When to Set WU?

[Kymmi13]

I am wondering at what age should WU time be established?  Right now LO's night sleep varies so much that WU is anywhere from 7:30am - 9:45am.  Should I set a specific WU time or have a time limit?

LO is on a 3 hour EASY with some variation based on nap lengths (naps are 1 - 2 hours). 

Thanks for the input!

[jessmum46]

How old is your LO?

If you're in the first few weeks my personal preference is just to let LO sleep, though some people will start a regular WU time from the early days.  We used a WU 'window' for a while from around 4 months onwards until we went to a set nap time on one nap - so not starting the day before 6.30am (treat anything before this as a NW and try to resettle) and woke LO by 7am unless there were exceptional circumstances e.g. rough night or illness. Having a regular WU time give or take 30 mins will help establish some structure to the day . But ultimately it's totally up to you!

[Kymmi13]

DS will be 11 weeks this Tuesday. 

I was just concerned since I've read so many posts with young LO's that have scheduled WU's. 

Will limiting the night sleep help DS sleep longer at night?  I have not been waking him - I let him sleep however long he wants.  Yesterday, his BT was 7:30pm and his WU the next day was 9:45am.  Is this too long of nighttime sleep?  His naps are pretty good, but he still wakes 3-4 times during the night.  Just curious if capping the night time hours will ultimately have him sleep longer stretches. 

Also, if he has a BT of 8 (and I set his window of WU at 8am +\- 30 min), and he wakes at 7, should I set him down again only to have to wake him in an hour?  Will this teach him to have shorter night time sleep?

[jessmum46]

I'm a bit confused - will limiting night sleep help him sleep longer at night?  I don't think so.....sleep usually begets sleep.  But you do want to start aiming for more of a 12h day over the next few weeks so establishing a WU time that fits with your family routines sounds like it might be something you want to do.  It will help give some consistency to your days too

Yes if you set 8am as WU (so aiming for roughly an 8-8 day) I would treat anything before 7.30am as a NW and try to resettle.  Yes you'd then be getting him up an hour later but that's the way to establish a consistent WU time.