May I have some quick advice for tonight? How early to bed???

[Roseii]

So today DD was up at 6am having gone to sleep about 8.15pm, 1 NW at 10.10-10.30pm.
Rest of the day was like this:

S 9.30-9.50am

S 12.15-1pm  This was mine and DH's fault as that 45 mins was in the car and we didn't manage to keep her asleep when we got home.

So now she is understandably looking shattered...Problem is, the earliest I have *ever* got her to sleep is 7pm, took her up at 6.45pm, 15 mins to settle, pretty good going. She got up at 5.40am the next morning  I think she probably was OT but I can't be sure...

I now have no idea what time to put her to bed tonight  How early would you risk, given 7pm is the earliest she has gone to bed in recent months...I was considering taking her up at 6.30pm...Would you go even earlier??

I am at a loss and would be very grateful of any quick responses! Thanks so much 

[~*Nicole*~]

If it were ME I'd do 6:30 or 7:00. You're likely going to get a NW or an EW from OT....BUT you'd likely get an early wake up anyway if she went to bed really early. Since she's older....making her bedtime a bit early is helpful..but she can probably handle the looong A from 1:00pm to 6:30 or 7:00 as a once off and hopefully you can get back on track over the next few days.

[babybarr]

If it were me I'd do earlier but we often do early bedtimes...  I'd do asleep by 6.15pm!  I think go for 6.30pm if it takes till 7pm then so be it, but you don't want it to be 7 then take till 7.30pm I guess.

[Tweakster]

Charli if she's not likely to tack her missing sleep on to her night then I would agree with Nicole.
Especially since you have an almost set bedtime, her biorhythms should carry her through to 6:30.

How long are her nights normally?  If you put her to bed too early you will likely just get an earlier wake up and throw off the next day.  If tomorrow is a better nap day you can *hopefully* be back on track.

Good luck!

[marilyn73]

What age is lo?
I can say from our own experience that after a missed afternoon nap, or am nap, that we've on occasion resorted to a 6:15 bedtime, when the usual is 6:45 (that was at 10-11 months).  Dd is really clear when she's breaking down for good, so although we've pushed through a bit of crankiness, when she's done as my hubby says "stick a fork in it" and "shutterdown".
The early bedtimes haven't messed with the waking time though of 7:00 ish.

[*Becky*]

I would do 6.15pm. Good luck!

[Roseii]

Thanks so much girls, knew I could count on you

Nicole I think you're right that I am in for an EW whatever I do, it's working out well that DH got called in to do a nightshift tonight cos I can go to bed whenever I want and the earliest he will be home is 7am so he won't wake DD up coming in (assuming she wakes before 7am which is a given really!)

Thanks Laura, I think cos you do often do earlier bedtimes I can see why 6.15 would work for you...I am a bit scared of going that early! Although that said DD is melting down already! I have bathed and PJd her, just milk and stories to go...

Wendy her nights vary a lot, unfortunately her bedtime isn't very set, it varies from 7.15-8.15  And the past couple of nights have been on the later side because we have been out...But at the moment her nights seem to be around 10.5/11 hours...Sometimes with 1 or 2 NWs, sometimes sleeping through...

Sorry, DD is 18m exactly 

Thanks all so much, I think I will "risk" taking her up at the unprecedented time of 6.30pm, or slightly earlier to fit in a teethbrushing session which she loves...Yikes! Will feel very weird if she drops off quickly!

I shall report back, wish me luck

Ps Oh great, we are now having a thunder storm, that should be conducive to DD settling off nicely 

[MummyToBen]

I know it's too late for you tonight - but something I read ages ago on here really stuck with me - is that giving an early bedtime *may* result in an EW, but it is better to have an EW with a well slept baby than one who has woken up early because of OT.  We often do early bedtimes (i know they don;t work for everyone though), and Ben frequently wakes up LATER than normal on those days....it's really odd!  So I do think it's worth experimenting with them as they are sooo useful for short nap days

xxx

[Roseii]

Thanks Claire, and that does totally make sense. I am def going to go to bed at a decent time so if she does want to start the day extra early then at least I should be rested too!
Well I took her up at 6.30pm as planned, meltdown when I took the toothbrsh off her, but no tears at all when we went into her room and she was asleep at 6.55pm...I thought she might drop off quicker but she wasn't crying at all, just rolling around in bed!
*Really* hope she STTN now...Thanks again ladies, I'll let you know how we got on!
x

[babybarr]

Fingers crossed for you, guessing her bodyclock is set a bit later maybe that's why she took longer to settle.  Hope she at least STTN for you. Xx

[Roseii]

Hey girls just thought I would update. DD had one very short NW that I needed to settle her for at 12.20am, but it really was super quick, then up at 6am! So I think an 11 hour night is pretty good going after such a bad nap day??
I could hear her stirring at 5am and thought oh noooo But she didn't properly wake til 6am.

I *think* I did the right thing putting her to bed at 6.30 for 7 sleep then as 11 hours is pretty much the best we ever get (even with a NW)

So thank you all very very much for your input Hoping you all had peaceful nights

[*Becky*]

Good news Charli! x

[~*Nicole*~]

Fantastic Charli!

That's the best I would have hoped for in our house...so it worked out well for you.

[Tweakster]

11 hours is fantastic.  And she seems to have a set body clock thing so that could come in handy :-)