Bedtime question.

[hannamarin]

My baby (8mths) goes to bed most nights at 730pm
Some nights, she seems very tired at 7pm, but we try to distract her until closer to 730pm. I worry that if she goes to bed too early she will wake up early.
But then I remember the adage "early to bed, late to rise. Late to bed - early to rise"

So do you think it is better to keep her up until 730pm or just let her go down at 7pm? (she may not to down at 7pm)

[satama]

I think you worry too much.

Really though, 30 mins will not make that huge of a difference. If she is to the point where she is tired and cranky I would let her go to bed. She may be trying to move her bedtime earlier. DS has always set his own schedule and has always gone to bed somewhere between 7 and 8. He usually lets us know when it needs to be adjusted by either acting tired earlier or having more trouble getting him down. I would just follow her cues.

[brit1017]

If my kids seem tired early some nights, I put them to bed early. They tend to wake up at around the same time regardless of how late they are up, so I figure that they need the extra sleep. The adage I keep in mind is "sleep begets sleep".

[hannamarin]

I am not worried about the baby this time. I am worried about me. Last night, we waited until 730pmand she was up at 545!

[Jem]

My DS has been a tough sleeper to navigate but we have figured out that the later he goes to bed, the earlier he wakes up. His bedtime is around 7/7:30, but usually closer to 7, and then he wakes up at 7. But, without fail, if he doesn't go down until 8, then we can guarantee that he wakes up at 6. No idea why, but that's what happens.

So I say put her down at 7 if she is tired. If she is anything like my DS, she will sleep until normal time.

[biscoffcookies]

What I've read is that moving a baby's bedtime slightly earlier can actually help them sleep later in the morning.

The theory seems to be an earlier bedtime means a more rested baby when the lighest sleep cycle happens in the 4-6 am range (since they have that extra 30-60 minutes of sleep under their belt from the early bedtime) and that better rested babies have an easier time staying asleep. DD's bedtime is already pretty early though (around 6) so I haven't experimented with this myself.

[thatgirl2478]

If my child is tired earlier than normal, I say 'yay early bed time = more mama time!'

Honestly though, in my experience an early bed time has not made a bit of difference in her waking time. A late bed time only makes a tiny difference. It's the messed up nap time that makes the difference.

[GailGoldie]

eh- just give it a try.

a 1/2 hour won't make a huge difference- at least it never has with my boys.

[drloretta]

It can't hurt to try 7 and see what happens. Worst case she gets up earlier and you either adjust your wake-up time or her bedtime.

My kid has never been the "early to bed early to rise" type. More of a "sleep begets sleep" type. But they're all different.

And yeah, don't stress over half an hour.

[hannamarin]

How can I not stress over half an hour! It makes the difference between me waking at 545 or 615. For some reason, before 6 makes me irritated.
Mostly kidding.

[jenny1223]

DS always wakes up at the same time no matter when he goes down for the night.

[h]

Our kids have always woken up earlier if we put them to bed earlier. I cringe if they fall asleep at 7 for some reason, because that means they will be up by 5. If they go to bed at 9, they sleep until 7.

[ECB]

After reading "Healthy sleep Habits, Happy child", I absolutely say put her to bed at 7. For one, yes, the adage of "sleep begets sleep". But another thing I learned is that if you put them to bed at the FIRST sign of being tired, they'll go to bed easier and slepe better overall.

I found this to be true 100%. We did the "Oh, lets keep him up until he's REALLY tired" - and then putting him to bed was a bit of a chore. But once I started doing it at the first sign, he went to sleep SO much easier and did sleep better and longer.

[sewpinkgal]

Jul 16, 2012 8:36:26 GMT -5 @hannamarin said:

How can I not stress over half an hour! It makes the difference between me waking at 545 or 615. For some reason, before 6 makes me irritated.
Mostly kidding.

Nope, before 6 makes me really irritated. And there is no joking around in that statement. J has decided the past few mornings that 5:20, instead of 6am, is an acceptable wake up time. It's not. Like at all.

Unfortunately for us, what time he goes to bed doesn't seem to correlate well to his wake up time. We shoot to get him down between 6:30 and 7, though as to when he wants to start his day, seems to change every few weeks.

[ECB]

My son is the same as others here - he pretty much wakes up at the same time no matter what time we put him to bed.

As you 'worry' she'll wake up earlier - you're simply going to have to test it to see what kind of kid your child is!

[Deleted]

I put him to bed when he looks tired, sometime between 7 and 8.

He wakes up around 6:30, but sometimes it's almost 7:30. No correlation to bed time. And if it's before 6, I just don't get up. He usually goes back to sleep within 5 or 10 minutes.