What do you think about a 5:30 pm bed time? My little guy is 9.5 months old and has never been a good sleeper or napper, he simply has too much to do! He is an early riser, usually getting up between 5 to 5:30 am. The past couple weeks he has been taking a 2 hour nap in the morning and then skipping his afternoon nap altogether, which I've heard is fairly normal for his age. I try for him to nap between 9:30 to 10:30 am, although it is sometimes earlier. I typically put him to bed at 6 pm, but tonight he couldn't wait that long and wanted to go down right after 5 pm, eventually landing in his crib at 5:30 after a severely truncated routine. Luckily I had already given him some food earlier. I didn't want to keep him up since he's typically such a bear to put down, but this seems a little early to me. Maybe he got confused by the snack and thought that it was dinner, and I just realized that his papa did come home early today too, so maybe his routine was thrown off? I am wondering if I should just keep this time though since he usually is soo tired at 6 pm. Just curious of your take, any thoughts to share?
With babies & young children... memorize this phrase:
Sleep begets sleep.
Typically the earlier you put them down, the longer they sleep. Unlike adults, who are the opposite.
I would say it is way too early, especially judging by what time he is waking up. I would push it back gradually, and eventually he'll probably wake a little later in the mornings.
If that schedule works for you, go for it. As he gets older, his sleep needs will change, as will his schedule.
I think you probably need to trust your son on this one. My little one is 13 months old and went to bed at 6 on the dot until maybe a month or two ago. She was always a great sleeper, so I couldn't complain. (Though my heart was always sad that she went to bed so early!) Now she is still taking two solid naps and goes down for bed around 7. She's always been a really happy baby, and I think that is a result of her always being so well rested. I don't think it is too early and it probably is just a phase - but I think I would be inclined to follow his lead.
Your baby was tired! He crashed! It's okay.
He doesn't know what time it is. He didn't even know he needed to sleep. His little body took care of that for him. :)
Kids go through so many different sleep cycles.
If he wants to sleep earlier, let him. He may or may not wake up earlier, but you don't want to try to keep a tired baby awake.
Let him sleep.
Best wishes.
let your child sleep when he wants to.. let him grow.. sleep is important because only at REM stage we get our cells replenished... parents should adjust their time because children are not aware of the time.. they follow their body clock and their sleeping time changes from time to time until they can be trained to sleep like us..
I would reintroduce the 2nd nap (after lunch) until about 14-15 mos, see if that helps him stay up til about 7:30.
yeah I say it's too early. If I were you I would try adjusting his schedule. Like let him nap around 9 or 9:30 but wake him up after an hour. Then he should be ready for another nap around 1:00 and let him sleep as long as he wants. I bet he'll nap a good 2 to 3 hours. Then he should be ready for bed around 7:00. I had to adjust my 2nd daughters routine cause I wanted her to take her afternoon nap the same time as her 2 year old sister so I could get a break from both of them. So I woke her up around 7am and then had her nap around 9 and woke her up after an hour. Then she was always ready to nap again at 1 and then she was ready for bed around 7. So give this a try. Plus then you'll get him to nap twice and give you 2 nice breaks during the day.
If it doesn't bother you then its fine. My son had this schedule at one point-it was so nice to have dinner and the whole evening. Althought I paid for it on the back end by waking up super early..sometimes as early as 4! And he also took that morning nap which I didn't like-would have rather had an afternoon nap so I could catch one too..in the morning I would have too much caffeine in me. I wasn't able to change it though and it lasted for a couple months and eventually bedtime was later.
Do whatever makes mama and baby happy! Babies that young still need tons of sleep -- 12 hours at night seems totally reasonable to me. Our boys both slept 16 hours a day at that age. Because we both work, they slept 10-11 hrs at night and took two bigger naps. If we had put them to bed as early as you can, we would have never seen them. = ) Or he might just be altering his sleep routine temporarily while he goes thru a growth spurt.
My kids went through phases where they would go to bed around 6/6:30 and sleep until 6 the next morning. And, actually if I put them to bed later, they would not sleep through the night. I always thought sleeping through the night was way worth it to have to wake up early. If it keeps him happy, go for it.
