bedtime?

[miso_soup]

DS is 10 weeks old today, and while we don't really follow any particular schedule, I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to try to get him to bed at around the same time each day. Currently, he goes down anywhere between 7pm and 11pm, depending on how tired he is. His most active time of day is in the evening - he's super bright, alert and responsive, so I hate to put him into bed during this time, as it's just SO much fun playing with him! The issue is that as a result of his flexible bedtime, his daytimes are also very flexible, and it makes it a bit tough for me to plan my day (not that I'm a huge planner, but it helps to have some vague idea of what I'm doing, and when). He doesn't nap or eat at the same times at ALL from day to day. I guess it's okay for now, but I'm probably headed back to work in January and I'm concerned that this lack of schedule will be problematic when attempting to get him ready for daycare before work.

To clarify: I'm not seeking a rigidly set 'schedule', nor do I think one is necessary but I think a bit more structure might be helpful. I don't follow any particular method of parenting, and I haven't really read any child development books, so I don't really know what the various approaches to this subject entail. Any feedback or suggestions would be very welcome!

[lrgs]

Well........my DD is 4 months old now and our days are still without much routine. I do sort of have a general idea of when things are going to happen but it still pretty up in the air at this point. I started with a bedtime routine around 6-8 weeks. I did it based on her tired cues and still do. Depending when she's had her last nap and when she gets tired I will start the routine. She has a bath, then lotion, jammies, nursing, snuggles and then bed. It's almost always sometime between 7-8pm. It started out closer to 9pm but has gradually moved back.

[Knitting Mama]

At that stage, I wouldn't really bother trying. Hell, we're at 8 months here and my daughter's bedtime still varies by a couple of hours based on when she got up from her last nap. I would focus more on sleeping at regular intervals, like putting him down to sleep after 90 minutes-2 hours of awake time, or whatever his cycle is (at that age Cecilia's was 90 minutes).

[sssheri]

My babe is the same age. At around 6 weeks we started putting her to bed around the same time every night (between 7:30 and 8:30). We put her night double diaper on, swaddle her, and then I nurse her to sleep in our living room while we watch tv or something quiet. Dh moves her to the bedroom when she is out and we either go to bed or stay up with the monitor on. Sometimes it can take up to 2 hours for her to fall asleep, but I am finding that the more we do it, the quicker it seems that she is falling asleep. I think because of the regular nightimes, her daytimes have sortof developed a bit of a routine. She usually wakes up for real around 5:30 and I will try to entertain her in bed till 6:30 when dh takes her so I can sleep a bit more. Then she naps, eats and plays in cycles throughout the day. I don't think there is any reason for her to be on a schedule now, other than to make your life easier.

Does your little one nap in a crib? I like to wear my daughter for naps, that way I can just go about my business and she seems to sleep longer and deeper that way. 

[boatrat]

With DS1 we did not have a consistent bedtime until he was 9 months old, when we had a major sleep regression (pretty common) and I decided to make a change.  The change was difficult, but now at almost 3 years old he goes to bed at the same time everynight (7 pm) with no fuss and it is a wonderful part of our day.

With DS2 I started giving him a nightime routine at around 4 weeks.  Every night it is a bath, then jammies, nursing and to bed.  He loves it and gets so excited when he sees me running his bath. 

Now, both kids are in bed by 7 pm at night and DH and I can actually spend some time together.  I'm a big fan of a consistent bedtime, but ymmv.

[Schae]

i'm a big believer in routine (not a set time, but a set of events). DS2 is 11 weeks and our routine is massage, bath, nursing then sleep.

i think a set time falls into place eventually, when DS1 was little he used to go to bed at 9pm or later - eventually it became 8pm and now at nearly 6 years old, his bedtime is still 8pm. I'm looking forward to the time when DS2 does the same... it'll come eventually :)