Bedtime Routine

Now that Emily is 7 weeks old, I decided it was time for her to start sleeping in her crib in her own room.  I was hoping this would help her sleep longer each night as she never seemed to be a huge fan of the cradle.  So last night, we started a bedtime routine.  From now on, around 8:00 we will give her a bath, put her jammies on, give her a bottle, read her a story, then put her to bed.  Up until now, Emily has gotten in the habit of only falling asleep if someone is holding her or if she's in her swing.  Well, obviously this poses some difficulty for bedtime.  Last night we decided to put her down awake, but tired, and see how she would do.  After an hour of non-stop crying (this is with us going in every so often to comfort her), I gave up and rocked her to sleep.  This didn't take long as she was exhausted, but I'm still hoping this doesn't become part of the routine.  Maybe she's just too young still to let her cry it out??  She continued to sleep in her normal 3 hour increments throughout the night.  I was hoping the crib would make her sleep longer, but I guess she's not ready for that yet.  Each time she woke up to eat, I had to make sure she was asleep before I put her back down.  I'm hoping as the weeks go on and we settle into the bedtime routine, she'll start to recognize that it's bedtime and start going down easier.  One can hope anyways. . .

Emily got to open 2 of her Christmas presents a little early.  She got a new mobile for her crib and a nightlight for her room. 

Emily and Daddy trying out the new bedtime routine.