little portable bed type thing that you place on your bed and it has these “walls” around it so you can’t roll over on him. We had a lot of nights of him falling asleep while we held him or rocked him initially. Around 5 months he started sleeping through the night but still with me. I was ok with him not being in his crib because I’m a hippie/wuss and didn’t want to force him into his crib until he was ready. When we came back from our European vacation this May, I decided to try out the crib at naptime because I was due to go back to work soon which meant he would be in daycare and there, he’d be napping in a crib. I didn’t want it to be distressing for him and Alhamdulillah, he took to his crib like a fish to water. Since then, he’s been sleeping in his crib at nights. Lately, he’s been quite sick on and off from daycare and so he’s been getting up anywhere from 1 to 5 times through the night which is exhausting. He either gets up for a bottle, but mostly because he’s running a temperature or is having difficulty breathing. Its been pretty stressful, to tell you the truth, but he’s 1 now and bringing him into bed with us isn’t conducive to a good night’s sleep for any of us. Plus, he prefers his crib because he can sprawl out in it. I’m hoping he gets well soon insha’Allah insha’Allah because right now, both of us kind of dread nighttime because we know he’ll be up at least twice, if not more.
**
What bedtime routines has your child established?**
Bath at 8, oatmeal at 8:30, wind down time where we just lie on the couch and calm down, 9pm we put him in his crib with his last bottle. He finishes the bottle, hurls it across the crib :rolleyes:, and falls asleep with his paci. His paci is a MUST at bedtime. I phoonkofy Ayat al Kursi and 4 Qul’s on him just before going to bed myself. If I start saying it while he’s up, a) he gets distracted, and b) he starts to giggle because he thinks I’m saying something funny to him lol.
**
Is one parent or the other usually in charge of bedtime?**
Not really. He needs his bottle, and we make sure to spend lots of cuddling and playing time with him prior to bedtime so he’s not particularly fussed with who puts him down, thank God.
**
Is there a favorite toy that accompanies bedtime?**
Nope. He’s only just now become aware of the teddy bear in his room but he’s not sleeping with anything right now. He’s a sprawler and he doesn’t like blankets or any coverings on him, so I think a toy would just bug him.