Baby Is Tired Long B4 Bedtime

amother

Thu, Dec 11 2014, 4:13 pm

I don't know what to do. I've been putting my baby (5 mo. old) to sleep at around 9:15. Only she usually starts getting tired around 7:30 and is cranky until her bedtime. Her last nap usually ends at around 6:00ish.

What am I doing wrong? Do I need to change her bedtime? If so, how do I do it? (I once tried putting her to sleep earlier, but she woke up like it was a nap and wanted to play Smile

)

Another question: (save on the threads) she usually wakes up around 7:00/7:30 eats and then plays for a half an hr. then goes back to sleep for another half hr. and then is up for the day (or at least until the next nap). How can I get the baby to sleep for longer instead of getting up, then napping, then getting up for real.

-Anon. b/c I am such a first time mother Smile

redroses

Thu, Dec 11 2014, 4:25 pm

A normal bedtime for a baby that age is 7:30. If she's tired at 730 it's because her body is telling her it's time to go to sleep. Don't let her nap later than 4 or 5pm so her body will be completely tired by 730 and she will understand that its time to sleep for the night. Make sure her room is dark and peaceful and if she wakes up don't take her out. You'll need to teach her that it's sleeptime not nightime and her body will adjust.
Tip: Bedtime routines are very helpful. If you give her a bath at 7pm every night, put on pajamas, give her a bottle and maybe shema and a song, she will also learn that these are indicators of bedtime.

If she's only up for a half hour in the mornign and then goes back to sleep, it's likely she's not tired enough to sleep for longer than a half hour. Extend her awake time as long as you can, even up to 2 hours, play with her, talk to her etc, and then put her down for a nap. Hopefully you will find that she sleeps longer.

Good luck! it's never to late to put them on a schedule!

amother

Thu, Dec 11 2014, 5:28 pm

redroses wrote:

Can I just start putting her to sleep at 7:30 cold turkey or do I need to slowly make her bedtime earlier and earlier? Also, if I do this, she will probably wake up twice in the middle of the night. She can go for one 6 hr. stretch (so that's 1:30 am). I don't like to dreamfeed her b/c she usually wakes up completely and then I have to get her back to sleep.

I don't understand the second part. When should I keep her up?

amother

Thu, Dec 11 2014, 5:31 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

Listen to her cues! She's ready for an earlier bedtime at night. It's also normal for the first nap of the day to be soon after waking in the morning. Her morning wakeup time is very typical and it's not likely you'll get that to change.

Can you answer my above question about going cold-turkey?
I guess I need to stop being a night owl and get up and dressed when she's playing and then get stuff done while she's sleeping Smile

stem

Thu, Dec 11 2014, 6:32 pm

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth

The above book saved my life, I recommend it to everyone.

Your baby is communicating to you that she has graduated from the first few months of more random sleep and ready for a clock/time based schedule.

A 5 month old baby is ready to be on a schedule like this:

7:00 a.m. wake up
9:00 a.m. nap
1:00 p.m. nap
5:00 p.m. optional short nap
7:00-8:00 bed time

Baby should be sleeping for the next 11-12 hours with feedings once before midnight and once after if necessary. The nighttime feedings will eventually lessen and disappear.

Also, contrary to what others may think, leaving a baby awake for too long is actually bad for good sleep. They will just get over tired and become unable to settle themselves into healthy sleep.

If you can possibly get your hands on that book, you'll be glad you did!

Miri7

Thu, Dec 11 2014, 6:47 pm

I haven't read the book that Stem posted above, but her advice is right on. My 7 month old baby is on that same schedule and it works really well for us.

I find it odd for her to nap at 5 sometimes when she's going to bed at 7, but it works!

Sleep begets sleep.

I agree that a bedtime routine is key. Also keeping the room dark and quiet at night. When baby wakes at night, I don't turn on lights, change diaper (she doesn't dirty a diaper at night), or talk to her. I just nurse and back to sleep for her. If she sees any light she thinks it's daytime and she's ready to jump up and play!

amother

Sat, Dec 13 2014, 4:17 pm

Thank you everyone!

I tried it last night! Put baby to sleep at 7:30. She went to sleep and slept very nicely and didn't wake up when DH and I came in the room (like 9:30/10:00ish). She woke up at 11:30 PM and ate, then she woke up again around 3:30ish, then again at 6:30 am, which I thought was for the day/played w/ her for a few mins., but surprisingly, she went back to sleep until 9:15. I wish we could get the 6 hr. stretch to happen (she used to do that), but at least she went to sleep nicely and much less of that evening crankiness.

Stem, about the schedule you wrote. I don't think she is ready to be "up" from 9:00 to 1:00. She usually can't handle being up for more than 2 hrs. w/o some shut-eye time (usually a cat nap in the morning). I try to put her to sleep as soon as the eye-rubbing, yawning and sucking on e/t in furiously sucking on e/t in sight starts.

stem

Sat, Dec 13 2014, 9:17 pm

I'm so glad it's working out, amother!

My advice would be to literally wake her up at 7:00 am no matter what her night was like. If she woke up at 6:30 and then went back to sleep, wake her up at 7:00 anyway. She will get the hang of it if you are super consistent. You're teaching her lifelong good sleep habits even at this young age!

The schedule that I wrote on the previous post was an example of an ideal schedule, and it may time some time till she is exactly at those times. Babies usually get tired 1-2 hours after waking up in the morning, she will probably start out closer to 1 till she gets a little older. Also, I assume her naps are at least 45 minutes, or up to 2 hours long. Don't let her sleep for 3 hours straight or it will ruin her next nap, which affects her nighttime sleep and so on and so forth.

Maybe try something like this:

7:00 wake up
8:30 nap
12:00 nap
4:00 short nap
7:00 bedtime

amother

Sat, Dec 20 2014, 2:25 pm

Hi, it's OP and I'm bumping this topic.

Putting the baby to bed early has been going well. Thank you for all the suggestions! It is so helpful. Now, I am in the need for more.

I'm putting the baby to bed at 7:30, but from after her last nap-this is her long nap (usually 1.5 hrs. ish-she wakes up at around 5:30), she usually plays for a little bit and then is cranky (and rubbing eyes) from 6:00ish until bedtime. What am I doing wrong or is this normal?

pickle321

Sat, Dec 20 2014, 2:36 pm

amother wrote:

I think that is normal. My baby goes to sleep at around 7 sometimes a little earlier and she gets cranky from around 5:30. It might be a good idea to move her bed time up to 7 if she is very tired.