Routines

The past three nights over the weekend were awful. we would put aimee down after her midnight feed
as usual and she would sleep for about 15mins and then scream blue bloody murder for hours!I mean really scream. She is not ill, but something clearly is upsetting her. This happened for 3
nights. Poor Cat was weeping at the sheer hell of not getting any sleep herself. Not only at night, but
at anytime you put Aimee in her cot she screams.A quick consult with the books and other parents and it was suggested that we alter our night routine. Babies apprently, must have routine, above all else. Otherwise you get what we just got.Last night, we started a new bedtime routine. Bath at 7pm, bedtime story (Aimee bizarrely loves
staring at the pages of books), long feed, put into cot, lights down - all of this by 8.30pm.Well, it didn't work - she slept for maybe 45 mins and woke up crying. But Cat comfoted her, fed her
again and put her in the cot. Eventually, Aimee fell asleep and, apart from a quick feed at 1am and
6am, she slept until 8am...Bliss!Clearly, we were letting Aimee get overtired and not enough sleep during both the day and the night.
We were happy to play with her and stimulate her until well past midnight. We realise this is now a
poor way to look after Aimee. We just thought she would sleep when necessary and wake when
necessary, but all the advice says, we must establish a routine to get her to learn to sleep by herself.So, every night, we will continue the routine until she has learned the sleep triggers. God I hope it
works. Both Cat and I could never deal with that kind of torture anymore!