What time is your 1yo's bedtime?

GundoGirl · March 2014

I can NOT get my 1 year old to sleep before 9! He takes a 2-2.5 hr nap mid day, but won't sleep again until 9 at the earliest. Tonight he finally fell asleep at 10:30. He will still sleep 10-11 hrs tonight (which selfishly means I get to sleep in too...and being 5 months pregnant I NEED that sleep in!) but I feel like such a bad mom sometimes! We have tried the consistent bedtime routine (bath, pjs, story, bottle) at 7:30 or 8 but he'll still be wired until 9:30 or so. I'm glad he still gets a good night sleep and maybe that's all that matters. But I hear of moms putting their 1yo to sleep at 7 and I feel guilty...or that I'm doing something wrong?!?

Meggiemuggins · March 2014

You're not doing anything wrong , IMHO, as long as your LO gets a good night's sleep.

DS is a real night owl and doesn't go down until midnight or later, but then STTN until noon or so. Neither DH nor I have "normal" day jobs for which we have to get up early, so we've always just followed DS's natural rhythms. It sounds like your DS just has a later natural rhythm too.

ally2011 · March 2014

DC2London said:

You're not a bad mom. If this schedule is working for him and for you, and he seems well rested, happy, and healthy, then just go with it.

The only thing I would add is that he may be wired bc he is actually overtired. It's possible that you are missing his ideal "go to sleep" window and then he is getting that second wind, which is why he's up so late. I have definitely done that before and it sucks.

My dd is on this schedule too (9/9:30-9/9:30) and trying to put her down sooner just does not work. This schedule works best for us. So while they can be overtired, that is not always the case for those with later bedtimes. Just my 2 cents

ally2011 · March 2014

That said, we are trying to get it more regularly in the 9ish timeframe just to help develop her circadian rhythm properly...ie awake when it is light, asleep when it is dark....I think that is really important foundational structure for later.

mishka29 · March 2014

Do what works! We do a 7 pm bedtime but she's up at 6:30 and we are all out the door at 7:30. That's what works for us.

Drea926 · March 2014

mishka29 said:

Do what works! We do a 7 pm bedtime but she's up at 6:30 and we are all out the door at 7:30. That's what works for us.

This exactly!

I will add, my LO has an early bedtime, but we did nothing to help steer him to this. It is just the time he picked to go to sleep and not wake again until morning!

jbatch · March 2014

My LO goes to sleep between 8-8:30 usually. But she is up at 6 everyday. So honestly your LO is getting way more sleep than my LO so I don't see that it matters all that much if it works for your schedule. I work at 7 everyday so we leave the house around 6:30 so this is just how it has to be for us!

kleigh926 · March 2014

DD goes to bed at 7:30 and usually wakes up between 7-8 in the morning. She has always needed a lot of sleep and can't stay awake for too long between naps/bedtime without getting cranky, so that's just what works for us.

babywisher · March 2014

You are not a bad mom. Some babies go to sleep later. Ds rarely went to sleep before 9. Dd is usually ready for bed by 8.

Puck1182 · March 2014

I think as long as you LO is getting enough sleep and the schedule works for your family, that's fine. The big thing I've heard is to make bedtime as consistent as possible. We're struggling with this lately, because DD can't decide whether to drop her second nap or not, so bedtime has ranged from 7:30-9:30 depending on when/how much she napped that day... it's kind of frustrating, but I think it will be more consistent again (she used to go down right around 8 every night until recently) once she has completely dropped her second nap.

colinsfebmommy · March 2014

My LO goes to bed at 830-9. He takes 2 naps still, morning one about 2-3 hours then an afternoon one for an hour to an hour and a half. He gets up at 630-7 everyday tho

ericalee27 · March 2014

mishka29 said:

Do what works! We do a 7 pm bedtime but she's up at 6:30 and we are all out the door at 7:30. That's what works for us.

Yep, same here too, although if we get out the door by 8am, I am amazed and happy!

octobermama87 · March 2014

E goes to bed around 7:30. It used to be closer to 7, but after DST, we're still adjusting. He wakes up between 7:30-8.

mattanda2011 · March 2014

I think if he's getting 12 hours at night that is the most important thing. I think if you and DH are wanting him to go to bed earlier (and in turn wake up earlier) it's possible but would be a couple hard days.

We have actually done it before when we had to for me to go back to work. We moved to a 6:30-6:30 schedule. What I had to do was just start waking her up at 6:30 in the morning, adjust nap time (ie. if he's getting up 1 hour earlier nap would be 1 hour earlier) and I think that with that bedtime would fall into place. Babies can't read a clock, so they are used to how long they are awake between wake up and nap, and then nap and bed time, so by adjusting those I think bedtime would adjust. That being said it would probably be a few days of bad naps and possivle overtired at bedtime.

nikkisun54 · March 2014

mishka29 said:

Do what works! We do a 7 pm bedtime but she's up at 6:30 and we are all out the door at 7:30. That's what works for us.

Us too! But we have to, as DS is in daycare and both DH and I need to be at work by 8ish. 7pm bedtime is wonderful for week days, but sometimes it can be a bit of a pain on the weekends, as we need to be and settled down by 6pm in order to do his bedtime routine. It's not something we're married to, but he's a much happier little man when we stick to the routine.

Ever since he's started walking and is exerting so much energy during the day, I bet I could put him down at 6:30 and he'd be good for the night, but I just can't manage to get dinner/bath done and spend time with him any earlier than we already do.

Do what works for you!!! If little one is happy and well rested, everyone else will be to