If it works, do it! My kids use to get really tired and go to bed around 5:30-6ish and also wake up early, 6ish. Enjoy your evening! I would keep trying the afternoon nap, at least some downtime in the crib even if he's not sleeping.
I think you're a glutten for punishment if you put him to bed at 5:30. I'd never even allow my children to nap after 4. I'd make him wait it out until atleast 7 p.m. and then you'll get some sleep yourself.
I think its too early. I know its tough on all parties but try to keep him up. I used to have a hard time keeping my son up past ^6:00. Just remember early to bed early to rise. In the spring and summer I used to take him out in his stroller he was to nosey as to what was going on around him usually so he wouldnt fall asleep but it was relaxing for him so he wasnt real cranky
He is growing during all my 3 kids growth spurts bedtimes where early & rise times were a little later naps where long now that I have 1 son in school he has no choice but to get up @ 7 but bed time can be before 7:45 if he chooses to.Just a side note if there is a virus or bacterial infection that his body detects it can affect his sleep before the onset of other symptoms.
Yes it is an early bed time but it comes & goes let him get the rest he needs & you can choose to take time for yourself or do house hold chores.
See how he does with it. My youngest daughter is 9 months old and she goes to bed anywhere between 6:30-7:45pm and she will almost always sleep until 8am (that's only on the weekends though; during the week when I work she is up by 5:45am). Now granted I know she will get up sometimes and play with a few toys in her crib and then fall back asleep so it's hard to tell. My daughter has always been a great sleeper though since she was born. So I can't complain.
That is really early. He needs a 30 minute nap around 4, and he should be good until at least 8. It would be so hard for me to lose all of that time with my child. Especially if you work..? Then come home just to put him in bed. It may take time, but the schedule can adjust. Try to fit another short nap in there!
My daughter used to go to bed at 5:30 and get up at 5:45, probably from the age of 7 months to 14 months.
i agree with riley j. alot of my friends put there small children to bed at nine and they sleep till 6 (by small children i mean infants and toddlers) i put my 18mnth old to bed at 6:45 or 7 and he sleeps till 8:30 or 9 in the morning
No offense of judgement intended, but I could never fathom how/why people put their kids to bed in the middle of the day!
I can't imagine how that would have negatively impacted our lives, with needing to get a baby home by 5 or so to get him to bed? Heck, we have half our lives to live after 5... I can't imagine putting a baby to bed that early.
If it works for all of you, then I'd say to do whatever works. But I just can't imagine being strapped down to a 5:30 bedtime. That would be far too restrictive to me. But then, we are out and about a lot, with activities, etc. If you spend most evenings at home, then I guess it wouldn't matter much. The other thing is that I don't want to be up at 5 a.m. either! Personally, I'd try to get it to more like 7-8 p.m./7-8 a.m., but that's me. Again, different strokes for different folks!
Go for it.. Kids need routines. If his is early.. so what! And you'll have more time for yourself! (we all need that!)
lady what are you thinking i made my child go to bed 10 pm and wake up a 6 am she is the smartest kid in her class i let her go to bed at midnight and wake up at 4 am
My kids are not good nappers, so they both are in bed early. My younger, 15 months, is asleep most nights by 6:30 at the latest. When she takes a short nap (hour or so), she's ready for bed a lot sooner, and she actually gets mad at us if we don't put her down! Put your baby to bed when he's tired. The more they sleep, the happier they (and you) are! Enjoy his awake time and play like crazy, but when he's ready to go to sleep at night, respect that. Who cares what time it is and if everyone you know puts their kids to bed later? If it's working for him, why would you want to change it just because of what the clock says?
I don't think it is too early. I had a friend whose daughter needed to go to bed at 5:00. If it works then do it.
If you want him to get up that early then I suppose that's an okay bedtime for your household. It would not work for me.
As he gets a few months older he is not going to sleep a full 12 hours through the night. He will be only sleeping about 10 hours through the night. That would put him up around 3-4 am for the day. I really don't think that's what you have in mind.....
Start trying to keep him awake a bit longer, til closer to noon, after lunch. Then down for along nap. I would let him sleep for as long as he needs to see how long that is then adjust the time as you need it. Then start his bedtime routine around 7:30-8:30 so you can get him to not wake up as early.
