Infantreflux.org | What is a good bedtime?

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June 21, 2007 at 5:27 pm #37514

Anonymous
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We all seem to have sleep questions lately. Well Cooper is sleeping much better these days. I have had a few nights recently where I haven’t had to feed him overnight and that he hasn’t really stirred until 4 or 5 in the morning and then goes right back to sleep. My question is: He is 4 months old and right now we go to bed at 9pm and I do mean we, when he goes to sleep I go to sleep!. And he usually wakes for the day between 6-7am, except for today it was 5:30 ish. He went to bed at 8:50p last night. Anyway it is 5:30 right now and he has been down for about 30minutes for his 4th nap, usually don’t do a 4th nap usually 3 good naps and 1 power nap around 6pm in the den floor. Again as I ramble, my question is what would be a good bed time? I feel like if I put him down any earlier he will be up at like 4am to start his day and I don’t want that but usually around 8-8:30 at night he gets really fussy even if he just took his power nap at 7pm. I am obsessed with making sure he is getting enough sleep and being up at least 10hrs/day… My mom tells me to take meds to stop being so complusive and I know I need to not obsess, but I want him to be rested, but not overly rested during the day so that he doesn’t sleep at night. TIA.

June 21, 2007 at 8:09 pm #37526

Anonymous
Inactive

Sometime between 4 and 8 months both of my girls gradually transitioned from going to sleep between 9 and 10 to an 8:00 bedtime. I’ve tried earlier with them, but it just results in earlier waking. I’ve also found that if they go to bed any later than 8:30 it seems to throw off their sleep cycle and they actually wake up earlier (and we have an awful morning!)

June 21, 2007 at 8:10 pm #37527

hellbennt
Keymaster

at around 4 or 5 months I started with bedtime being 8pm. this has changed but it has been the baby who has changed it…right now Ari is ready to conk out for the night at 6:30pm and sleeps until about 4am when I feed him & he goes back asleep until 7am & then we’re all up for the day…this has taken this long to ‘get’ to where we are & he’s done it all himself- I haven’t interfered by doing any sleep training, not bcse I’m against it (I’m certainly not against it for older babies w/o reflux & for older babies whose reflux is TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL), but bcse I haven’t wanted to

so what I’m saying is to really maybe try & follow Coopers schedule. Routine is very very important, but the actual times that babies sleep seem to vary as they change and grow…

that’s my LOL

June 21, 2007 at 8:11 pm #37528

Anonymous
Inactive

From what I can remember my babies were going to bed for the night at around 10 pm when they were 8-10 weeks old, then around 9 pm from about 3 months until they were 4-5 months old. Around 4 months is when I’d start trying to skip that last power nap at the end of the day and put them down at 8 pm for the night. It worked for well for us, but all babies are different.

Your mom is right that you should try to obssess less and try to be more relaxed about things, (for your own happiness) but that’s easier said than done (and I’m not saying you need drugs). I’m the nervous/anxious type myself so I understand. Trust me, I’ve had three, it gets much easier as they get older (even by six monts or so) because they start being awake much more during the day, and they generally start taking only two good naps a day, and then they pass out for the night by 7 or 8 pm. Is he falling asleep on his own (in his crib)?

Before you know it you’ll be obssessing about what pre-school to send him to! So, try to relax and enjoy him now.

June 21, 2007 at 8:45 pm #37535

Anonymous
Inactive

Thanks ladies for the help. Looks like an 8-8:30 bedtime is the general concensus amoungst your guys. He does put himself to sleep in his crib for both naps and bedtime. I worked really hard on this, never letting him cry it out as I can’t stand to hear him cry after what we have been through, but he usually just whines with his paci. He uses his mobile or his soother bear to fall asleep and I use the soother bear in the middle of the night if he isn’t really awake and just sleep fussing. I will try an earlier bedtime on Sunday. I say that b/c I have to work my random day tomorrow and my husband has to work 7a-5p this weekend so I don’t want to try something new until his weekend is over as he isn’t a morning person. Thanks again. I’ll let you know how it goes.

June 21, 2007 at 9:08 pm #37541

Anonymous
Inactive

That’s great that he’s putting himself to sleep in his crib and you’re teaching him some self soothing. He’ll do great!

June 21, 2007 at 9:20 pm #37542

Anonymous
Inactive

Tell me more about this soother bear???

June 22, 2007 at 6:32 am #37559

Anonymous
Inactive

Naomi,

The bear is one that I got at Target. It is called a soother bear I believe. It was like $20. It is just a stuffed bear that has a sound box in the back. It makes womb sounds, plays lullabys or has nature sounds that play for 20mins. It has been in Coopers crib since he was 3 weeks old. I keep it on the womb sounds so i guess it is kind of like white noise. And when he is older we can just take the sound box out and he has a really cute stuffed animal.

