LO's bedtime

jarbatz

So Brenna is usually ready for a nap about 90 mins (tops) after she last woke.   This is great during the day but in the early evening, I'm never sure what to do....for instance, she ate at 5 and I tried to keep her up until her next feeding at 8, and then put her to "bed".... but she was just so tired and starting to fuss...so I just put her down now. 

Do I just let her sleep indefinitely?  Or do I wake her after a certain time and then do "bedtime" routine (bath, bottle, bed).

How do I get her on a regular "bedtime" when she doesn't always eat at the same time each day?

Piranha54

Liz - This was  a bit of a tough time for us with a schedule as well.  I often went more by when Ellie woke up and then counted the # of "easy" cycles and planned bedtime by that - sometimes the last nap/awake period did get stretched a bit longer or shorter depending on how she was doing.  If I remember correctly, we were starting bedtime around 8 (asleep by 9ish) then and it moved towards 7 (asleep by 8ish) as she got got more set in her routine and dropped the 11 pm feeding.  Then and now, if she's really tired and fussy, we will start bedtime early (tonight for example).  

MrsKLS

Liz - we don't do bath every night with Jack because of sensitive skin issues...but our bedtime thing seems to be right now he wants a bottle somewhere between 8-9:30 (varies day to day) and then depending on when he eats that bottle he is usually done for the night about 30min later. For instances I fed him about 8:30 but we just got him to bed about 9:30 but we are way off this weekend after having so much family here for Jack's baptism yesterday.

On a side note: I have to recommend something to you. My SIL had this thing called  a Nap Nanny that she used with her LO. He had some reflux issues also...anyway he got to the point of being too big (he just turned 6mos) and wants to move around/roll over etc. So she left it here with us when they left today. We tried it out with Jack and he LOVES IT!!!! He has napped in it for an hour or two at a time several times today. It is kind of pricey - $120 I think but maybe you can get it on ebay or soemthing. BUt maybe this would help solve brenna nap issues!!

https://www.amazon.com/Nap-Nanny-Baby-Sleep-Aid/dp/B002H09W9Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1275271298&sr=1-2

NewMrs07

Adrian takes his second and last nap around 3pm. He usually sleeps until 5 or sometimes 6pm and then I bathe him around 7 and give him his last bottle at 8:30. He goes right back to sleep until the next day so that last nap doesn't affect his night sleeping at all, it's weird. If he doesn't nap well he doesn't sleep well at night. And when he goes to bed around 8 or 8:30 he wakes up 6ish, if he goes to bed later he still wakes up around 6!

Dr.Loretta

I let DD sleep indefinitely. It's not unusual for her to have a late afternoon nap, wake up in time for a bottle, and go right back down for the night.

We don't have to have a bedtime routine most nights.

I follow DD's lead in terms of a schedule.

leffe1

Gracie wasn't on much of a schedule until at least 3 months or so.  It will come in time. I would just follow her lead for now and let her sleep. We don't have a bath time routine. I usually bath her during the day every other. We do read Goodnight Moon and I put on her music. She has been so tired lately that she now goes to bed around 7:30. I used to keep her up to feed her later but I put her down when she is ready. She takes a long nap from noon to 2 then maybe a cat nap around 5.

[email protected]

We couldn't get Michelle on a regular bedtime schedule until about 4 months because sleeping was a hit or miss thing before then.  At around 4 months she started having 3 naps a day after an average 2 hour wakeful period.  She usually wakes up from her last nap between 7-8pm and then we start the bedtime routine...bath, feeding, relaxing alone time in her swing and then a quick change and another feeding before bed at 10pm.  She usually sleeps until 6-7am.  Good luck !     

peeper72

 A bedtime was unrealistic when Ada was the same age as your DD. The bedtime routine was a cinch though. We had a time that we aimed for but if it didn't work out then it just didn't. We always would err on the side of letting her sleep.

We fell into the EASY routine quite naturally. Pedi suggested to us to start a bedtime routine at about 6 weeks....not with the expectation that it would work at that age. Rather, once they do start forming sleep associations then you have the kinks worked out of the routine. It has worked so well for us that we abide by the bedtime ritual like nothing else. We start at about 7:30 and she is asleep by 8:30.