Early Bed-time?

authorofdreamz · February 2012

How does everyone get their LO to bed so early? I see about 90% of people say they put LO to bed between 6-8. DD usually goes to sleep anywhere between 10:30-12. I have been trying to get her to go to bed at like 8-9 and she will sleep for about 30mins and then wake up and be fussy until 11:30-12. What am I doing wrong? I would love to have some "adult-time" in the evenings lol.

knottie198f1ac43570b6c2 · February 2012

I am right there with you. LO is normally falling asleep between 11 and 12 regardless of how early we start a night time routine. I stopped trying to fight it though; now she sleeps through the night until 7 or 8 am. I am okay with that though.

dukestar5 · February 2012

Unfortunately, I'm right there with you! I'd love for LO to go to bed earlier so I can have more time with DH in the evenings. She usually goes to bed between 9-10pm. Every time she's gone to bed before 9 she has woken up 15-30 minutes later without fail. She usually wakes up again at 4am and then around 6-7. I'm not sure how to get her to sleep earlier. I've just sort of accepted that her internal clock is set to this schedule.

RedCamaro · February 2012

I feel for ya! Mine moved his bedtime when I changed the times of his naps. But lately he has not been napping very good during the day (he'd be lucky to get 2 hours total). If you can change the nap routine, don't let her sleep from 4 or 5pm until you want her to go to bed (7 or 8). Mine will wake up from his nap around 5 and then go to bed between 8-9pm. GL!

HarperK · February 2012

We noticed that LO was having a really fussy period around 9 PM, and realized that maybe he just needed to sleep through that period rather than torture himself and us with it every night! So we just experimented with different bedtimes for a couple of days -- started out around 8 PM, and then kept moving it back by a half-hour every night.

One problem we have is that DS has been fighting naps for several weeks now, so these days he is pretty zonked by about 5 - 5:30 PM. We used to start the bedtime routine at 7, but DS himself basically pushed it back to 6:30. So now we do a bath starting at 6:30, and he's passed out by 7:15.

Honestly, I'd prefer him to nap more during the day and then start the bedtime routine around 7 - 7:30.

Jenny952 · February 2012

I'm not sure how I got DD to go to bed so early, I just started noticing when she was tired. Back when she was just a few weeks old, I started putting her in her crib after our 8:30 feeding, and then would feed her in her room during overnights. She gradually started sleeping longer, and then also gradually started showing sleeping signs earlier in the evening. Her bedtime is now between 7-7:30.

What does your LO do after 8:00? Does she snooze out in the living room, or is she awake? Maybe try to start putting her down in her crib and gradually maybe she'll start sleeping there longer. I don't think you're doing anything wrong, you just need to help her move her sleep patterns a little earlier.

smilelari · February 2012

This baby is a magic baby that just knows how to sleep and has fallen asleep around 8 from almost the beginning. DS was a more "typical" baby and started off with a later bed time. Seems like it's more like age 4 months or so when babies really start moving into the early bed time?

Tink112011 · February 2012

DS would not go down for bed until 11pm. It didn't matter how slowly I tried shifting his bedtime routine. And then a week ago he decided that bedtime was 8pm one night and its been like that for a whole week now. I had heard that could happen and I didn't believe it when DS did it himself!

sap05e · February 2012

When I started a bedtime routine, I did it at 7:30 because she usually became a fuss pot at 8. It has gradually gotten earlier because she cries in the middle of putting on her PJs from being over-tired. So I guess what I'm saying is it was her choice, not mine. I'd actually like her to stay up longer so I could spend more time with her. I don't get home with her until about 6 and she's ready for a wipe-down/bath by 7, out cold by 8 (but has been down as early as 6:30!).

jnealet · February 2012

I do the happy dance when I can get D2 down at 9:30 but its usually later than that. I'm hoping daycare will tire her out and cause an earlier bedtime but her two trial days - yeah, she slept the majority of the time she was there. Boo!!!

One thing I did notice yesterday was that I put her down slightly awake and she slept longer. I had to go and help D1 in the middle of putting D2 down for a nap and when I came back, she was asleep and slept for 2 hours, during a time when she would usually sleep 30 minutes and then be a huge crank during dinner. I tried it again at bedtime and she slept from 9:30 to 3:45!

lana22 · February 2012

my son used to get very fussy at night, and since he often didn't take a late afternoon nap, we just started his bedtime routine early. since about 5 weeks we dim the lights, give him a bath, do a short massage, then read a story while he has a bottle, sing a song and put him in his crib. he seems to realize it's bedtime and never fusses or cries when we put him down, and always sleeps awhile (he's gone from 6 to 10 hours). for awhile we put him down super early which i hated (5:30) but we've pushed it back to 6:30 and it's been working really well. i'd recommend making sure he doesn't nap too late and then starting a bedtime routine.

vanessa11411 · February 2012

LO will go to sleep usually around 8. I try to prolong it until 10 because he only gives me 1 five hour stretch. Then it's every 2 hours after that. Sometimes he's just had enough and passes out at 6-7, which means my every 2 hour routine begins at 12 a.m. and it's exhausting.

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