What time is "bedtime"?

[pixie523]

My LO is almost 5 months old and seems to want to go to bed earlier and earlier.

I'm not worried about STTN, but I'd like to see it at some point, or at least get closer when she's older. Right now we're waking to eat at least twice, plus a very early (4am on the dot) wake up for snuggles. I'm thinking she's going to bed too early. We've got to be up and going at 6:30am for mom to get to work on time; is 6:30pm unreasonable for going to bed? She takes two naps during the day for about 1.5 hours a piece; sometimes a 3rd cat nap sneaks in there too. 

[emmyg65]

My son is 3.5 months and he goes to bed at 6:30. He wakes once or twice to eat and then is up at 7 am for the day.

The average 3-6 month old needs 15 hours of sleep a day. If she's waking at 4 every morning, I wouldn't give her a later bedtime. Sleep begets sleep. Oftentimes, parents move the bedtime later to see if their child will sleep later and they just get cranky.

[pixie523]

Thanks emmyg65! I don't think she'd tolerate a later bedtime frankly. It just feels so early.

[pippiann]

My lo's bedtime is 6:30-7 and a couple times last week he went to sleep at 5! He doesn't sleep that great at all but def can't make it any later. I actually enjoy (besides I normally miss the long stretch of sleep) it, me and the hubs can hang out, have a drink, make dinner without having to entertain lo!

Forgot to mention, my lo is 4.5 months.

[jesster88]

DS is 4 months and bedtime has been around 7. He wakes up at 7 am. He is in the process of dropping his evening nap so we are going to started bedtime around 6:30. We are going to adjust our schedule to make our dinner after DS goes to bed.

[rayray007]

The twins bedtime got earlier and earlier until now we seem to have settled on 6-6:30. They wake up to eat around 4 am and then are up for the day between 6-7 am. I don't remember DD going to bed at 6, but I know she did have a 7 pm bedtime for a long time.

[veryvogue]

My LO (4 months this week) sleeps from around 9-9:30 until 4:30-5 a.m. He'll eat and then go back to sleep until around 7:30-8 a.m. as I leave for work. However, he's been wanting to go to bed earlier this week (around 8 or 8:30) and still sleeping until his usual times. I think as he gets older, his sleeping times will adjust.

[nicb13]

My 6 month old goes to bed at 7pm.

[mels823]

My 3 1/2 month old goes to bed around 9 pm. She takes a good nap from 6 to 7:30ish and then after a bath, bottle, changing, and book, she is back down around 9. She sleeps until 7 AM though so I'm scared to make her bedtime too much earlier!

[ljob22]

my 3.5 month old goes down between 6:30 and 7:30, mainly depending on when she's up from her afternoon nap. if it's super early she might take a late catnap, but if she wakes anytime after 3:30 i just try to stretch her and start bedtime earlier. her wakeups range from 6:30 to 8 - i cannot discern a pattern. this morning she woke up at 6:30 and made some cooing sounds, moved around and ate her hands. just as i was getting ready to go get her around 6:50 she went silent and then slept again till 7:45.

if your LO has to be up at 6:30am i'd be thinking about putting her down anywhere from 5:30 - 6:30pm. any later seems like she won't be getting enough nighttime sleep. if you're cool getting up for snuggles then no problem, but sounds to me like the 4am wakeup is out of habit. maybe let her fuss for a bit and see if she goes back down on her own?

[nolanova85]

Our LO goes down at 7pm. He pretty much STTN - sometimes we have to go in for a quick sooth or to push a limb back into the crib. He is 4 months and sleeps 7pm-6am. I wouldn't push it later. As others have said, sleep begets sleep and the recommended amount is 15 hours.

[ljob22]

Apr 23, 2015 16:52:25 GMT -5 graybaby said:

My DS will be 5 months next week. He takes 3 naps that last about an hour, sometimes longer. He goes to sleep between 8:30 and 9:30 and gets up at 5am to eat and we fight to get him back to sleep. Judging by the comments in this thread, my LO has a late bedtime! I'm wondering if trying to get him to sleep earlier might help him sleep a little later (6:30-7am wake up would be preferable)

worth a shot! i would start moving back in 15 min increments a few days at a time and give it at least 7 days at desired bedtime. i keep my LO up about 2 hours after her last nap. sometimes i try to stretch her a little later so she's not going down at 5:30 but lately she's been harder to put down and i think i'm letting her get overtired. 

[SarahL77]

DD is a little over 4 months. She is asleep by 7 p.m. but usually a little bit earlier. She generally wakes up one time for a bottle and then is up for the day any time between 6 and 7 a.m. Lately it's been a little earlier like 5:30-6, I'm thinking because of the "4 month wakeful". Hopefully she goes back to sleeping until closer to 7 a.m. Yawn!

[michelle142]

DD goes down for the night between 7 and 7:30. Some nights it's earlier. I figure if she's tired then, I'm going to put her to bed at that time.. rather than tick her off by trying to push it later.

[tina515]

First time looking at this, so I hope I can revive this thread and get some advice.

My 3 month old takes crazy short naps. Basically 30 minutes every 1.5-2 hours is her typical MO. Every blue moon, one of those 30 minuters will become a full hour, but it's a rarity. She's in Daycare, but this has been her practice since she was was home with me before I went back to work.

Because of her short naps, by the time 6pm comes around, she's exhausted and cranky. We've been aiming for a 7pm bedtime, but I can hardly get her to last that long. She's often in bed by 630. She'll wake up once around 3am for a feed, and then up for the day at 6.

I'd really love to get her to sleep till 7am. I'm wondering if a move her bedtime to 8, giving her more time in the evening for another nap, will she be more inclined to sleep till 7am. Will that extra nap help her sleep longer at night? Or should I just suck it up, put her to bed when she's getting cranky (even though that gives us very little time with her at the end of the work day) and deal with the fact that she gets up at 6am?