help from those on 6am-6pm routines

[croft]

Hi,

I was hoping to chat with others who are on the 6-6pm routine to see how you structure your day.

Daniel has always been a good night sleeper but never slept until 7am (maybe occasionally) and I decided to structure his routine based on 6am.
He does wake at 5.30 am quite often, but will lay quietly for up to an hour, though never sleep at this time. I have tried and tried to change this but no luck so far, we have an early riser.

This is his routine at present..he is 9 months old.

WAKE................5.30/6.00

BOTTLE............6.30
SOLIDS.............7.30
A TIME..............2.45h
ASLEEP.............8.15/8.45

NAP...................45-1.30h

BOTTLE............10.30
SOLIDS.............11.30
A TIME...............2.45h
ASLEEP.............12.30/1.00

NAP...................1-1.30h

BOTTLE.............2.30
SOLIDS..............5.00
BATH.................5.30
A TIME..............4.00h/4.30
BOTTLE.............6.00

BED...................6.15/6.30

Sharron

[Jess-J&E]

Hey Sharron,
   I am not quite on that schedule right now (looks like I am headed that way though with another early riser ) but my first son was quite similar to yours.  He was that way from day one and still is at 2.5 years old...I have tried everything I know how to make him go later but no luck.  Coffee is now my best friend LOL.  When he was 9 months our day was like this:

5:30/6 wake
6:30- Bottle
7:30 breakfast
9:30-11:00 Nap #1
11:30- Lunch
12:30 Bottle
2:00-3:00 Nap#2
4:30 Dinner
6 Bath/Bottle
6:30 Asleep

The early bedtime was key to keeping him happy since he always woke early.  Sounds like our routines are pretty similar!

[katriona]

Hey Sharron,

Not sure what help I can be, but we've pretty much always been on a 6am/6.30am to 6.30pm day. DS still doesn't go to bed any later than 6.45pm now, or he's up early the next am and is just a bear. Our routine is:

6.15am wake (or 6.26am as it's been for the past six days in a row!)
12.00pm nap
1.45pm wake
6.30pm bed

The early mornings took some getting used to, but I LOVE having my evenings to myself (DH works early mornings, so is in bed by 7pm as well). I get to work, scrapbook... oh yeah, clean 

I am looking forward to the clocks going forward though -- then we'll switch to 7am-7.30pm. Unless he starts waking earlier and earlier due to the lighter mornings I suppose, in which case I'll have to bring everything forward 

Katy

[Layla]

Sharron - I have a 6 o'clock starter. She actually used to be at 6.30-7am but when she dropped the catnap, I had to bring the bedtime forward and she started waking early  . Ok, this is what our day looks like:

6am - wake
6.30 - breakfast (solids)
7.30 - bottle
Total A time - 3hrs

9am - nap 1 (1hr)
10am - wake & snack (solids)
11ish - lunch
12ish - bottle
Total A time - 3hrs

1pm - sleep (1hr  )
2pm - wake
3pm - snack
4.30-5pm - dinner
bath & bedtime routine after dinner
6pm - last bottle and asleep within 5-10mins
Total A time - 4hrs

Something really strange I've noticed actually since the catnap was done with (more or less 2 weeks ago)... sometimes when she wakes & I am still really knackered, I just feed her & pop her back to get some more sleep. Well I have actually noticed that she will go back to sleep and will sometimes sleep till 7.30am. Really weird. I actually watched her (cause I was worried that I had mistaken her quietness for sleeping) - we have a video monitor and sure enough she falls asleep. So, I am sure if I should bring her bedtime even more... she's always been one of those babies with more than required sleep but I suspect it might havesomething to do with taking just 1hr in the afternoon nap.

We also used to do bottle before meals but then she wasn't too keen on solids so I switched around and she's eating much better now. I also can't wait for the time change but I do remember Isabella doing 6-6 and come time change, somehow she would end up back on 6-6. Its like she knew  .

Anyways, mine is a little over 9months so I hope you don't mind me posting our schedule

Layla

[rinajack]

I had an early riser too.  6pm bedtime, 5am wakeup. Forever. Always only 11 hours at night.  We didn't have a real routine as such, I am a cue follower, but I think most days it was similar to yours except the A times were more even, since she has always done long A times.

After I got pregnant, I just couldn't handle the 5am, and DH was sick of never seeing Zara in the PM (or all day/night often).

So one day, she took an extra nap, later in the afternoon.  And we moved bedtime to 7:30.  She had short nights for a while, but we followed cues and she didnt' get overtired because we made it up in her day sleep (well, almost).  With some work on the early wakeups, she is now waking at about 7am.  Depending on naps, she goes to bed between 7 and 8.  Sometimes I miss the evenings, but DH loves to see her more, and I still rise early most days (DH leaves for work early) so I have my quiet time in the mornings.

So, I guess I am saying, that if you work hard at it, it can be changed.  If you are happy with it, then your routine looks great!

[croft]

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I don't mind the early mornings, it's nice to have the evenings to ourselves, it's just I thought it maybe the reason his daily sleep is less than 3 hours, however I have noticed that your LO's get 2 1/2 hours a day also, so maybe I am worrying too much?

Maybe I will try 6pm bed, instead of 6.30.

I am dreading turning the clocks back!

Sharron