Tonight marks the first time we took our baby Clarisse on a night outing. I have never brought my baby out at night because I fear that might interrupt her bed time routine and cause some difficulties trying to get her to bed later than usual. I heard from my sister that if a baby routine is mixed up then the baby might stray from her usual routine.

My baby Clarisse is 6 months and 3 weeks now, her usual routine sees her go to bed between 7pm to 8pm since she was 4 months old. She will wake up few times at night just for feedings and then goes back to sleep. I get some time to myself after she sleeps. Two of my sisters came back for a visit so I thought we’d all go out for dinner, with Clarisse along.

After her bath at 6.30pm, I nursed baby Clarisse to sleep. She slept for less than an hour, woke up and cried for milk. It was 7.30pm, time to leave for dinner, so I put her into my baby sling and tried to nurse her in the car. But being so distractible, she got excited from us chatting in the car, opened her eyes and refused to sleep. I told her we are going out for dinner, away from home. She looked a bit uneasy and confused, probably wondering why she is not in her bed by now, as her usual routine dictates.

During dinner, I did not put her down on a stroller. The environment in the food court was noisy and rowdy. I was afraid it might unsettle her. My husband and I took turns carrying her throughout dinner (sigh). Good thing though, baby Clarisse didn’t make a fuss. In fact, she was peering everywhere out of curiosity.

On the way home, baby Clarisse was so excited seeing the night lights, she kept jumping in joy all the way home. When we reached home, I quickly clean her up and put her to bed. She cried a little for about 5 minutes then dozed off.

I’m pretty happy with how baby Clarisse behaved tonight and I guess I won’t be worried about taking her out at nights anymore.