Earlier bed time?

[BlueWolf]

DD is 5 months old and typically goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 every night. She starts to get really crabby around 6, and its a marathon to get to 7pm which is bath time and the start of our bed time routine. If I started her bed time routine a half hour or an hour earlier, will I be setting myself up to her waking up at 5am instead of 6am every morning? I'd love to have her get more sleep, and she's obviously getting tired by 6/7, but I really don't want her waking up earlier than she already is. I need some sleep! (She still wakes up 2-3 times to feed during the night, and I've always been a poor sleeper).

[mom61508]

Originally Posted by BlueWolf

DD is 5 months old and typically goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 every night. She starts to get really crabby around 6, and its a marathon to get to 7pm which is bath time and the start of our bed time routine. If I started her bed time routine a half hour or an hour earlier, will I be setting myself up to her waking up at 5am instead of 6am every morning? I'd love to have her get more sleep, and she's obviously getting tired by 6/7, but I really don't want her waking up earlier than she already is. I need some sleep! (She still wakes up 2-3 times to feed during the night, and I've always been a poor sleeper).

I would put her to bed earlier. Just because she goes to sleep earlier doesn't mean she will wake earlier. I notice with DD If we get to bed really late she will wake up earlier. I to have always been a poor sleeper to which makes things even harder!

[kdescalzi]

In my experience, the earlier they go to bed the later they sleep in. I think the "early to bed, early to rise" is a total myth. For both my 3yr and my 6mo I find that if they go to bed too late they get up even earlier. I bet you anything if you start to put your dd to bed earlier she will actually sleep better. Good luck

[justKate]

Originally Posted by kdescalzi

In my experience, the earlier they go to bed the later they sleep in. I think the "early to bed, early to rise" is a total myth. For both my 3yr and my 6mo I find that if they go to bed too late they get up even earlier. I bet you anything if you start to put your dd to bed earlier she will actually sleep better. Good luck

I would put the LO down to sleep at either 7:00 p.m. or the first sign of tiredness, whichever comes first.

[MamaJenese]

I had to do this with both my kids. They always get up at 6 am no matter what time I put them to bed. They got to bed between 6-6:30 and have since they were about your DC age. Follow the cues. If they baby is getting wound up for sleep, start your bedtime routine.

[Louisep]

We moved DS's bedtime back from 7 to 6 and he still wakes at the same time every morning, so it worked for us.

[BlueWolf]

Thanks guys, I'm definitely going to give this a shot then. My momma instincts are saying she needs to go to bed earlier, but I am/was worried about her waking up earlier and earlier.

[BlueWolf]

I'm going to have to try again tomorrow night. It was a fight to get her down tonight, even though she was tired and had a full tummy. She went down at 8, her normal time, even though she was ready to sleep at 7:30. Not sure what went wrong tonight.