Does a 7 week old need a bed time?

[pradabooties]

My 7 week old has her days / nights worked out quite well now thankfully. She doesn't technically have a "bed time" though, she has her day naps and some night sleeps in her bassinet in the lounge and when I go to bed anytime between 10pm to 1am she moves into her cot next to our bed.

She normally sleeps from about 7pm-11pm then I feed her while she's still sleepy and back to sleep til about 3am/4am for another feed then back to sleep and we get up about 8am. We do have the tv down low and lights very dim while in the lounge so she doesn't get stimulated and think it's daytime and playtime, I'm not sure if I should be implementing a set time every night that her and I move to bed / her cot though? I know routine is good but when she's so young would it benefit her / would she even be aware of it? So far I've just been baby led and not had much of a set schedule

 

[MindUtopia]

If you don't feel she needs it yet, no, I don't think there's any rush. It sounds like she already is falling into a pattern on her own, but it's good to keep them with you and if that's working for now, I'd keep it up. We did pretty much the same, sometimes a bath (every few days at that point), then feed, and she would go either in the wrap or on my husband's chest for the evening. Early on, maybe up to 6 weeks, I then took myself to bed to get some sleep before the next feed, which was around 10-11pm. Otherwise, we would have dinner and relax in the lounge, same as you with dim lights until she woke for her next feed. Then we'd go upstairs, I'd feed her, and we'd go to bed (she co-slept in a cot attached to our bed). We did that until 4 months, then we started to put her to sleep on her own upstairs, same routine, bath, feed, then I'd like down with her until she fell asleep, then sneak back downstairs. That worked really well. At that age, they've usually fallen into a more predictable pattern and because she was going to bed after a feed at that time every night already (though she 'went to bed' in the wrap), when we transitioned to the cot, she was already in that routine and it was pretty easy. That worked well for us and we'll do the same again next time probably.

 

[SarahBear]

A 7 week old doesn't necessarily need a bedtime. Just make sure you get her to bed when she needs it.

 

[winterbabies3]

I don't think so. She's going to bed with you at night and I'm sure she still sleeps most of the day away so I would let it be for now.

 

[Elsa50501]

You'll probably notice when they're ready or a bedtime. DD started fussing around 8 pm if she wasn't down for the night by 7 pm (obviously with nursing breaks) when she was a few months old. People kept calling it the witching hour... No it was an overtired baby. 7 pm bedtime with 6:45 start of routine was great for her. Sounds like your own baby has a similar pattern already. Just stay consistent and go with the flow as they change and develop.

 

[Blu10]

We started the bedtime routine early with DS1 and DS2. They were both upstairs in their crib after the last feed (8pm latest) with the monitor on from 3-4weeks old. I dont think time is necesssarily that important but we try and keep a consistent bedtime routine.... bath, cuddle, bottle then bed

 

[Charmed86]

We too Oliver up around 11pm, sometimes as late as 1am depending on what we were watching on tv. Lol. He started giving himself a bedtime around 4 months or so & we've just ran with it. They sort themselves out eventually x