What Age to Start Scheduling Bedtime?

I have always had my kids on a schedule. It started around around 2 months old. They were in bed by 8pm. My six year old is still in that same schedule. I noticed that if they go to bed any later they dont sleep as well. They'll fall asleep but then are up again through out the night. Try doing a schedule. Also try making it earlier so he wont get used to going to sleep that late. That way you wont have to struggle with him when he gets older to go to bed ealier. I have also noticed a warm bath and bottle/breastfeeding before bed helps make them sleepier. Hope this helps!! Good luck!

I recommend a set bedtime by 6 to 8 mos old. And this bedtime should be no later than 8 pm. Even until age 10 it shouldn't be later than that.

If you want more sleep advice I will give it to you, but you just asked about bedtime so I will just answer that. Personally I think your child is overtired and in the habit of waking up and that is why you are having him waking every few hours. Make sure he is sleeping at least 2 hour, preferably 3, during the day in order to assure he is getting enough sleep.

N.

edited cause I just realized that it's a 2 1/2 MONTH old, I thought she said YEAR Old. Totally different. Sorry!!

In your case I still recommend an early bedtime, but you should read the Baby Whisperer and learn about the EASY schedule and Dream Feed. Then read the 5 S's in Happiest Baby in the Block.

It might be helpful to start as soon as you cancause getting him to sleep allows you to get some sleep. It won't be easy, but experiment with different times and then find a time that works best for you and him.

We have 2 year old twin boys and their bedtime is between 8:00-8:30.(some friends of mine put their kids down by 7-7:30, but I work full time, so keep them up so I can see them longer in the evening). We have had a set bed time since they were 4 months old and they have both slept through the night since that age.

Typically they go to bed at 8:30 (lights out) then wake between 6:30-7:00 am. A routine might be helpful, so your son can wind down in the evening. Our routine starts around 7:30 with a bath or a sponge bath and getting into our PJs, we then watch a short DVD (while I can clean up the bathroom) with a sippy of warm milk. After the DVD we head to our cribs and we read 1 book to each and lights out by 8:30. This routine works for us, but might not work for everyone. With twins and working full time, I have been pretty strict since they were infants on eating, napping and bedtime schedules and structure than most moms might be.

good luck...

We started sleep training around 6 months, following Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. We, too, had a little night owl who went to bed around 9:30 - 10:00. I panicked at the idea of putting my child to bed before 8:00. Seriously...I mentally prepared myself for a battle. Imagine my surprise when he actually went to sleep, stayed asleep, slept longer, and FINALLY got on a daytime nap schedule to boot!

How much does your son weigh? My son didn't sleep longer than 2 hours until he was about 10.5 lbs at 3 1/2 months (he was a preemie). I hear they need to be at least 10 lbs often before they can sleep for longer than that b/c their tummies are so small. Then he started going longer - first 3 hours then 4 hours...and now at 6 months he sleeps almost 12 hours at night (and yes, now we do put him down at the same time each night). The Weissbluth book is very good.

Hi L.~
In my experience I've been more successful with starting a sleep routine from early on. My daughter, who is now 20 months, started adjusting to her sleep schedule between 3 & 4 months. I did learn, however, that she slept better and in longer incraments when I put her to bed earlier. She also started by going down to bed around 10pm. I started adjusting her sleep to have her nap in the morning around 9am, then 1-2 afternoon naps, at 12pm & maybe again around 3pm. I'd then put her to sleep for bed around 7pm. She'd sleep a little better thru the night--getting up only about 2-3 times a night. Like I said, I've just had better luck, with both of my kids, by putting them to bed a little earlier at night...And being consistent!!!
Good luck & I hope this helps!
J.

It would be good to get him on a night routine and putting him down to bed around the same time each night. This maybe one of the reasons why he doesn't sleep well at night. Giving a bath, reading a story, saying prayers and saying good-night is what we do. Is he in a big boy bed yet? If he is be ready to have to train him to stay in his bed after saying good-night. Since he hasn't had that expectation yet he will need to learn it. It will take a lot of patience on your part (putting him back in when he comes out) and consistency. I started a bedtime routine and sleep time the day I brought them home from the hospital.

