How exactly do i bring my daughters bedtime forward?

[ShanandBoc]

My LO is 8 weeks old and currently goes down for the night between midnight and 1am, sometimes later......she then sleeps till around 5-6am, feeds gets a nappy change and goes straight back down till around 10-11am sometimes longer. So she is a good sleeper.

My issue is that i want to get her to bring this pattern forward so she goes down around 9-10pm and wakes up for the day at around 8-9am IYKWIM?

Eventually i want to bring this forward earlier to around 7-8pm which seems a standard bedtime for most babies / toddlers.....but what i want to know is how do i go about doing this??

Any tips for a first timer??

TIA

 

[Lellow]

Just bring it forward....Do your routine at 9 for a few days, see how it goes, then if its going well, go in for the plunge and go for 7pm.

Thats what im currently doing. As of tues, im putting him down at 8pm.

I know people dont agree with it, but im excercising control crying and its working fine!

 

[KittyVentura]

Copied from a reply to a thread yesterday... the LO in this was male so sorry that it's worded towards LO being a boy lol .

"Do you use a bath, bottle, bed routine yet?

If not I strongly recommend you introduce one. For a bath, bottle, bed routine to be effective the bath really needs to be no more than an hour before their routine bedtime. Start by bathing LO about 30 mins - 1 hour before his CURRENT bedtime... won't be much fun for you bathing him at that time but this should teach him a sleep association with the bath. Then after about 10 days start bringing that bath time forward by about 15 minutes every 3 days until you're happy with the time he goes to bed. His bed time should come forward in line with his bath.

I'd suggest being quite firm about putting him down to bed, in the dark and quiet after his bath. Once he's bathed keep it dark and quiet. Don't talk to him or make eye contact... you don't need to be cold and unloving... you can cuddle etc but without stimulation. Feed, settle and then put down. If he wakes up, keep him upstairs in the dark and quiet and again don't interract with him. Just get him up, calm and settle him and put him back down. You might have to do this 5 times/10 times etc but soon he'll realise that there's no point trying to fight going to sleep.

I don't recommend CIO/CC etc at such a young age so wouldn't suggest you leave him to cry and get distressed but some babies do need a wind down grizzle. You'll know LO's cries so keep a listen out and if he's grizzling leaving him a few minutes might allow him to settle himself. But you'd have to be comfortable doing this.

Finally feel free to ignore my advice lol. What worked for us wont work for everyone but Fin has slept right through from 7:30pm til 8am from 8 weeks. He self settles now also.

Good luck xx"

 

[1babygirl1987]

Copied from a reply to a thread yesterday... the LO in this was male so sorry that it's worded towards LO being a boy lol .

"Do you use a bath, bottle, bed routine yet?

If not I strongly recommend you introduce one. For a bath, bottle, bed routine to be effective the bath really needs to be no more than an hour before their routine bedtime. Start by bathing LO about 30 mins - 1 hour before his CURRENT bedtime... won't be much fun for you bathing him at that time but this should teach him a sleep association with the bath. Then after about 10 days start bringing that bath time forward by about 15 minutes every 3 days until you're happy with the time he goes to bed. His bed time should come forward in line with his bath.

I'd suggest being quite firm about putting him down to bed, in the dark and quiet after his bath. Once he's bathed keep it dark and quiet. Don't talk to him or make eye contact... you don't need to be cold and unloving... you can cuddle etc but without stimulation. Feed, settle and then put down. If he wakes up, keep him upstairs in the dark and quiet and again don't interract with him. Just get him up, calm and settle him and put him back down. You might have to do this 5 times/10 times etc but soon he'll realise that there's no point trying to fight going to sleep.

I don't recommend CIO/CC etc at such a young age so wouldn't suggest you leave him to cry and get distressed but some babies do need a wind down grizzle. You'll know LO's cries so keep a listen out and if he's grizzling leaving him a few minutes might allow him to settle himself. But you'd have to be comfortable doing this.

