So, when is bedtime?

[aphel]

And if I may ask, why is it at that time? I'm curious to see how other moms have made this decision . . . .

[McGucks]

Our 9 month old generally goes down in the neighborhood of 7:30 (tonight, 8:40, for whatever reason).  His bedtime was not a planned thing--it's just about when he seems tired (rubbing eyes, fussy, etc.).  He still doesn't really STTN, waking to nurse a few times before around 6:30 a.m. or so and sometimes waking up for an hour or so around 3 a.m.  I sure miss sleeping, but at least he doesn't scream his head off like DS1 used to do.  I think bedtimes vary quite a bit from baby to baby, just like they do for adults.

[slgt]

DD 6 months goes to bed around 6:30-7 most nights. She's just done by then. I'm guessing she's picked up on the rhythm of the house - that's around the same time DD#1 goes to bed.

[P.J.]

DS used to go down with us, around 11pm, when he was a newborn. But then we realized we could get an hour or two to ourselves, and he could get more sleep, if we put him down before we went to bed. So, since 3-4 months he goes to bed anywhere from 8:30-10pm, depending on what we've been doing and when his last nap was. However, he sometimes will not go to sleep alone and has to stay up with us, or will go to sleep but wake every 1/2-1 hour until we are in bed with him.

For us what's important is not forcing anything. So, for example if DS had not been willing or able to go to bed earlier than us then he would (and does on occasion) just stay up with us til our bedtime. I want to avoid the typical bedtime struggles if possible. It's just not worth it. That said, it sure would be nice if he went down as early as many babies do, like 6-8pm, but that just aint happening. We've tried it and he inevitably will get up, fully UP, within an hour and will not really go down until after 8:30. Oh well!

[octobermom]

9 almost 10 months here. Bedtime is flexable as I watch her cues and go by that. Its anywhere from around 6pm-9pm ussually with the 7:00-7:30 time being most often. If shes takes an afternoon nap she goes down closer to the 9pm if not its ussually in the 7:00 hour.

Deanna

[Blessed1]

She usually goes to bed between 6-7pm (totally depends on when she starts to show signs of sleepiness). We never force her to go to bed at a specific time.  We've realized that when she is tired, she is always willing to go to sleep. Occasionally when we put her down for bed at 6pm, she will wake up at the notorious 45min mark, but I just go in for a quick nursing session/or hubby goes in to rock her, and she is back to sleep within minutes.

We love that she goes to bed early because it gives hubby and I time to reconnect as a couple. Of course it means that we are "stuck" at home after 6pm...but we enjoy our movie nights.  We also invite people over to hang out after 6pm. 

Obviously there are things we have to do after 6pm, so I make sure to give her an extra nap on those days.

[Knitting Mama]

All of Cecilia's sleep times are pretty fluid, and are based loosely on when she got up from the last nap. These days, at 9 months old, she can go 3-5 hours from the end of her last nap before she's ready for bed. For example, yesterday she took her second nap from 1:30-4:00, and went down at 8:30, so she went 4.5 hours. Other days she goes down sooner. I just base it on her cues. There are times when she goes to "bed" at 6:00 or 6:30, only to wake up an hour later and stay awake for a few hours.

[nicolian]

Bedtime here is at 7, give or take a half hour. I think it just evolved to that. Neither of my boys ever fight bedtime.

[mom2happy]

10 pm for my 8 month old. She takes a 1 hour nap in the late morning and about 1/2 hour in the very late afternoon.

She also wakes up several times a night to nurse. None of my babies slept much.

I have no decision in this process. It would be nice to get a break. Fortunately this baby is a happy little thing, so I can get some work done when the other's are at school.

[YayJennie]

My son has always been an early to bed, early to rise kind of guy, by his own devices.  So when he was around 6 months he was on a pretty consistent schedule with bedtime around 5-6pm.  Then he'd wake at 5-6pm (still nursing throughout the night, but sleeping).  Day light savings helped to push it back a bit, and we've actively tried to get it a *little* later, because neither my husband or I are fans of waking at the crack of dawn.  But he still, at 21 months, goes to sleep between 7-7:30pm and wakes around 6:30-7am.  And like I said, this was all his doing.  We followed his lead, but if it had been completely up to us, he would have gone to bed way later and slept in!

[busymama77]

My 10mo old goes to bed around 7:45-8:15 and wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30am.  He takes two 1 1/2 - 2hr naps at daycare. 

[wishin'&hopin']

My 8 month old goes to bed at 7pm (give or take half an hour) and wakes up about 6:30am (give or take half an hour).  Two naps, one at 9am (give or take half an hour) and one at 1pm (give or take an hour).  Both naps are usually 1-2 hours long (for a total of 3-4 hours of naps a day).  This schedule gradually evolved between 5 and 7 months and was created based on watching his tired signs (eye rubs etc).

[MamitaM]

I asked my 3 month old what time his bed time was and he laughed at me! he goes to bed at 11pm, just like mama. If he seems tired earlier then I want to sleep then I'll put him in bed alone and he'll fall right to sleep. Ideally I'd like to give him his bath at 7pm and have him in bed and asleep by 8pm, that's why my shows start :) I don't when I'll start that routine though. We live in a small studio apartment so he may not want to sleep if I'm watching tv every night when I'm telling him to go to sleep. Though he's never had a problem falling asleep if he's tired, lights on or off noisy room or not.

[aphel]

I actually am really encouraged by all this. We've been following DD's lead since birth, but we've had some  . . . .er . . . sleep issues this past week, and I was doubting myself, thinking her bed time was too "late", and that was to blame for some poor napping/night sleeping issues. We're just going to ride it out though, put her down when she's sleepy, and see what this new phase brings!

It's nice to see that babies' sleep patterns vary so much, thanks for chiming in ladies!

[zenmumajen]

Should I be putting my son down earlier? He does not sleep well or for only short periods if I'm not next to him. So he goes to bed when I go to bed, which is usually by midnight or earlier. I'm a SAHM for the time being (sadly it won't last much longer...) and we usually wake up around 10am. He usually naps twice a day... 

[SeattleRain]

Definitely earlier bedtime. You have to catch the magical window when they're yawning and rubbing their eyes. If they stay up much later than that they can start to get what I call "baby mania." They look happy and hyper but really they're tired. At that point it gets hard to put them to sleep because they're so hyped up. Also, contrary to popular belief, keeping a tired baby up does not seem to help them sleep longer in the morning, it can have the opposite effect.

[zenmumajen]

Yes, I definatley will do that, especially since I have noticed the baby mania!

[SeattleRain]

Yeah, it's crazy. One minute they're ever so slightly yawning and maybe doing an eye rub or two and then the next second they're sqwaking with glee. Unfortunately that sqwaking often turns into crying then laughing then crying. So goes the baby mania.

Babies need way more sleep than we do, and they sleep in a much more biologically appropriate way, which means they go to bed early and they seem to want to rise early. For a very long time, our circadian rhythms told us to start feeling sleepy when the sun went down and to get up when the sun was getting up. This generally rounds out to going to sleep between 6-8pm and rising between 6-8am. Then we got electric lights and then tv and computers and we're perpetually in this state of artificial wakefulness that keeps us awake even when we should sleep. Babies aren't as affected by these artificial sleep wreckers yet so they still go to sleep pretty early. They also need like, 12-16 hours of sleep a day which is quite a lot.

Earlier bedtime is great on all fronts. You get time with your spouse alone, or time with older children alone. Babies get better, more consolidated sleep when they go to bed early, making them more likely to sleep the night. I've found that putting DS to bed early means that I'm not quite so tired yet myself, meaning I have more energy to parent him to sleep better and patiently.