Early Bedtime/Early Wake-Up Rut - Suggestions?

patchen30

When my DS switched from 2 to 1 nap, we got through the transition with super early bedtimes. This started in early Dec and by Christmas we were on a schedule like this:

5:15/5:30 wake up

10:45/11:15 - 12/12:30 nap

5:30/6 bedtime

Ideally I'd like to shift everything forward by about an hour. I've tried putting DS to bed later on days where he's had a long nap - like 7:30 - and done this for as long as 4 days in a row before I end up with SUPER early wake up (in the 4s) and go back to the old schedule.

Any suggestions? The only thing I know to do is shift everything forward (meals, naps, bedtime) by 15 min every day until I get to the desired nap and bedtimes and give it at least a week to see if he starts sleeping in longer...

sharksfan

R used to go to bed at 6:30 and wake up at 5, and about a month ago I shifted everything back an hour. He used to nap from 111, so I planned a long drive after that to put him to sleep later. Then, I gave him a snack right before bed at 7:15ish to try and hold him over longer in the morning.after about 5 or 6 days, he had made the shift. I think that if you try to adjust the meals and naps to the times you want, the evening and morning routines will fall into place. Good luck!

patchen30

sharksfan:

R used to go to bed at 6:30 and wake up at 5, and about a month ago I shifted everything back an hour. He used to nap from 111, so I planned a long drive after that to put him to sleep later. Then, I gave him a snack right before bed at 7:15ish to try and hold him over longer in the morning.after about 5 or 6 days, he had made the shift. I think that if you try to adjust the meals and naps to the times you want, the evening and morning routines will fall into place. Good luck!

How exactly did you shift everything - gradually by a few minutes every day or all at once?  What's his schedule now?  Thanks!

patchen30

WineBaby22:

I'm pretty laid back about nap and sleep schedules, so feel free to ignore my advice, but could you just add a short second nap if he needs it? T usually goes to bed between 7 and 8 and wakes up between 6 and 8. Sometimes he only takes one nap around midday and others, such as today, he takes his first nap at 10am, so he definitely needs a second little cat nap in the late afternoon if he is going to make it all the way to bedtime.

He won't take a second nap...he's totally over that phase.

sharksfan

I did everything at once, but it took a few days to get him used to it so he wasn't hungry for lunch earlier or taking his nap too early,etc. His schedule now is: 6am wake up, 6:30 breakfast, 10ish snack, 11:30 lunch, 12:302:30 nap, 3ish snack, 5:30 dinner, 6:30 bath, 7:30 start evening routine of brush teeth, read books, sing songs, asleep by 8.

Nita2603

Alastair used to be like this. We shifted him 5 minutes every three days. It took a while for him to adjust to waking up later. I'd say it was a total of maybe 6 to 8 weeks?

Good luck!