Is it important what time your bub goes to bed? Due to certain books I have read I have a thing about making sure he goes to bed around 7 but this means DH hardly sees him after work.
dS is 11 weeks and no matter what time he goes down this past week we have had issues with sleep. He also tends to fall asleep around 5 pm for a nap which all the books say is a no no.
I haven't read any books so I don't know what the 'acceptable' thing to do is...but since the beginning DS has just slept when he's tired. We co-sleep at night and have always followed his cues. He is generally tired by 7pm and has a catnap for about half an hour, then we eat our dinner, give him a bath and feed and he's usually asleep for the night at 9pm. He sleeps through the night most of the time, but sometimes goes through patches of stirring at around 2am for a feed. If I manage to get a breast in his mouth in time, he dream feeds.
All babies are different - try not to get too worried that your bub doesn't do what they say in the books
Don't worry/stress too much about the 7pm bedtime, ds didn't really go to sleep much before 8:30pm and still at about 2.5yrs old he only goes to sleep around 9pm - he won't sleep before then - the stress wasn't worth trying to get him to sleep be fore 8:30
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so sorry if I'm confusing you
Ours always had 7 as a bed time from early on but realistically, it did mean that on some nights it was 6, 7, or 8 at that age depending on feeds. For us though any feeds after 7 were quiet dark feeds, as opposed to the others that were out in the lounge, tv on and people around ITMS. If your DH doesn't get home until later maybe you could adjust things so that he could spend some time with bub - maybe bath etc before hand and put into pjs. Take bubs cue and do what suits you xoxo
Thanks for the replies everyone.
It's nice to hear what others do. I have a group of friends who all tend to do things the same and they're all pretty strict about a 7 pm bedtime. I have had a few funny looks about Dd not going to bed till 8.30 Nowdays but she sleeps all night and goes to sleep with no probs so it works for us.
My sisters kids have never had set bedtimes due to her DH working late too, and they have always been bad sleepers so I was scared that bedtime might be a factor.
You're right - they so do t read the books. Up again all night from 2 pm last night.
We always tried to get DS to bed between 7 and 7:30pm. Personally, I don't think bedtime is overly important, as long as it works for you. A friend's little girls don't sleep til about 9pm, but they don't get up before 8am either! It works for them!
I think being consistent in your bedtime routine is more important. e.g. bath, book, quiet feed, bed at roughly the same time, whether it be 7pm or 9pm. Also, DH used to work late but had the flexibility to change, so now he goes in earlier and gets home earlier. Is that an option for your DH? Bath/shower time has always been their special time together too - took DH a while to appreciate how special it is.
I followed a similar book which revolved around the 7pm bedtime - and it used to stress me out no end.
My baby too would not last the afternoon and have another catnap waking sometimes at about 5,30/6pm even
(this was under the age of 3 or 4 months) - so to expect bub to go to sleep again at 7pm was crazy!!
I found bub went to sleep again 8.30ish/ 9pm in those early days.
I remember being very stressed and my Health nurse simply said to me "maybe he doenst want to go to bed at 7pm!!"
so sensible....penny dropped and I just stopped forcing it and let him go to bed when i caught the tired signs
Anyway I must say as bub got older after about 3 or 4 months we got closer and closer to 7pm bed time...i was getting him
to sleep at 8pm then it starting getting earlier by 15 min bit by bit until we got into a great routine and he didnt cat nap so late and went to bed at about 7pm
like magic...
I always found that my first bub could sleep for a 30min power nap at about 4pm then.. have dinner/milk ... bath..and get to bed by 7pm without messing
his evening sleep..(this may not be all babies and i may have just been lucky)
My first bub is now 3 and has gone to bed at 7pm pretty much since the age of 4-6 months of age...lately that is starting to creep up to 7.30pm
and that is just a logisitic thing with getting home from work etc..
Anyhow..
So what I am hopefully conveying to you is that you will get there and 7pm is about right for little ones and follow you instincts and how
your baby is feeling. I swear by the books as a guide but found in those first few months follow the baby (feeding every 3 hours bascially)
and when you want a little of your own life back start following the guide of the book(s) and take the advice/ routine /setup that you like and
works for you and your baby..best of luck ...its a journey but you will look back and hopefully cherish this time.
Last edited by AnnaBelle; February 10th, 2012 at 01:37 PM.
7pm- oh I wish! lol
DD (my 3rd) at 7mths still goes to bed for the night at 8.30pm, this is after working hard to get her used to that- otherwise she would happily be up at 10pm still.
If you "must" have a 7pm bed time, I would suggest moving to the bedroom at 7 (after a bath etc) and having quiet time, books, cuddles etc then ds may get use to evenings being quiet.
Dont stress to hard, nobodies baby goes by the book, do what works for your family and ignore everybody who says you shouldn't do it that way.
DS is 6.5 months and his bedtime is around 6pm and has been for ages. Early, I know, it's because hubby works evenings so our family meal is lunch and I find it easier getting my tea and stuff when Izzy's in bed. That being said, my bedtime is about 9ish, I'm a total nanna.
Bed time?
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