Putting to sleep earlier so they'll sleep later in the AM

amother

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 9:18 am

Has anyone tried this? My one year old (didn't know whether to put this in infant or toddler -- he's only a bit over a year) started waking up between 5:00 and 5:30. I know there's an idea out there that some kids will sleep in later if you put them to bed earlier. Did you try this? If it worked, how long did it take? I just put him to bed half an hour earlier one night and an hour earlier the next night to see if it would change things. It was crazy hectic to do it, and he woke up the same time -- maybe even a bit earlier than usual. Is it worth continuing? Could it be that he just needs to get used to it, and it'll work if I give it a few more days?

Please share your experiences.

acccdac

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 9:57 am

I'm very into putting them to bed early.

in general with sleeping it takes 3 nights to see some sort of change.

what time does he go to bed?

when my second was that age he did wake up for the day at 5:30 and it was annoying but he was in bed by 6:00 every night so that was very nice.

my third goes to bed every night at 6:00 and she gets up around 6:45-7:15. However, this week is the first time since the time change that she has woken up closer to 7:00. Until this week she was getting up at 6:00. So it took her a while to get use to the time change.

I have a friend who said her first child would sleep 12 hours a night no matter when she put her in.
her second child (which I find is the norm) wakes up around 7 every morning no matter if he went to bed at 6 or 9.

amother

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 10:10 am

My son has been going to sleep about 7:45. We only eat dinner at around 6:45, since that's when dh comes home. This has worked fine for my first (who goes to sleep even later), but obviously isn't working for this ds.

So I'm trying to have him fed, bathed, and in bed before 6:45. It's very stressful. I would honestly rather have the extra time at night with him, especially if it would mean that he would sleep in in the morning (but even if not), but I'm willing to mess up our schedules and make life a bit more stressful if it means that the morning can start at a decent hour. I'm very sad mommy when I wake up at 5:15, and because I work at night, I really can't go to sleep earlier than I am right now.

Has anyone made this change? Did it take three days? More? Less?

acccdac

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 10:19 am

just to add something

my dh hasnt seen our dd since tuesday morning.

it gets sad, the longest we've gone is 3 days.

To me that is why we have shabbos, plus if my dh traveled for work then she would see him even less so I feel lucky.

bedtime for my dd (5:15 till 6:00) is stressful because that is when my oldest is doing homework and the second is cranky and hungry, but once she is in her crib the house takes on it's own peacefull atmosphere.

my kids use to wait to have dinner with my dh at 6 or 6:30

but this school year it changed to them having dinner between 5 and 6. between homework, unwinding, wanting to play, having 3 kids around, it became easier to feed ALL of them at the same time between 5 and 5:30. (just as a note, my kids come home about 2 - 2.5 hours before bedtime. so its a small amount of time for everything to get done.)

sunny90

Thu, Jun 02 2011, 6:22 pm

My DS was also waking up at that time at that age, and I had him in bed every night by 7 sharp. It really depends a lot on their naps, I think. If they're overtired when they go to bed at night, they'll wake up earlier. If they're not tired enough because they slept longer/had a later nap, they'll wake up earlier. What's the gap between his last nap and his bedtime?
I found when I was transitioning him to one nap (which you should try to do as late as possible, but his days were just getting longer and longer with two naps and I need him in bed early so I can actually get things done), if he hadn't slept enough that day I'd just put him in at 6-6:30. He might still have woken up at 5-6 am, but at least he was getting his sleep back and not collecting a sleep debt which would eventually cause him to sleep more restlessly at night AND in the day.
I personally think that 7:45 is a bit late for a baby that age. Try putting him in consistently at 7 for about a week. He'll probably still wake up early, but he'll be working off his sleep debt and will probably be less tired during the day and less likely to be overtired at bedtime.

shabri

Fri, Jun 03 2011, 6:35 am

Yes. Actually I am a big believer in this. The theory behind it is as follows. When a child is overtired, they are going to sleep less. Think of yourself, are you ever so overtired that you a wired and can't sleep? So they consistantly wake up earlier like 5:30 or so.

So I put them to sleep early, like 5 or 5:30pm. Then even if they are waking up at 5:30am they are getting in a full 12 hours or more. After a few days, as their body has caught up on sleep, you gradually move bedtime back to its normal time. But keep in mind that if they have recently given up a nap then you need to move bedtime earlier otherwise, they will constantly be tired.

I learned this at the point that DD1 was waking up a lot in the middle of the night and also early morning. Turns out she was getting her incisor teeth in. So I gave her tylenol before bed and also did this to catch her up on her sleep. Worked like a charm and I do it every so often when I see my kids are really tired.

Some ppl think I'm crazy that my 4 & 2 yr old are sleeping by 6/:30 but if I put them in then, they roll over, go to sleep and sleep until 6:30/7am. If I put them in later, it takes them longer to go to sleep and they wake up earlier

amother

Fri, Jun 03 2011, 8:33 am

shabri wrote:

Yes.
Some ppl think I'm crazy that my 4 & 2 yr old are sleeping by 6/:30 but if I put them in then, they roll over, go to sleep and sleep until 6:30/7am. If I put them in later, it takes them longer to go to sleep and they wake up earlier

Most people think I'm crazy too, my kids go to bed at 6:30pm (5, 3 and 2 years old). First, I get an evening to do things and relax if I need to. Second, they wake up at 6-6:30 no matter WHAT time they go to bed (even 9-10pm!!) so why the heck would I wait until later to get them to bed??

I am so tired of everyone making comments about my kids "not knowing what nighttime looks like". I do what works for us, can't they just see that??

sunny90

Fri, Jun 03 2011, 9:03 am

amother wrote:

shabri wrote:

Definitely! I would without a doubt put my son in earlier if he had a short/early nap and looks extra tired (I put him in at 7 because he wakes up at 7), and who cares if they know what nighttime looks like? I need the evening, first of all, and secondly, in the summer here nightfall is at 9:30--so I should put him in at 9:30 so he'll know what darkness looks like? Heck no. I also hate the comments but you know what? You're the one who has to deal with your children all day so it's your prerogative when they go to sleep. (My parents/siblings were amazed when we stayed at them for Pesach how docilely my rambunctious DS went off to bed, so I felt I must be doing something right!)