Earlier Vs. Later Bedtime

Waking up at a certain time in the morning can be a habit and it doesn't matter what time she goes down at night. My son always wakes up around 6 but goes back to sleep until around 8:30 sometimes 9:00. Last night he woke up at 5am with a wet diaper and clothes, i changed him and his clothes and he laid in bed with us for 20 minutes to relax and then he went back to bed until 10am. So it is the 6 am habit that will need to be broken. You could go in and do the sleep training thing again. Shhhh, it isn't morning time. It is sleepy time. Go back to sleep. Of course she will cry but this will have to be learned over time. My son sleeps from 9pm to 9am (give or take an hour either way). He has one nap (he is 19 months) from around 2:00 to 4:00. If I hear him early, I ignore him unless he is screaming, which means he is soaking wet, but it doesn't happen often. He sleeps in a size 6 diaper usually and wears a size 5 during the day. Does she wake early because of a soaked diaper? If so, go up a size at night. My son also drinks a bottle of milk around 8:30 and eats a late dinner around 7:00 or so. If he has an earlier dinner, he'll eat a snack. She could be hungry. good luck.

Hi I.,

I have a 14 month old who will wake between 630and 730 every morning, no matter what time I put her to sleep. It is true, though, that the later I put her to sleep, the later she will sleep in the morning. She's always been an all-night sleeper, though, so I'm happy that she sleeps from 9-11 hrs a night. I have two older daughters, though, (5 and 2) that wake up to watch TV in the morning, and who don't know the meaning of whispering, so the baby tends to wake up to ther "noise".

The earliest I put the baby to sleep is 830, and the latest has been 10 (on days when I'm still up enjoying her company). Generally, though, 915 is a good in-between time for her to sleep until 7. I don't mind her waking earlier, since I have to get all 3 of the girls ready to take their older sister to the bus stop, so 630 is ok. She's also learned to play by herself until I get to her and give her her morning milk cup, so I don't even hear any crying or fussing for me. You may have to learn not to run to her every time she makes a peep, and let her wake up on her own, and relax by herself, before you tend to her.

Lastly, I moved her nap time to an earlier time (between 11 and 12) and she sleeps about 2 hrs. This way she will go asleep tired at night, and will always go down easy.

Good Luck!

Mari

I think you're ultimately right - it all depends on the baby. I would just accept the fact that at this point you've got a 12 hour sleeper (2 during the day and 10 at night) and roll with it. My son at this point goes to bed really early, and my daughter has always had a roughly 8pm bedtime with a roughly 6am wake up. I like the 8pm bedtime because we can all have dinner together, she can get in some playing with dad, get a bath and some stories, etc without feeling like we're rushing through the nighttime routine. We can even sometimes go out to dinner without worrying about rushing back for bed. Anyway, I would say your best bet is just to embrace the sleep routine she's chosen, because it's a healthy amount of sleep for both of you and you'll find that a) there's very little you can do about it and b) it'll probably change again in not too long anyway.

This happened to us and the Weissbluth thing worked again. We still (she is 21 months) put our daughter down at 7pm every night and, like clockwork, she awakens at 6am. We have tried a later bedtime but it doesn't seem to matter what the hour she goes down, she always wakes at 6am. I say she needs more sleep so the earlier, the better for everyone.

Good luck!

wow, she sleeps for ten hours at night without waking. that's fabulous! consider yourself lucky. i don't think there is a magic formula for bedtimes, each child is different and they will change their routines frequently, for many reasons, so don't stress over it. relax and go with the flow.