My son is 15 months old and he goes to bed for the night around 7:00 pm. Sometimes earlier if he hasn't napped particularly well that day. Usually, this is great because it gives my hubby and I a chance to spend time together, get some things done, etc.
EACH AND EVERY time we keep him up any later than 7, he fails to sleep well at night and quickly gets overtired, therefore the next day even is difficult as he didn't have a proper night's rest! We'd like, on occasion, to be able to do some evening outings, but bedtime seems to rule our lives! It's worth it, I know, if it's sleep that he needs and anytime we ignore this or push him "just a little" because there's something we want to do, we always pay for it. He actually night terrors really bad on those nights.
What I am wondering is, when did your babe start to go to bed later or can anyone relate to this situation?
A little background/additional information on his sleeping patterns: We have followed Weissbluth's sleeping methods ("Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child") which focuses on biological times that children are ready and needing to sleep and avoiding overtired states. This works wonderfully from us from day one. He sleeps 7:00pm - 6:30 am most days and prior to the last few weeks would nap at 10 and 2 for about an hour 15 mins each (recently has decided to start to transition to just one nap, so it's been a bit unstable.) I'd desperately like to get him sleeping in a little later and everyone always tells me to keep him up later. This really just seems to have the opposite effect and he'll wake earlier or sleep worse (as Weissbluth says they will in his book!) I'd love for him to be on more of a 8:00-7 am schedule.....sigh.
Can you try pushing back his bedtime by 5 or 10 minutes every few days? He may settle into a more convenient schedule once he consolidates his naps into one long one, especially if you can get the nap to be a little later in the day.
Ultimately, it is going by your baby's cues... for sleep/naps.
Every child/baby is different.
For now, that is how it is.
Or get a babysitter at night.
To have outings. You and Hubby.
Your baby seems to be a good sleeper. And naps and sleeps.
That is good.
Keeping him up later, will not work.
It makes the baby more tired and over-tired and ruins the next day, and domino effects.
It drives me crazy when people say that if you keep kids up "boy, they're gonna sleep good tonight!" not. the truth is, sleep begets sleep. my daughter when to bed at 6:30 when she was your son's age. our friends used to tease us about her early bed time. as she got older, (like 2 1/2 to 3 1/2) her bed time got later and later, as i realized she wasn't going down for a nap well or going down later. i knew she still needed a nap, but she wouldn't be ready to fall asleep til 2 or later. i was putting her to bed at 8:30, but eventually, she still wouldn't nap and was going to bed late, and NOT wanting to wake up in the am for preschool. finally, at about 3 1/2, i dropped the nap officially and went BACK to the 7pm bed time. i found that it was perfect because she woke up naturally at 6:45 or 7 on her own, which was perfect for school.
i think your son's bedtime will get later as he gets older and requres less sleep.
My four year olds go to sleep at 7:30, sometimes 8. So at least in my house, it doesn't get better anytime soon. Sorry! But at least you have a well rested and in-control kid... Rather than a whiny tantrum prone one who is constantly overtired.
When my kids were babies, they never went to bed that early, more like 8:00 and that stuck til they were old enough to start getting later bedtimes sometime in the elementary years when it became 8:30, and eventually 9:00, etc.
He sounds like a great sleeper :). I think 7 is on the late side for a 15 mo old, but each child is different. And yes, it's true, they sleep less well if they are overtired. Just put him down and enjoy.... while you can.
We follow that book too - my 4 and a half year old now goes to bed at 8 to 8:30 ish- and still takes one nap most days( has been for about a year and a half) - my 2 and a half year old goes to bed at 7 still, sometimes earlier, and sitll takes a nap each day. Both kids wake up between 6 and 7 am.
I know it seems like forever, but this time only lasts for a short time, so enjoy it - they go to bed early - get a baby sitter to be ther ein case of emergency after bedtime, and you and hubby go out and enjoy some evening outings! You are doing your child a great service by letting him sleep as he needs to and learn good sleep habits....you know what works, stick with it, or everyone will pay - your baby will not feel good and be fussy and naughty because of that, and then you will not have a good day either, if you try to go agains what naturally works. Stick with it, he will grow up so fast and pretty soon will be wanting to stay up too late, and you will have ot enforce bedtime - I do already with my 4 year old - so enjoy him needing bed at 7 - enjoy that time with your hubby or even go out with girlfriends sometimes....there is plenty of time for your little one to stay up late when he is bigger and his body doesn't need as much sleep time!
Mine didn't start going past 6:30 until well into pre-school. Some are wired for early bed and early rise. however, if you want to change it, push it later, you'd have to do it very slowly in small increments. For a child so used to his schedule, you can't just keep him up late randomly one night and expect it to be OK, there will be fallout. But you could change it over the course of a month, by pushing it 5-10 minutes at a time, maybe for like 4 or 5 days. The once that seems to be settled OK, push another 5-10 minutes... it will take a while, and there may be rough days, but if you are patient it could work.
If you are goign to try & move his bedtime back you need to make sure that first his naps have evened out. If he is transitioning from two to one nap right now, do not try & move bdtime until this has evened out. It will only make it worse.
When you do try & move bedtime back do it in small increments. No more than 5-10 minutes each night. This gives his internal clock time to adjust to the change slowly.
Also if his room does not ave black out draps perhaps you should invest in some. If it is getting light in his room to early this may be waking him up before he is ready.
Good luck!
My 4 yr old still goes to bed by 7 and my 9 yr old on school nights is in bed no later than 8 because I don't like to getting up in the morning to be a fight.
We're weissbluth followers as well, but the 7:00 bedtime wasn't working well for our little family. My daughter is 11 months old now and was going to bed at 6:30 every night but we gradually pushed it back to 7:30/8ish and it took about 1.5 weeks for her to start sleeping later in the mornings (when her biological clock adjusted to it). It's not going to be easy for a week or so, but just keep him up a little later each night and he will gradually adjust to it. Good luck!
