hi all

i have a question about the time at which you put your toddler to bed at night....

ever since my 16mth old DS was roughly 7 months old, we have been putting him to bed at 7pm every night. this routine has worked really well for us - he used to typically sleep a full 12 hours until about 7am the next day. the day sleeps have changed in this time of course (ie, from two naps to one), but this night time routine has stayed the same. and he used to fall asleep straight away after putting him to bed, or within 5 minutes or so.

lately, however, two things have started to happen. one - after we put him to bed both during the day and at night, he could spend up to 30mins talking and playing in his cot. secondly, he has started waking at about 6am on average. the other morning, it was even 5.40am! and i might sound a little precious by saying this, but it's just too early for me!!!

he still has the one day nap - and i usually put him down at about 11.30am and he'll sleep anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5hrs. this hasnt really changed for the past few months.

i was just wondering - as your toddler gets older, do you start putting them to bed later at night?? or do most mums out there keep the bed time constant? i know that he will drop his day nap at some stage (maybe 2.5yrs or 3yrs?), but i was just wondering whether i should change his night time routine - maybe put him down at 7.30pm or 8pm instead, with the hope that he goes to sleep straight away and sleeps in!

what do you all think? or do you think it's just a phase and i should keep going as per normal?