When babe is ready for bed before you are

[kdescalzi]

Mamas,

DD is 10mo and we cosleep. At bedtime and during the night she likes to have access to my boob at all times. This means that once she is asleep I cannot rearrange my pillow, go pee, get a glass of water etc without her stirring and looking for my nipple. Once she is out for the night, I have to be too. If I get her to fall asleep in the ergo or on the couch so that I can actually do something in the evening she wakes after about 30min because she thinks it was a nap. Up until now she has to have a really late nap so that she can last until I go to bed. I do not mind going to bed around 8pm, but there are some evenings where I want to work out of have a bath etc. Does anyone else have a baby that naps and goes to bed so late to accomodate the evening logistics?? She is usually ready for bed around 6-7pm, but I'm not...WWYD?? So she ends up having a quick nap while we eat dinner with ds and such and then she stays up until 9pm or later. All the books say that is way too late for anybaby or child. What can I do??

[desertgirl01]

I was having the same problem, and coincidentally, my baby is 10 months old too! Last weekend I set up a floor bed for baby, in her room. When she's ready for bed, I lie down next to her and nurse her to sleep. I slowly disengage myself, stand up, shut the light off, shut the door, and have a few hours to whatever I'd like. DD usually wakes between 11:00-12:30, and I bring her to bed right then and finish up our night cosleeping, or lie down and sleep next to her for a couple more hours on the floor, and then on to the big bed.

It's been working out great and I'm much happier with the situation.

In your case, I think if your baby goes to bed after 9 (with a cat nap earlier) and sleeps later to accomodate her later bed time, then maybe that's fine? That situation doesn't work for us because I leave with babe for work at 6:00am, and that's just not enough sleepy time for her. But if your mornings are more relaxed and she gets chance to sleep, it really shouldn't be a problem, whatever those books say!

[rzberrymom]

Originally Posted by kdescalzi

Does anyone else have a baby that naps and goes to bed so late to accomodate the evening logistics?? She is usually ready for bed around 6-7pm, but I'm not...WWYD?? So she ends up having a quick nap while we eat dinner with ds and such and then she stays up until 9pm or later. All the books say that is way too late for anybaby or child. What can I do??

I've done this with both my babies, and it's worked out great for us. My first DD usually went to bed at 10-10:30, and only started going to bed at 8pm or so once she stopped napping. My 2nd DD goes to bed around 11-11:30 and sleeps like a dream. I ignore sleep books and just do what works for us.

[Sariha]

when baby goes to be before you are ready.

well, I've always had a pretty relaxed attitude about bed time for my kids. So, if they stay up really late, it's not a big deal to me, though I know it makes it rough to do stuff like exercise or what ever. I have 6 kids, so I've learned that sometimes doing things with the kids, when they are awake and in a good mood, like exercising and setting up some cool toys you don't bring out alot....I use to let my little kids get messy with dry flour and spoons and bowls. They would play for an hour and I could work on my computer. It was a mess to cleanup, but no more than the cost of a babysitter or trying to get one of my teenagers to watch them =). If your daughter is being pleasant at night when she's awake, you could give her a try at letting her stay up later. I used to watch tv late at night if I couldn't sleep, and just take my baby with me. We'd curl up in the chair and they would nurse and I could have quiet time. I wouldn't worry too much. Sounds like she's used to having you close so she's keeping an eye on you. My youngest son would wake at my slightest stir. It last until he was about 4. Now he sleeps like a rock. I would get a little frustrated sometimes, because I would try to get up early and get chores done before the kids would wake up, and 2 seconds after I woke up my little guy would open his eyes and smile at me. We called him the mommy monitor. He always had to know where I was. I wouldn't worry to much about her being up late, especially if you both are together most of the time, if she's tired the next day she might have a better nap and give you a little more time. Good luck with your mommy monitor.

[Emmery'sMom]

My dd has a 9pm bedtime. Very rarely she'll go down at 8pm- any earlier and its just a nap. 9pm is early considering until 10 months she would stay up until midnight or later.