when to push the bedtime back

[MrsBone]

DD is 7 weeks old and will sleep 8 straight hours between 10 and 6 am. My question is, she kinda wants to crash for the night around 7pm. That seems so early to me, but last night she went to bed at 7, I woke her at 10 to nurse, she nursed and I figured she might be up for a bit, and instead she got all cranky and wanted to go back to sleep, so she went back to bed, slept woke once to nurse and was up at 7. She went back down at 9 am. Should I just let her go to bed at 7 without waking her? I am afraid she'd be up super early if I don't wake her at all to nurse. She has been going 8 hours between feeds most nights already.

[BetsyS]

My kids have liked early bedtimes.  There are some studies out there that show that the sleep before midnight is more beneficial to kids than the sleep after.  Regardless, my kids just operate better on early bedtimes.  I'd do 7pm for a while and see how it pans out.  She might just consolidate some of her naps differently, not necessarily wake up earlier.

[Blanca78]

I'd try it, but I will say that developmentally speaking, most kids don't fall into earlier bedtimes until they are older, closer to 3-4 months. This is according to a child development expert at The Fussy Baby Network who I've been talking to. My DD, who is almost 9 weeks, will wake up within an hour if we put her down too early. However, it sounds like your baby might be telling you she is ready? Maybe you can risk an extra early wakeup just to see what happens (I was afraid of this, too).

[D_McG]

   My kids were also a little older before they went to bed that early (one was 3 mos and the other was 6 mos) but I say try it!

I never wake my kids to nurse.  ..

[MoonWillow]

I would let the baby sleep when he is tired and feed him when he is hungry. Regardless of the clock.