Babys First Year Blog
Getting Baby On A Routine
Look at my sleepy baby!
For the past few weeks, I’ve begun to notice that Wolf has developed a pattern. He wakes sometime around 6:00 am and he’s always hungry when he wakes up. I feed him then we do a little tummy time and then I set him down in his crib under his mobile where he coos and ahhs at the animals floating above his head. He’s content for about 30 minutes, just enough time for me to either shower or make breakfast. Then he gets fussy so I swaddle him and put him down for a nap. About an hour or so later, we repeat.
Each day isn’t exactly the same, but Wolf always goes from sleep to eat to play to fuss to sleep again. Now that we’re starting to see him on a routine, I wonder how much I should stick to it and how much I can afford to change it.
Right now Wolf’s schedule works for us. He wakes up at 6:00 am, naps and eats off and on through out the day, then he’s asleep by 11:00 pm and sleeps through the night. When I look at most schedules for babies and kids, the typical “bed time” is 7:00 or 8:00 pm. I feel like we could transition Wolf into an 8:00 bed time, but then he’d be awake at 4:00 and as selfish as this might seem, it works best for me to sleep through the night and get up for my day when he wakes up.
What do you think about bed time? Is it wrong for me to be putting Wolf to bed so late? When did your baby start sleeping through the night?
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7 Comments
Julie commented on Jul 31 11 at 2:08 amDo what works for you. Though you might test the theory of an earlier bedtime. Some kids just wake up at that time because it’s when the sun comes up and they want to greet the sun. You might get lucky with a kid who goes to bed earlier and still sleeps till 6. As for the 11pm bedtime? :P on anybody who has a problem with it. What job or school does that baby need to be up in the morning for? NONE. So you let Wolf sleep on whatever works best for him. It’s what I’ve done with both of my boys. People thought I was insane because they had bedtimes around 1am the first year of their life. But you know what? They also slept till NOON. If I tried to put them down earlier than that, they wouldn’t sleep thru the night. And I prefer being a late riser anyway LOL!
m.j. commented on Jul 31 11 at 3:41 amDoesn’t hurt to try putting him down earlier one night.Like Julie said, he may sleep for the full 10 hours just because his body knows when its morning. If it doesn’t work, try again in a few months. I can say one of my favorite times of day is 8pm when my son is in bed and my husband and I get some q.t. He’s also an early riser, so its nice to have the option of going to bed earlier myself.
MIchelle commented on Jul 31 11 at 10:48 amHe’s still really little. Do what works. We shifted from the newborn sleep all day to a schedule by adding a bath every night around 7 or 8, and that became bedtime. But it took time, and the shift was gradual.
Jennifer commented on Jul 31 11 at 9:22 pmI agree with all of the above, do what works for you but also try the earlier thing. When mine goes to bed earlier it usually hasn’t led to an earlier morning.
Janessa commented on Jul 31 11 at 9:34 pmI say whatever works. I switched my then five month old from a 10 pm bedtime to 8 pm hoping he would get more sleep at night. Eventually he did, but it was a rough two weeks. My advice if you switch to earlier bedtime is to do it very gradually.
Lauren commented on Jul 31 11 at 9:49 pmI did the same thing….when c was first born we’d put him down alike 1am, then it transitioned to 1030 then finally 8 pm, but I don’t think that was until he was about 3-4 months old. It is wonderful when they finally go to sleep then and you have time in theeveming to yourself, but trust me he will naturally start doing this on his own, just take his cues…just like they naturally drink more and more ounces and then when they start solids they natually start dropping the amount of formula/bffeedings they have…..if you want to try 8pm you might just have to do the “dream feed” eitherin the late evening or feed him if he wakes up at 3 or 4 and put him right back to bed and he might sleep more u til 6 or 7….
Sarah Faye Cohen commented on Aug 01 11 at 9:38 amIt’s always shocking to me but the earlier you put them to sleep, the later they sleep! Totally unlike adults but it seems to work for those little bodies. It takes a few days of working it out (as always, right?!) but our little one started going to sleep at 7 when she was 4 months and she wakes up at 5 for a nursing session and then goes back to sleep until 7:30. When she goes to sleep later, she wakes up earlier. We are still on that pattern at 7 months.
I agree with everyone else: do what works. But you might be surprised what a new way might do. And if I may be so bold, have a look at “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child”. I’m sure there are lots of other books and methods but this one has worked really well for us in terms of developing a schedule. Good luck!
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