What time for bed?

[newmama12]

My little guy (7.5 months) has pretty much dropped the CN. However, he only naps in the afternoon till 2, sometimes 2:30. What times should bedtime be? I think we're already in the OT stage and I don't want it to get any worse. He, normally, starts getting tired around 5:15/5:30, but that's too late for a CN.

Here's a 'normal' schedule (he wakes around 6-6:15am or so):
E: 6:45 (nurse) solids at 8:00
S: 8:30/8:45 - 10/10:30 (usually 1.5 hours)
E: when he wakes from nap. Solids around 12
S: 1-2:30
E: nurse at 2:30, solids at 4:45
E: nurse 5:45
S: 6:30

I'm thinking that his days are too long. What do you think? He barely naps 3 hours a day, is up 2x at night and is up early at 6am. Should he be going to bed earlier? I'm hoping to get him to more of a 6:45/7am wake up, but we can't seem to get there with the early bedtime. Any ideas?
Today he only napped from 1-2, so not sure how the rest of the afternoon is going to go. I know he'll probably be getting tired by 4:30...

Just curious what time you would put him to bed looking at our schedule? TIA!

[Shiv52]

I would probably be putting him to bed about 5.45/6am although if he is showing tired signs earlier then you maybe should go with it and see how he does at night.  I would actually give him a 30 minute CN at 5/5.15 and then go for bed at 7/7.15 but here early bedtimes always meant wake up 11.5 hours later so i tended to prefer a later bedtime/wake up.

Another reason his last A time is so long is his A time is quite short for 7.5 months.

Here is a link:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.msg476652#msg476652


6.5 - 7 months 2.75-3 hours. Some are getting more.
8 - 10 months 3 - 4 hours. Some are getting more.


I would start pushing his A time toward 3 hours, maybe 10-15 for 3-5 days and then another 10-15 minutes for another 3-5 days.  That way you will shorten that last A time and beable to have a normal bedtime.

Today he only napped from 1-2, so not sure how the rest of the afternoon is going to go. I know he'll probably be getting tired by 4:30...

I would do 30/45 minute CN at 4.30 and then bed later on. 


HTH x

[newmama12]

Thank you for responding!

I'll try to get a CN in today since he only took 2, 1 hour naps, with the last ending at 2pm.

Ok, so if I lengthen his A to 3 hours would it maybe look something like this:

Wake: 6:30
Sleep 9:30-11
Sleep 2:00-3:30
Bed 6:30

I think bedtime is the thing I don't get right. What if naps are short? Earlier bed?

[my3girlsjde]

Usually of naps are short, you would cut the A's back a bit and see how they do. That usually gives a bit of an earlier bedtime too.

Remember when extending your A times to do it gradually. No more than 15 min increments otherwise you may run into the OT trap.