What is a good bedtime?

[franniesmith78]

My babe will be 8 months in a week and she is still not sleeping through the night.  She was hitting the sack about 7:30 and I recently moved it back to 8:00.  Am I putting her to bed too late?  Should she be going to bed earlier. I have been reading somethings that suggest a 7:00 or even 6:30 bedtime.  Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

Thanks
Frances

[Jaime]

the best bedtime is the one that works best for you. 

most 8 month olds need about 10-12 hours at night.  typically they take 2 naps a day anywhere from 1-3 hrs.  some still take catnaps, though not many.

i would say no more than 3.5-4 hours between when she gets up from her last nap & bedtime.

HTH

[notenoughshelfspace]

Sometimes, not always an ealier bedtime does not equal an earlier wake-up time. Mine is a week short of 7 months and goes to bed at 7:15 and wakes up at 7:30. I used ot put her to bed at 7:45 and she still woke up at the same time just more tired and more crabby. Perhaps try it one night and see if it works.

[franniesmith78]

Thanks for the advise and tips. I will be trying to put her down a half an hour earlier tonight and we will see what happens.

Frances

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

My ds is 8.5 months old, and his bedtime is around 7:15 or 7:30.  It used to be 8 pm around 6 months old, but we moved it earlier, as he would be cranky & tired earlier.  He has pretty consistently been waking up around 7 am.  He occasionally wakes up earlier, but is usually a 7 am riser.

Also, go with the flow on the naps.  Sometimes my ds still needs a late afternoon catnap to get him through to bedtime.  Sometimes he doesn't.  It depends on the day, and how long his naps were that day.

And yes, I actually found him to sleep better when I put him to bed earlier - even half an hour!

Good luck!