what's with the early bedtimes ????

silvie25mar · August 2012

i mean it with the most respect, but ive been coming across alot of people who put babies to sleep for the night at like 6 or 7pm?????? thats seems so early. i cant see how they would sleep through the night when they go to sleep so early. not that they could really know the difference i guess....just seems so early dd falls asleep for night at about 10 and wakes up at 7

lasfresasrojas · August 2012

DD goes down at about 9:30 p.m. and gets up for the day at 9:30 a.m.

They need to get about 12 hours of sleep at night, so those putting their babies down at 6-7 p.m. have babies that wake up at 6-7 a.m.

meeko1985 · August 2012

Yeah... I wish she would do 9 to 9! My daughter does 7 to 7, we have no say in the matter! When she wants to sleep, she lets us know.

ASmallWonder · August 2012

Sometimes you have to follow the baby's cues. My son went to bed at 8 for a long time because we had an hour drive home from work/daycare and he slept. Once he started at a daycare closer to home and skipping that nap, he went to bed at 7 and slept until 7. It's just what worked for him.

KatelynEA90 · August 2012

Every baby is different. My cousins baby would fall asleep at 5pm every night no matter what she did or where they were.

DD goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30pm. She wakes around 7-8am.

skibunny59 · August 2012

I would LOVE for my DD to go to bed around 6 or 7. She doesn't go to bed until 9:00 and she doesn't nap much either so I get very little time to myself. By the time she's in bed I have like an hour until I get tired and go to bed.

skibunny59 · August 2012

And she's also up at 6:00 although she will sleep until 9:30 if I bring her back into bed with me. She just doesn't like to sleep.

MrsA71208 · August 2012

You have to read your babies cues. I wasn't reading DS's cues for the first 2 months and by 8PM I would have a screaming/mad/upset LO. The ped. said that I was missing his "window" and that I have to pay attention to DS's cues. That is now what I do and DS goes to be between 7 and 8.

Frankelberry · August 2012

My babies are in bed by 7 pm and usually go to sleep within minutes. I have to get them up at 6:30 in the morning to go to daycare. On the weekends they will usually sleep until 8-8:30 am.

MollySm · August 2012

Lucia goes to bed around 6:30, and wakes up at 6:30. I've tried putting her to bed later, and all I get is a miserable baby until I put her to bed, and she still wakes up at 6:30. I'm sure as she gets bigger it'll move back a bit, but most children I know have a 7:30 or 8 pm bedtime.

oliversmommy32912 · August 2012

I WISH my son would go down for the night later. 7:30 is just his natural bed time. He sleeps until about 7am. I'm a night owl so it's hard for me to go to sleep any earlier than 10 but DS is a total wreck if we push night time any later. Today I even tried a late evening nap at 5:45. He woke up at 6:30 and was STILL ready for bed at 7:15. At 7:45 he was in total melt-down mode. So we're stuck with an early bed time.

I read in a baby sleep book that most babies do better if they go to bed earlier. DS still wakes up at least once per night so I don't know how true that really is :-/

shannm · August 2012

Ummm....because she wants to go to sleep then. She then is in bed till about 7am, waking up 2-3 times to eat. Completely normal baby behavior. Babies at this age need about 15 hours a sleep per day so I hope that your LO is napping a few times a day.

mclere · August 2012

My baby is in bed between 7-7:30pm. I'd prefer her to go to sleep about 8-:15pm so her daddy could see her more. He often doesn't get home from work until after 7pm. He came home last night excited to see her adn she was already in her crib. Sad

I've tried to let her take a "cap nap" about 6ish so she can stay awake longer but nope she gets TOO fussy and hard to get to sleep. We had zero routine since she's been born other than a bedtime routine. She's always ate/slept on demand but I've just started yesterday trying to get her on a routine. So I am hoping that once that's well established I can maybe slowy bump her bedtime up like in 10-15min increments.

Zimger · August 2012

I don't put alot of stock in scheduling small babies. I tend to follow my DS cues. He went through a period where he went to sleep earlier but usually he goes to sleep around 9pm and wakes up around 6:30ish. He then takes two to three naps during the day.

I think it's about following your LO's cues. Some babies go to sleep earlier and sleep longer or take more naps during the day.

Edit...posted before I finished.

Zilly13 · August 2012

Babies need a lot of sleep. DD goes down between 7 and 7:30 and sleeps until 7am typically. If we put her down at 9 she still gets up at 7. She doesn't nap well, so she needs a lot of sleep at night. I wish she would go to bed later so I could spend more time with her, but I follow her cues. Everyone's different and what works for one may not work for another.

m&m2006 · August 2012

dd goes to bed at 7:30 and sleeps until about 7. if she goes to bed at 9-10pm, she still wakes up at 7...so makes sense to put her to bed earlier and she gets more sleep.

dojo1 · August 2012

DS goes down at about 6:30 - 7, I wake him at 10 for a feeding and he sleeps again until 5 am for a feeding and back down agin until 7:30. Would I like the schedule to be a little later? Sometimes, but I really like that by about 7:30, I'm off the clock until my bedtime. That's nice!

dojo1 · August 2012

MrsA71208:
You have to read your babies cues. I wasn't reading DS's cues for the first 2 months and by 8PM I would have a screaming/mad/upset LO. The ped. said that I was missing his "window" and that I have to pay attention to DS's cues. That is now what I do and DS goes to be between 7 and 8.

This is us exactly... Reading the "I'm tired" cues did not register for me at all for the first little while, much to the disdain of Hank!

cheese.fiend · August 2012

MollySm:
Lucia goes to bed around 6:30, and wakes up at 6:30. I've tried putting her to bed later, and all I get is a miserable baby until I put her to bed, and she still wakes up at 6:30. I'm sure as she gets bigger it'll move back a bit, but most children I know have a 7:30 or 8 pm bedtime.

