Bringing sleeping time earlier
- Thread starter Obiwan
- Start date
barbwong_130
Registered User
Before worrying what other people think about your baby's bedtime answer the question "Does it suit our family?"
My babies all went to bed around 11:00 pm (when my husband and I retired for the night). This suited us very well. We both worked and this late bedtime meant that we could get five hours together with our babies each day.
If they had gone to bed earlier (8:00 pm, which is often recommended) we would only have had two hours together.
We carried on this late bed time until they started primary school (They went to Chinese kindergarten and so had a long nap in the afternoon).
Make sure that any changes you make will suit your family.
Having said that the easiest way is to bring the whole 'going to bed routine' forward by about five minutes every couple of days. E.g. if you give a bath, read a story and then bed. Bring the bath forward by the five minutes and don't worry too much about if the routine takes longer than usual. Just keep bringing the bath forward and eventually the bedtime will be forward too.
Best wishes,
Barb
My babies all went to bed around 11:00 pm (when my husband and I retired for the night). This suited us very well. We both worked and this late bedtime meant that we could get five hours together with our babies each day.
If they had gone to bed earlier (8:00 pm, which is often recommended) we would only have had two hours together.
We carried on this late bed time until they started primary school (They went to Chinese kindergarten and so had a long nap in the afternoon).
Make sure that any changes you make will suit your family.
Having said that the easiest way is to bring the whole 'going to bed routine' forward by about five minutes every couple of days. E.g. if you give a bath, read a story and then bed. Bring the bath forward by the five minutes and don't worry too much about if the routine takes longer than usual. Just keep bringing the bath forward and eventually the bedtime will be forward too.
Best wishes,
Barb
southside852
Registered User
make adjustments little by little. When my son is jetlaged, we adjust his bedtime by bringing it later/earlier by 15 minutes each night until I reach the desired time. our son is in bed at 7pm and asleep by 7:30pm every night. He's had this schedule since 6 months and is now almost 2 years old.
carang
Registered User
my kids have a "bedtime" that is anywhere from 7:30-8:30 depending on the day they have had. i prefer it this way as we can still go out for dinner as a family if we like.
personally, i would hate for my kids to be awake until hubby and i go to bed. first off, it would not give us any "down" time. it would not give us any "couple" time. and if i was having a really bad day, and was exhausted, my kids wouldn't be ready for sleep until 11pm.
but that's just me. i know for many, if not most, local families late bedtimes are the norm. i think you hear about early bedtimes on here because it's an expat website and early bedtimes is the norm.
the thing that is MOST important is not necessarily the bedtime, but rather the amount of sleep. THIS is where, i think, a lot of local families fall down. a long nap in the afternoon is not the same as a long stretch of sleep at night (i believe). i think that children must get enough sleep. it is detrimental to their health if they don't. i just read an article that linked lack of sleep in children to obesity amongst other things.
there are days i wish my kids would sleep past 7am... but with the bedtime they have, it doesn't happen often. there is give and take in every situation. you just need to find what works for you and your family and stop listening to everyone else.
personally, i would hate for my kids to be awake until hubby and i go to bed. first off, it would not give us any "down" time. it would not give us any "couple" time. and if i was having a really bad day, and was exhausted, my kids wouldn't be ready for sleep until 11pm.
but that's just me. i know for many, if not most, local families late bedtimes are the norm. i think you hear about early bedtimes on here because it's an expat website and early bedtimes is the norm.
the thing that is MOST important is not necessarily the bedtime, but rather the amount of sleep. THIS is where, i think, a lot of local families fall down. a long nap in the afternoon is not the same as a long stretch of sleep at night (i believe). i think that children must get enough sleep. it is detrimental to their health if they don't. i just read an article that linked lack of sleep in children to obesity amongst other things.
there are days i wish my kids would sleep past 7am... but with the bedtime they have, it doesn't happen often. there is give and take in every situation. you just need to find what works for you and your family and stop listening to everyone else.
I would prefer to have the children sleep earlier too, as schools start quite early in the morning, and I would like them to have enough sleep.