Finally feel free to ignore my advice lol. What worked for us wont work for everyone but Fin has slept right through from 7:30pm til 8am from 8 weeks. He self settles now also.

Good luck xx"

Couldnt have said it all better myself!x

 

[you&me]

Couldn't agree more with what Kitty said It is great advice!!

We do the following:
9pm: bath with Daddy.
9.30pm, milk and bed.
Amber is 9 weeks and sleeps through til 8am.

We never bring her back downstairs after the bath, she has her milk in bed with me, which is in a dark quiet room, then goes straight in her basket by the side of me, she doesn't have a dummy, so has learnt to self settle, and she will have a couple of minutes of little grizzle, but it is never full on crying, there is a huge difference in her when she is winding down (I would never let a baby cry it out this young, after 6 months; maybe controlled crying yes, but at 2 months a baby just wants comfort)

We are back on the school run next week so I want to bring her bedtime down to 8pm, so will start bringing her bath time forward by 10-15 minutes every night...babies like routine and structure, so am not too sure on bringing it forward by a whole 2 hours in one go as previously posted....but then every baby is different, what works for one, may not work for another

Good luck Shan.

 

[melorablack]

My lo doesn't have a bath everyday, he has one on Sundays and Wednesdays (and usually in the morning) because he has exzema and the bath would only exasperate it further.

I have found that it's easier to just roll with the changes, my lo's routine changes weekly if not more often so I go with the flow. His current "natural bedtime" is about 8-9pm but when he was 8 weeks old it was more like 11-12pm or later. He started going to sleep earlier himself.

As for a bedtime routine, we simply strip him off, top and tail him on the changing mat and get his pj's on him about half an hour before he usually goes to sleep. Sometimes he has a feed before bed, sometimes he doesn't. This routine works just as well for us as the bath/bed one does for others.

But I do agree that once he's in bed, he doesn't come back downstairs, also we have a strict "no smiling, no talking, no fun" rule afer 8pm so he knows it is nighttime.

 

[ShanandBoc]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Ill give it a shot. Tonight i just bathed her at 9:00 - 9:15, tried feeding her but she wasnt interested, (as she fed at around 7:45pm already) read her a story, swaddled her and put her to bed.

When she wakes hungry (as ideally i wanted to feed her after her story) im guessing i just feed her quietly and put her straight back down? Its hard getting her feeding time to coincide with that routine iykwim

 

[a_c]

I have opposite problem, my lo goes to sleep around 6pm and is bolt awake at 6am (2 feeds in between)

 

[ShanandBoc]

Oh and someone mentioned CC / CIO - not for me anyway i could never do it x So thats not part of the routine!! x

 

[ShanandBoc]

a_c u are very lucky that combi feeding has worked for u, best of both worlds then i guess? How are u managing that if u dont mind me asking?? x

 

[a_c]

a_c u are very lucky that combi feeding has worked for u, best of both worlds then i guess? How are u managing that if u dont mind me asking?? x

I am SO lucky. Because of painful breastfeeding at two weeks I switched to one feed breast next bottle. My girl just does both & finds no issue switching between. Some days she can be a tad lazy on the breast but (touch wood) this has always lasted just a day then reverts back to being good on it.

So blessed to have a baby that will do both otherwise I'm afraid we'd be totally ff now.

 

[ShanandBoc]

I hear ya, BF is still at times very hard for me now at 8 weeks, i hope to continue to at least 6 months tho without introducing FF regualrly, will see how i go x You gotta do whatever works and keeps u both happy!!!

 

[ShanandBoc]

well i put her down at 9:30 and its 11:50 and she is still asleep, just waiting for her to wake for a feed tho as she wasnt interested after her bath and story before i put her down

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

Copied from a reply to a thread yesterday... the LO in this was male so sorry that it's worded towards LO being a boy lol .

"Do you use a bath, bottle, bed routine yet?