June 22, 2007 at 5:44 pm #37634

Anonymous
Inactive

Sounds cute, Beth. What a great idea!

June 23, 2007 at 7:17 am #37690

Anonymous
Inactive

We have one too (made by Prince Lionheart). We STILL use it!

At 4-5 months I was doing a bedtime of around 6:30-7. We started the bedtime routine around 6:00-6:30 and she was down before 7…. of course this is for Sarah!!! (for Hailey there was no betime!) I’m all for earlier bedtimes, but the downside is that you get early wakeups!…5:30am.

June 23, 2007 at 10:17 pm #37746

Anonymous
Inactive

Ahhh, sleep. What a dilemma! Here is what I remember from Sarah…

2.5 months old: 9:00 bedtime – 7:00am 3-4 naps

4 months old: I was back to work so it was 8:00 bedtime – 6:30am (w/ me having to wake her up) 3-4 naps

6 months old: She adjusted her bedtime to around 7:00 due to being woken up at 6:30am in the mornings. Weekends she woke herself up at 6:30. 3 naps

7 month- 12 months: 6:00-6:30 bedtime – 6:00-6:30 wake up 2 naps

12 months – present: 6:00-7:00 bedtime – 6:30-7:00 wake up. This is due to having the summer off and not having to wake up to go somewhere. I’m guessing after a few more weeks of this she’ll be closer to a 7-7:30 bedtime and 7:00-7:30 wake up. Still 2 naps though (on a good day!)

Hope that helps! It can be very stressful!

And don’t worry…I’m very neurotic when it comes to Sarah!!!!

June 25, 2007 at 10:01 am #37842

Anonymous
Inactive

Well we have been in bed by 8:30p the last 2 nights. Sat night we woke up at 3am to eat (only took 3oz) and then slept until 6:20a… I thought that was pretty good. Last night he woke up at 3:20 and I gave him his paci and he went back to sleep until 5:30, so I fed him (4oz) and he wouldn’t go back to sleep until 6:30 and I woke him up at 7:15 so he could get his prevacid and have a bottle at 8am (7oz). He is taking about 7oz per bottle about 5x/day and will take a bottle sometimes at night but I only give him 4oz max at night as I am trying to wean this feeding.. If he makes it past 3am we usually make it all night without a feeding, but like this morning I had to feed him, but was I wrong to try and get him to sleep alittle longer? he was content in his crib for about 30mins and the last 30min before he fell back asleep he was in bed with me and dh but as soon as he got sleepy I put him in his crib. I am guessing I should just expect to wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 now that we are going to bed at 8:30 right?? I just don’t know.

June 25, 2007 at 2:13 pm #37861

Anonymous
Inactive

Hmmm… some babies are just early risers. Myles used to have a 5 am feeding at that age and I thought he’d outgrow it but he continued to wake at 5 am until he was 13 months old! I stopped feeding him that early at around 6 months though because I knew he wasn’t hungry. He just wanted to be up. I’d leave him in his crib and he eventually learned to fall back to sleep, but still he’s an early riser compared to my girls. He’s up between 6 and 6:30 most mornings. I still leave him in his crib until 7:30 when the girls get up. Most mornings he’s up for 1/2 hour and then goes back to sleep. Sometimes he stays awake the whole time talking to himself. I don’t think it’s mean or wrong at all – as long as they are not hungry and not screaming. I trained my girls to sleep until 7:30 or 8 am that way, but it doesn’t seem to work for Myles. Oh, well. At least he’s content and I don’t have to be up for the day at 6 am.

June 25, 2007 at 5:18 pm #37891

Anonymous
Inactive

I try to put Carson down within an hour before I go to bed – because my sleep is as important as his! He goes down around 10 – depending on his night – he will get up anywhere from 7 to 9am. He sleeps from 1-3 hours during the day but, again that depends. If he had a horrid night, he will lay down earlier and sometimes sleep for a longer nap. I worked for a cut-throat attorney and I was always very rigid with my other 2 boys but with Carson – well, we are just so thrilled when he is sleeping peacefully and I don’t even care when it is!

If you are able to let your child lead the way, I would just follow and see how it goes.

June 28, 2007 at 5:11 pm #38214

Anonymous
Inactive

Beth, is this the one you’re talking about?

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1183064866/r ef=sr_1_1/602-2668941-2937427?ie=UTF8&asin=B00067AUNY
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