With my first I didn't get her to bed for the night until after 9pm because she had colic and would cry from six to nine or even later. But once we crossed that bridge I started her bedtime at seven.

When the second came along I just put her down when I put Avianna down. She was sleeping most of the night from about three weeks on.

My third is the same. I put him down about the same time my hubby is reading to the girls and by the time they are out, my son is out. He gets up quite a bit because he's only five months old, but he goes right back to sleep. We get up around 5 or 6 am...and that is killing me, but he's a baby. He'll sleep longer as he gets bigger.

My daughter is now 6 1/2 months. She is doing much better but wakes once or tqice at night. She is breast fed so that has somehting to do with it. Shen she was about 2 months , we started workingon having the same routine everynight. She still woke up for feeding but having that routine I think helped a lot. She is a great night time sleeper now, though we are still working on getting a schedule going. Accoridn got others i have spoken to. comparing notes, and speaking to our doctor, having a regular routine helps with sleeping later on. It sounds liek you are doing a pretty good job at it. As he gets older, it will get better.

I started sleep training at six weeks with both of my kids. If my five month old is not asleep by seven, he is put in the crib awake and puts himself to sleep.

Consistent routine definitely helps, as that allows their body to learn when it's time to sleep and when it's time to play. From the first week or two after birth, you can start routine "sleep training" to encourage good sleeping habits, as well as good eating habits and knowing yourself when they need each of those. I would start with a 3 or 4 hour schedule at this age. We did a 3 hour schedule until they were sleeping through the night. Which means feeding every 3 hours, play time after eating and then laying them down for a nap halfway between feedings to nap until the next feeding. We weren't real rigid about it, but followed that routine and both boys were sleeping throught the night at 2 months old because their bodies naturally got used to it and the night time feedings were the first that they naturally dropped. For the feedings during the day, I would wake them to eat if not awake on their own, but not for the night time feedings. Though they would get used to the daytime routine relatively quick and wake up on their own when it was time to eat, so it worked rather nicely. Everybody was content and it was so easy to plan life around feedings and naps. It also made for healthy sleep habits that continued on as they grew. Best wishes to you...feel free to ask more questions about planning a routine and such. :)
Example of a routine would be:
6am - eat
7:30-9am - naptime
9am - eat
10:30-12 - naptime
noon - eat
1:30-3pm - naptime
3pm - eat
4:30-6pm - naptime
6pm - eat
7:30-9pm - naptime
9pm - eat
10pm - ready for bed, eat again and to bed for the night (this feeding right before bed distinguished the long night sleep time)
This was the routine we kinda started with to encourage healthy sleep and sleeping through the night at these real young ages. Middle of the night feeding(s) were first to go, then the time between feedings/naps would lengthen to drop one feeding at a time as they would drop feedings as they took more from each feeding.

Someone else mentioned Dr Weissbluth's book, it is awesome and you should definitely read it, it was great with my firstborn. I think the sooner you start to migrate toward a routine, the better, and the earlier the bedtime, the better. He might still wake up a bit, but you can work on that over time.

When I think of sleep training I think of letting them cry it out, which I am not doing until my daughter turns 6 months, which is in like 3 weeks so YIKES. I know some moms do it earlier but that is what I'm comfortable with.

Good luck!

it really depends on his weight. they say between 12-14 lbs is when they really sleep better. 2 1/2 months is when it really took a toll on me as well, i was still breastfeeding but began to supplement which did help her to sleep longer. once she hit 11 lbs she was giving me like 6 hours and then like 4 so i was only have to feed her once in the night. i began putting her down at the same time like in the 830 range so she new it was bedtime. by three months she was sleeping through the night. my suggestion would be to start giving him a paci if he takes one like maybe once or twice at night and let him cry a little. or i heard if you feed him less and less during the night he will eventually not be hungry. so just cut back on the oz your giving him every two hours. routine is good so putting him down at the same time is good...i only had to give her a paci for like 3 nights before she cut the 3 am feeding out then she was sleeping like 8-10 hours. she is now almost 5 months and sleeps 10-11 hours no matter what time i put her down. good luck, it will get better...thats what everyone told me when she was every two hours round the clock...and they were right.