If not I strongly recommend you introduce one. For a bath, bottle, bed routine to be effective the bath really needs to be no more than an hour before their routine bedtime. Start by bathing LO about 30 mins - 1 hour before his CURRENT bedtime... won't be much fun for you bathing him at that time but this should teach him a sleep association with the bath. Then after about 10 days start bringing that bath time forward by about 15 minutes every 3 days until you're happy with the time he goes to bed. His bed time should come forward in line with his bath.

I'd suggest being quite firm about putting him down to bed, in the dark and quiet after his bath. Once he's bathed keep it dark and quiet. Don't talk to him or make eye contact... you don't need to be cold and unloving... you can cuddle etc but without stimulation. Feed, settle and then put down. If he wakes up, keep him upstairs in the dark and quiet and again don't interract with him. Just get him up, calm and settle him and put him back down. You might have to do this 5 times/10 times etc but soon he'll realise that there's no point trying to fight going to sleep.

I don't recommend CIO/CC etc at such a young age so wouldn't suggest you leave him to cry and get distressed but some babies do need a wind down grizzle. You'll know LO's cries so keep a listen out and if he's grizzling leaving him a few minutes might allow him to settle himself. But you'd have to be comfortable doing this.

Finally feel free to ignore my advice lol. What worked for us wont work for everyone but Fin has slept right through from 7:30pm til 8am from 8 weeks. He self settles now also.

Good luck xx"

couldn't have put it better myself

 

[ShanandBoc]

^thank you thats really helpful and i will put it into action and let i know how i go!!

 

[aliss]

Mine did not start going to sleep around 9ish until about 12 weeks and then slowly worked his way back. He now goes down 6-6 which is perfect for us (and his 2-3 night feedings of course, lol!)

So I suppose you could always just wait it out too in addition to trying a routine. A routine takes a long time and in some babies, makes no difference, so just be prepared for that. I also make it a point to wear my LO outside in his sling during his awake time (I know you are in SA so maybe inside a mall is better right now? Either way, daytime = fun, nighttime= boring)

 

[ShanandBoc]

Well routine started tonight seems good so far, usually shes fussy from about 10pm - 1am (nothing bad tho she is always a good baby) but after a bath and story (didnt want a feed) she went down straight after at 9:30, she woke at 12:20, i fed her, changed her and put her back down without talking to her and shes gone straight back down again (which she usually does in the middle of the night feed but thats normally at 5am)

So ill continue doing that every night and slowly bring it forward after a few weeks.

Im very lucky she is a good sleeper, just slept at weird hours lol x

 

[KittyVentura]

Awesome news.

What I did to get his feeds to fit with his routine was I planned the day backwards. SO I knew he needed to want a feed at XXX time and worked out his other feeds in a way so that he would need a feed then. I'm FF though and I dunno if that makes it earlier... I know Fin needs 5 bottles in a day and so for his bedtime routine to work I make sure his penultimate feed is started no later than 4:30. Sometimes it means feeding him earlier than he wants - sometimes he wants it then and it works out well xx

 

[trumpetbum]

I would wholeheartedly reccomend reading 'the happiest baby on the block' by Dr Harvey karp. I wish I'd read it when my baby was newborn, it has such a simple technique for settling baby easily in the first few months and straightforward tips to aid sleep. My dh is a total sceptic but after just a few days has had to admit that it has even worked for him. We have a 9.30 to 10 rotuine though because that fits in best with what will be our work shifts.

 

[ShanandBoc]

Thanks trumpetbum luckliy she sleeps well and goes down very easily.

Well last night went well....put down at 9:30pm woke at 12:20am for a feed (half hr) went straight back down again and slept till 5am, woke for a feed (half hr) then slept till 10am

So tonight it will work out that she will be due for a feed near to her new bedtime (she feeds very regularly usually) and will continue this for a couple of weeks then gradually bring it forward

Thanks for all the advice again xo