I'll probably have to adjust the volume of her milk though to make sure she still has enough despite having no feed from 8pm - 8am.
I'll probably have to adjust the volume of her milk though to make sure she still has enough despite having no feed from 8pm - 8am.
Completely agree, I honestly don't think school aged children can "live" on 7-8 hours of night time sleep ... I hear too many stories about kids falling asleep during classes, etc. Lack of sleep is not healthy. I would slowly adjust the bed time by moving it forward and find a time that works for your family, but most importantly, make sure the child gets the sleep they need, they deserve it!
Three and a half months is very young to expect a baby to manage 12 hours without eating. Often babies this age do understand that there is a difference between the daylight hours and night time though. In the day they are more likely to play after a feed whereas at night time they will wake, feed and go straight to sleep again.
I wouldn't worry too much about schooling at the age. One of the nice things about having a young baby is that there are no school times to worry about. You don't need the baby to sleep early yet, or worry about going away during the school holidays. You will have many years to worry about these things - make the most of not having them yet.
Best wishes,
SARAH
(Who has just taken her first no school holiday in 18 years!)
I wouldn't worry too much about schooling at the age. One of the nice things about having a young baby is that there are no school times to worry about. You don't need the baby to sleep early yet, or worry about going away during the school holidays. You will have many years to worry about these things - make the most of not having them yet.
Best wishes,
SARAH
(Who has just taken her first no school holiday in 18 years!)
In my experience habits are not that hard to change depending on two things.
The first is, "Is it a habit or a need?" If your baby still has a need, say waking for milk in the night, then changing this will be difficult.
The second is' "How determine are you?" If you have a reason behind your wanting to change the habit and not just a "it would be nice" then you put in the effort needed to change the situation.
Remember that as children approach school age they are able to listen and understand your reasoning. And often very happy to at least try to do what you want. Changing habits in older children is usually much easier than in babies. Babies can't explain to you when it is a need and when it is a want.
Best wishes,
SARAH
The first is, "Is it a habit or a need?" If your baby still has a need, say waking for milk in the night, then changing this will be difficult.
The second is' "How determine are you?" If you have a reason behind your wanting to change the habit and not just a "it would be nice" then you put in the effort needed to change the situation.
Remember that as children approach school age they are able to listen and understand your reasoning. And often very happy to at least try to do what you want. Changing habits in older children is usually much easier than in babies. Babies can't explain to you when it is a need and when it is a want.
Best wishes,
SARAH
my baby used to sleep from 8pm to 6am, now at 15mths she won't sleep till 9:30...still she sleeps a good 10 hours...I thought I had "trained" her well...but I"m starting to think they have a mind of their own...I would love for her to sleep earlier, but that would mean cutting out her nap (which is only 1 hour long in the afternoon) and not spending a lot of time with her dad. also, if she's wide eyed and bushy tailed, how DO you get them to sleep? I'm crossing my fingers that as she gets older, I can reason more with her about school and such and that sleep training will come easier. I do believe that if they are tired they will sleep, and if they are not tired there is no point in putting them in since they will just cry their head off...I've tried to let her cry for over 40mins, in the end she fell asleep due to exhaustion, but is it really worth getting her all upset over sleep?!? I find my daughter is just getting smarter with age...there's too much going on! Damn!
my daughter is 4 months old now and she is in bed asleep by 8pm every night. She has been doing this since she was 8 weeks old. I was very lucky with her as it was not something I did on purpose, she just put herself into that routine. She has 5 bottles per day and sleeps until 7am every day.
Obiwan, because my baby has some reflux, she has lesser amounts and more frequent feeds than a "normal" 3 month old. So we usually wake her up at 11-11.30pm for a feed to last her through the night, as she doesn't go to sleep on a totally full stomach. She will then go back to sleep quite quickly because she is quite drowsy then.
I also asked my friends whether they increased their babies' feeds during the day once they started sleeping through the night. Some did so, while others found it was not necessary.
I also asked my friends whether they increased their babies' feeds during the day once they started sleeping through the night. Some did so, while others found it was not necessary.