This exactly. I used to get up for work way earlier than L's current 6:30 wake time so it's not that big of a deal to me...plus it allows my husband and I to relax and have time to ourselves in the evenings. I feel so much saner ever since we started bedtime routine at 6 / asleep by 7!

hass2001 · August 2012

I wish my baby would go down earlier so I can have some "me" time in the evening with DH. DD will go down between 9-10, and sometimes even later. I have to wake her up at 7am to leave the house so she doesn't get her full 12 hours. But she does take a long 2-3 hour nap in the AM.

contourhands · August 2012

I'm with you on this one...
Mine goes down at 9:30 and sleeps in till 8 or so in the morning...

92405bride · August 2012

Ha - a 7:30 bedtime is basically the key to my sanity with a toddler and an infant

As babies, both of my kids REQUIRE that bedtime - and basically would either melt down or fall asleep at 7pm no matter what - kind of annoying when you want to do things in the evening, but so nice for just a normal night at home so you can have some down time too! My daughter slept 7pm - 7am from about 4 months on, and my son sleeps 7:30pm - 7am with one wakeup somewhere in the night. It works really well for us and I LOVE early bedtimes for my kids

TLizzy · August 2012

DS used to go to bed around 10pm when he was 2 months old. Then he started pushing his bedtime back earlier and earlier (all on his own). We follow his cues, but he usually is asleep in his crib by 7:30pm. Some nights it is a bit earlier, some nights a bit later.

He STTN and is up for the day around 7am.

salt78 · August 2012

bearsbearsbears:
Oh, I couldn't stop laughing at this one because DD's early bedtime is NOT NEGOTIABLE. She is ready to go to sleep sometime between 5:30 and 7 pm and I cannot stretch it out for one additional minute--every time I do that, my baby turns into a complete sobbing mess (and I almost do too). I would love to have more time with her after I get home from work, but it just isn't in the cards right now. Poor DH doesn't get to see her in the evenings 1-2x/week.

I could have written this except mine turns into a pumpkin at around 7:30. Then she sleeps usually until I wake her up for the day at 7. (On weekends she still gets up around then but will go back to sleep for a couple hours after a bottle.)

WaitingOnNo2 · August 2012

Every baby is different. With my DS he slept from 8pm-7 am. No matter what time he went to bed (if we pushed it later) he woke up at 7 am. With DD I became a night owl the second I got KU with her....it was very weird. I used to go to bed at 10:30 pm and it started to be more like midnight or later. Then sure enough she's a night owl. She sleeps roughly 9 pm-9 am. Last night she was up until 10:15 pm and woke for the day at 9:30 am. Some days she sleeps in until 10:30. That is with one waking between 5:30 and 7 am. It's heaven for me because I get to sleep in.

You need to keep in mind that a lot of moms work and have to get their LO's up around 6-6:30, so for their babies to get the alloted 12 hours they need to go to sleep around 7 pm.

laurakaz13 · August 2012

My DD at this age still does 7-7:30/8. I'm an early riser, so this is not an issue.

smilelari · August 2012

Most babies at this age are ready to go to sleep sometime between 6 and 8. Some babies will adjust to a later bed time and sleep later. Most babies, however, will just be really, really overtired and still wake at 6 or 7 even if you put them to bed at 9 or 10 and too late of a bed time can also cause frequent night waking.

We aim to get DD down by about 7. She STTN 11-12 hours

ETA: If your child is going to bed at 10 and waking up at 7, they are not getting enough sleep. Period. I bet if you put them to bed at 7, they'd still sleep until 7 and be a much happier baby. At this age, they need 11-12 hours of sleep at night about probably 3-4 hours of sleep during the day.

DogCat&Baby · August 2012

I'm in the same boat. DD doesn't get sleepy until 8:30 or 9. It used to be later but she moved it earlier on her own. She sleeps through to 6:30, which works well for me so I'm not changing anything.

I don't agree with other posts that they are not getting enough sleep with a later bed time. We just went to the doc last week and she asked about DD's sleeping schedule and saw nothing wrong with it.

okayestmom12 · August 2012

LO is asleep by 7 pm and wakes up around 7 am (today was 745 am).

She starts showing tired signs around 630 pm and we start her bedtime routine then. It works for us.

Kiedis · August 2012

silvie25:
i mean it with the most respect, but ive been coming across alot of people who put babies to sleep for the night at like 6 or 7pm?????? thats seems so early. i cant see how they would sleep through the night when they go to sleep so early. not that they could really know the difference i guess....just seems so early dd falls asleep for night at about 10 and wakes up at 7

I used to think the same. I read in a book (I think the no cry sleep solution) that often the "witching hour" is just a sign that the baby needs to be in bed. I used to put DS to bed when I went to sleep to maximize my sleep. I just recently started putting him down around 8:00. I was terrified that he would be up super early. Nope, now instead of 9-10 hours sleep, he's getting 12 (with a few feeds through the night). It's a bit of a pain, since I go to bed usually 3 hours later, so if he sleeps 6 hours, I only get 3, but it's worth it to have him get a few hours more of sleep.

MariJ1008 · August 2012

we do not have a schedule with DS. I follow his cues. It honestly all depends how his naps are during the day, if he naps well (1-2hrs naps) he will take last bottle around 9pm-930 and fall asleep right away and sleep until 6-7am (depending on what time we have to leave for work, DH and I schedules are different every day). If he does cat naps all day, he will fall asleep 730-8pm and wake up at 5-7am. About one day a week, he will wake up in middle of night, for different reason not necessarily because he is hungry, but he always falls back to sleep right away. Since our work/life schedules are not the same everyday, we really have to pay attention to DS cues and we don't enforce any schedule on him.

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