Put to bed earlier?

shell931 · August 2012

Hi Moms, First time mom here! I've heard from my sisters and SO many others, that if you start putting your baby to bed earlier, they will sleep longer. Not true for my baby girl. In fact, she's NEVER slept past 6:00 a.m. No matter what time I put her down at night, she's up by 5:00 or 5:30 usually. Any advice? I currently have her going to sleep by 8:30 (in her crib at this time). I tried 7:30 a couple nights, and she was up between 4 and 4:30 a.m.!

We are also currently having problems with her sleeping through the night. She's been getting up and crying for the past couple of weeks, now that she can crawl. Just looking for any ideas, tips, anything to help this first time Mom stay sane! :-)

EveryNameIWantIsTaken · August 2012

How old is she? DD is still up once or twice a night to eat which is still totally normal for her age (8 months). Sleeping until 6 isn't uncommon either for babies. In reality it's probably less common for kids to sleep all night than for kids to wake up once or so a night before 1. What kind of schedule are you looking for?

Redsoxchick · August 2012

My LO goes down around 8:30 too and sleeps till about 6:30 eats and goes back to sleep till about 8 or 9. I think sleeping till 6:30 is pretty normal, I think my LO sleeps oddly late...but I won't complain!

shell931 · August 2012

Thanks! She's 9 months old. She's always slept through, but since she started crawling a few weeks ago, she's been up at night. I just feel as though I read about babies sleeping until 7:00 am, going down at 6:30 p.m., and I feel like I'm doing something wrong! I also hear/read about her down earlier than 8:30, and that has only gotten her up earlier than her usual 5:30/6 a.m. Was wondering if putting her down at 8:30 pm and sleeping until 5:30ish is good.

EveryNameIWantIsTaken · August 2012

I would look at how many hours total she's getting in a 24 hour period. If she's getting somewhere in the 12-15 hour range, that's normal. All the milestones really suck for sleep problems as far as waking again in the middle of the night = (

smilelari · August 2012

8:30 is a really late bed time for this age. I'd try to get it before 8 for sure, and possibly as early as 6. 11-12 hours is probably what she should be getting at night. I wouldn't move anything suddenly though. Move it to 8:15 and see how that goes for a few nights and then progressively move it earlier. Also be sure to watch for cues. If she's tired at 6:30, put her down at 6:30 instead of waiting for her normal bed time. We sometimes have a 6 pm bedtime and sometimes a 7:15 bed time, but almost never later than 8

Keep in mind that 6 is a very normal wakeup time and she might not sleep past that no matter what time you put her down, but she might get more total sleep which is a good thing. At this age, I wouldn't worry about any wakeup times that are after 5:00 a.m. If she consistently wakes before 5, that's something to work on.

smilelari · August 2012

EveryNameIWantIsTaken:
I would look at how many hours total she's getting in a 24 hour period. If she's getting somewhere in the 12-15 hour range, that's normal. All the milestones really suck for sleep problems as far as waking again in the middle of the night = (

I agree with looking at total number of hours, but I'd say at 6 months you should be looking for at least 14 hours in a 24 hour period

lana22 · August 2012

for almost a month my LO was waking up between 5 and 6. he's 8.5 months. he was going down at 7/7:30 and waking up at 5 so i slowly moved his bedtime earlier and he started sleeping till 5:30. for almost 2 weeks i was getting him down by 5:30 and he was sleeping a full 12 hours. it felt insane, but i figured why put him down at 6 or 6:30 when he's waking at 5:30 anyway. only in the last couple of days has he started sleeping later, and now he's doing 6 to 6 or even 6-7:30 (an anomaly, today). i slowly moved his bedtime in both directions, which i think a PP recommended.

i guess my advice would be to experiment with an earlier bedtime, try to delay going in if your LO isn't crying, to see if she'll go back to sleep on her own. today i heard my LO at 5:20, but i looked at him on the monitor and his head was still down and he was in a sleeping position, so i stayed in bed and within 20 minutes he was back asleep.

if he's tired early, you could even try a super early bedtime, like 5pm, just to see what happens. i know a woman who for a brief time was putting her LO down at 4:30 just so he could catch up on sleep.

take heart, these early wake ups won't last forever, and just try to get to bed earlier so you're better rested when he wakes up! it was really tough for me, but i started going to bed around 10/10:30.

EveryNameIWantIsTaken · August 2012

smilelari:
EveryNameIWantIsTaken:
I would look at how many hours total she's getting in a 24 hour period. If she's getting somewhere in the 12-15 hour range, that's normal. All the milestones really suck for sleep problems as far as waking again in the middle of the night = (
I agree with looking at total number of hours, but I'd say at 6 months you should be looking for at least 14 hours in a 24 hour period

Well, she's 9 months (look above) and that was the total range I saw when looking, with 12 being on the less than average, but still possible, side.

smilelari · August 2012

EveryNameIWantIsTaken:
smilelari:
EveryNameIWantIsTaken:
I would look at how many hours total she's getting in a 24 hour period. If she's getting somewhere in the 12-15 hour range, that's normal. All the milestones really suck for sleep problems as far as waking again in the middle of the night = (
I agree with looking at total number of hours, but I'd say at 6 months you should be looking for at least 14 hours in a 24 hour period
Well, she's 9 months (look above) and that was the total range I saw when looking, with 12 being on the less than average, but still possible, side.

Even at 9 months I'd be shooting for at least 14. Heck my 2.5 year old sleeps 14-15

livinirie84 · August 2012

smilelari:
EveryNameIWantIsTaken:
smilelari:
EveryNameIWantIsTaken:
I would look at how many hours total she's getting in a 24 hour period. If she's getting somewhere in the 12-15 hour range, that's normal. All the milestones really suck for sleep problems as far as waking again in the middle of the night = (
I agree with looking at total number of hours, but I'd say at 6 months you should be looking for at least 14 hours in a 24 hour period
Well, she's 9 months (look above) and that was the total range I saw when looking, with 12 being on the less than average, but still possible, side.
Even at 9 months I'd be shooting for at least 14. Heck my 2.5 year old sleeps 14-15

Right. But all kids are different. That's why she gave a range. It seems that the kids who have problems with early morning wake ups tend to be the kids with lower overall sleep needs. My son is 8 months. He gets 12-12.5 total sleep and he's a happy camper.

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