Shifting earlier

kaf7 · May 2013

So LO still gets the evening fussies and screams most of the evening until after his last feed at about9pm. Then I swaddle him and he settles pretty quick next wakes to eat at about 2:30. I've heard that some babies shift to an earlier bedtime at some point but I just wondered whether its obvious? Part of me wonders whether LO would skip screaming if I swaddled him after 7pm feed. But I like just having one real overnight feed as the next feed is 5:30/6am and I don't mind getting myself to bed for 10pmto catch the long stretch. Not sure I could do 8pmthough so I'm not sureaboutfiddling with a relatively working system.

Whales124 · May 2013

Clare just started sleeping through the night this week. Usually we were putting her down at 9, but started moving closer to 8:30. Tonight she could barely keep her eyes open at 7:30 so I put her down. We will see how it goes! I know when she was closer to 2 months putting her down earlier usually backfired. Now that she's 13w she seems to be settling into a different schedule. Good luck!

Jenny935 · May 2013

We've had our big sleep from midnight to 5ish, but then he eats and sleeps more. As nice as it is to not be up at weird hours, I'd almost prefer to have that chunk be 10-3 because if he's going to sleep more, then it'd be the 3am feeding that would disappear someday! I've been trying to bump it back like 30 minutes every few days, but no matter what time we start our routine, he's awake until 11:30 or 12. We're still trying! Glad to know others are in the same boat.

Mrs.AmyDylan · May 2013

So here is how we roll:

Cluster feed in the evening

J is not allowed to sleep after 5, this means we will wake her gently if she is asleep at 5. We will distract her so she doesn't snooze.

If crabby, we will start bedtime at 6:40, not crabby we start at 7.

I nurse her side-lying in our bed, swaddled. I lie next to her for 20min after she is sleeping so she enters deep sleep zone

I move her to the bassinet/crib

She will sleep around 5 hours at this point.

*new addition* dream feed right before I go to bed (around 10, which resets her 5hour clock!)

Sleep until about 3am. Side-lying nursing in our bed, back into her bed as soon as she unlatches

Waked up between 5 and 6 for another side-lying feed, back in bed

Up around 7 or 7:30 for the day.

We have variations so it isn't perfect. I also put her in a super thick cloth diaper and don't change her until morning. I sleep better with her in our room because I can just grab her from her bed and stick her on the boob. Neither of us wake fully. I grab her before she really starts crying, so she settles very quickly.

Good luck! Hope this helps!

Dragonfly1226 · May 2013

Sounds like his " witching hour." DS used to do the same thing. Our pediatrician even warned us to expect it durind infancy. We would swaddle him to help sooth him but he would rarely fall asleep until later anyway. Eventually this earlier time when he started fussing did become his bedtime.

pb_bride · May 2013

M's bedtime was 9pm when he was about 4w old; by the time he was 2 months, we gradually moved it up to 8:30p and then 8p around 3 months. We moved up because he was falling asleep in the living room before his bedtime. I know where you're coming from (not wanting to wake up more than once), but for us, M's MOTN wake times were all over the place so it didn't matter as much to me.

If you're going to move bedtime up, I suggest you move it up gradually - like 15 minutes at a time for a few nights, then another 15 minutes. If you move it up too abruptly, some babies don't do well with it and they will regard the early bedtime as a nap - which means they'll wake up 45 minutes later instead of sleeping soundly for hours.

TJ1979 · May 2013

We just followed E's cues. When she started getting fussy and rubbing her eyes, we started getting ready for bed. When I went back to work our evenings got more structured and it fell into place that i feed her at 6, we eat at 7, bathe her, read a book, then nurse to sleep. We've been doing that for 6 months now and it works for us. We didn't really have much of a routine before 12 weeks. She just played, ate, slept in a 3 hour cycle. If it was daytime she slept in her swing. If it was nighttime she slept in her PNP.

I agree with pb's advice though. She's great with sleep advice!
GL!

kaf7 · May 2013

Thanks for the ideas everyone. He does cluster feed already through the evening and I am fairly happy with his sleep patterns. I just wondered if I would recognize if he wanted an earlier bedtime. Sounds like maybe he'll just feed earlier or stay asleep when the time comes. Currently if I try to change the schedule he latches and sucks but then pulls off and spits it all in my face. A man who knows what he does and doesn't want I guess!

Want a personalized experience?

Shifting earlier

Re: Shifting earlier

Choose Another Board

Search Boards