Bedtime?

I also have a Holloween baby. My triplets are 13 months and the other is 17 months and they go to bed at 7-7:30 p.m. All my friends who have kids y our age go to bed at 7:30. It's funny becasue I just asked them the question yesterday, wondering if mine were going to bed too early. Good luck

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How long is the bedtime routine? Maybe it's too much and she needs you to cut out some of the things. For example, move story time to another time during the day.
When moving the bedtime, only change it by 15 min at a time. Give her time to get used to that (a couple of days) before moving it again.
Use the same routine for nap time, too.
Good luck!

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You have gotten some great advice.

Figuring out when a good bedtime is - watch for early signs of sleepiness. When she is yawning and rubbing her eyes, those are later signs. Whatever time you see her yawning and rubbing her eyes now, aim to have her in bed by that time.

Routine - Routines are really comforting for small children, as it lets them know what is coming next, helps them feel comfortable and secure, and makes transitions easier. As much as you can, keep to a bedtime routine. If you have to rush it because you are running late one night, I think it's better to shorten parts of the routine rather than cut them out altogether.

Daytime naps - Daytime naps are a huge contributor to nighttime sleep. If children aren't sleeping well, their bodies get wound up, which makes it even harder for them to go to sleep later. It's kind of a vicious cycle, but it can be broken.

A great book that helped me get my daughter on track without tears is the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. There are a lot of great tips for good bedtime sleep without letting them cry it out. She also includes a lot of good general information about sleep and how our bodies work, including a sleep chart that gives general ranges for how long babies should be sleeping at each age. Although specifics will vary for each child, you should find some good tips in this book.

Best of luck,
S.

ps - I have a 3yo and a 1yo. We recently moved their bedtime from 8:30 to 7:30, and they are doing SOOOO much better!

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9:00 is not a bad time for a 5 month old:) They can't sleep 12 hrs like a one year or two year old. So it depends a lot on what her schedule is for eating and naps in the daytime. Baby's this age sleep 5-7 hrs at night. and need a total of 12-15 hrs every 24 hrs. It might be as easy as giving her one more nap if she just cant make it to 9:00 or eight without having a hard time. So figure out how many hrs she is getting at night, then see how many more she needs to get to the 12-15 hrs. Divide that into two or three hr stretches (however long her naps usually are)and then give her that many naps a day. I also suggest feeding her when she wakes up rather then right before she goes to sleep. It makes it so much easier to tell when they are tired, because you know that they are not hungry. Then once she start avoiding your eyes or getting slightly fussy, you just can do your nap or night time routine, and put her down.
Here is an example...
If she gets 6hrs at night, that leaves 6-9 hrs of naps, I would try for three long naps. So that is about 3-4 naps a day. Then I just split that up with her waking hrs. So if she goes to sleep at 9 wakes up at 3am and eats and goes back to sleep and wakes at 6-7am then she would be awake for two hrs, nap for two, wake for three nap for two wake for three nap for two wake until bedtime.
Hope that gives you a good idea, Good luck
E.

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7pm is a great bedtime. Your baby will probably sleep longer if you put her down earlier. Try reading Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. It's a great book and talks about the importance of an early bedtime. My kids are 4 and 2 and still go to bed at 7pm. They are much happier as a result.
Best, Julie

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Make sure your baby is taking 2 naps a day. Maybe one around 9 or 10-ish. Then a second around 1 , 2, or 3-ish. Then start the bedtime routine 7 or 8-ish based on her cues. Cues are rubbing eyes, heavy eyes, blinking lots, and getting cranky. It takes time to develop a routine. So don't throw the baby out with the bathwater after one try. (just a saying --- not to be taken literally)

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With my boys, I first just went with their rhythm in their younger years. Babies usually sleep 14 to 16 hours a day. this is split up with naps and the night time...When my boys starting eating meals with the rest of the family then we could implement a routine of a dinner ideally around 5pm and if you bathe your child daily, that would come right after dinner then to bed after that. That is about 7 to 7:30. My boys wake about 10 to 12 hrs later.
I'd expect your baby is still nursing or taking a bottle mid way thru the night. This can be expected for awhile and with my boys I just took it in stride. I think my youngest son went all night without a feeding at about a year....As for preventing a meltdown I try to look out for clues like when he/she looks alittle spacy and starts rubbing his/her eyes.
Good luck and make sure you get some time for your self...

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When my daughter was 5 months old, she went to bed around the same time as yours is now. As she has gotten older (now she's almost 16 months)and we have more of a routine going, we start getting her ready for bed at about 7:30 (bath, PJs, and a story if she's interested). So she's in bed close to 8:30. Even though she's usually a little cranky earlier than that, we've found she goes to bed more easily if she's just a little more tired. Otherwise, if she's not quite ready, she ends up getting upset and wired and then won't go back down until 10:00!

On another note, I think sometimes parents base bedtime on what they have going on. If they like to have a few hours at night to regroup and have some alone time, it's more convenient to put their child to bed early. For myself on the other hand, I work full time, so by the time I get home at night I want to spend as much time with her as I can, so her bedtime is a little bit later than other people's kids. I think whatever you decide to do that will benefit both of you is great. As long as they are getting enough sleep for them, including naps, you're doing the right thing.

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My daughter has always gone to bed between 8 and 830. Sometimes she would struggle with it a little, but if you want a consistant schedule, you can't back down. If you let it slide for a day or two, it'll take you a week to get her back on schedule. It is really helpful to have a place in the childs room where you can hold her, in the darkened room, if whe is wakeful after you put her down. It may seem callous, but if she's not cranky, don't hold her after bedtime. She'll just start to crave it all the time. Hold her BEFORE the bedtime to give her any cuddle time. Hope any of this helps.

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Most nights my daughter has dinner around 5:00, has about 30 minutes of playtime, then we let her run around naked for about 10 minutes (her favorite part of the day it seems!), start bath around 6:00 for 20 minutes or so, jammies and books until 7:00. Then we turn out the lights, sing a lullaby or two while she has a nighttime bottle and she's the one that says "night night". We'll put her in her crib (without the bottle) and most nights she'll take 10-15 minutes to fall asleep but she's so relaxed at that point that she just lays there rubbing her stuffed animal or blankies. We've been doing this since about 9 months and she's 22 months now and she is still a fabulous sleeper.

One thing we found is that her body always tells her it's time to wake up at 7:00a.m. Whether we put her to bed at 7:00 or at 10:00, she will still wake up 7:00a.m. So if you're thinking that if put your child down later they will sleep later, it doesn't usually work that way. Meltdowns are going to happen until a routine has really been established and stays consistent. My only advice is to figure out a routine, stick with it and have patience. Good luck!

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try and establish a relaxing routine for bedtime... like bath, story, bed... or whatever suits your family lifestyle... and early... If you stick to a routine, eventually they get the clue that after bath, etc. they know it is time to go to bed. We kind of slow things down, turn off the t.v., read books etc. after dinner.. then have a bath.. put on our jammies, and have a little snuggle before bed (in her room without the lights on). she settles down pretty easily (knock wood). we've been doing this since she was about 2 mos old... she's 16 mos now and aside from when she is sick or over-stimulated she goes right down.

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According to Dr. Weissbluth, author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, children's sleep needs change at around 4 months of age and should go to bed between 6-8 p.m. I did that and it worked great!! Get the book if you can--I loved it.

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I recommend a book called "healthy sleep habits, happy child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It has saved my life and my sisters and I swear by it and we have 12 kids combined and have used it for all of our kids. The premise is that if kids get enough sleep then they are able to focus more adequately on what they need to accomplish throughout the day in regards to learning, developing, socializing, etc. I have a 7, 5 and 3 year old and they all go to bed between 6 and 6:45 the youngest is 7 months old and he goes to bed at 5:15 and sleeps straight through to 7am.

This book is available through the salt lake county library if you just want to peruse it. You can read it in sections depending on the age of your child.

The key that I have found is that you need to look for a fussy time period that your child exhibits in the early evening (usually between 5 and 6 depending on childs age) and that is your clue to their bedtime. If you try to get them to bed during that window of opportunity then they will have the best sleep if you wait and miss that opportunity then you will find that they get a second wind and it is way more difficult to get them settled down for the night.
Hope that helps.
K.

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