4-5 Month Old Bedtime

Miranda usually goes down between 8:30 and 9:30 but I think she would do better if she went to bed 7-7:30 but here's where I run into a problem
She usually naps from about 1-4 and needs to take a nap around 6 for about 30 min or she gets totally overtired and cranky and is that much harder to get to sleep.
Moving her afternoon nap up really hasn't worked and some of our activites don't have us back home until closer to 1.
Any suggestions? Do I just leave her bedtime alone? Skip the 6pm nap?

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

I find if I skip the naps, it makes things worse....

Ryan goes to bed @ 7... and if 1min. passes...hes a beast


If 6 didnt start our bedtime routine....he'd prob wanna go to sleep then.....


This is a tough one...

For us:
6 cereal and fruit
bath
baby massage
bottle bed... by 7

could you maybe do something like this...to keep her away that last hour....???

Message edited 2/2/2006 8:38:01 PM.

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

I also found that skipping naps didn't work, but every baby is different. Maybe you could try moving it up a half an hour every few days and eventually she made cut that late afternoon nap out on her own. Good Luck

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

There are some days when Emily will INSIST on sleeping at dinner time, from around 6pm to sometimes as late as 9pm. However, she will still go back to bed and sleep for the night, so I don't mess with it. I find that when I mess with it it messes her up more.

Her schedule is something like this.

6pm - bottle
play time till around 7:30-8pm
Bath
massage/dressed/etc.
8:30-9pm bottle
usually esleep by around 9:30

I also found that if I put her to sleep before she's really totally out, like cleary tired but I stopped waiting until she was passed out in my arms, it got easier. The first few weeks I had to go back in there like 5+ times to just pet her head and give her the pacifier and turn the mobile back on, but little by little I had to do that less and less, and now I just lay her down after she's been fed and burped and seems tired, put on her mobile and she's good for the night. If I wait until she's out cold it just upsets and wakes her when I put her down.

hope this helps! HUGS,
Melissa

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

Message edited 12/16/2011 6:38:44 PM.

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

Posted by mommy2bellabean

Bella'a bedtime is 9 pm...sometimes 8:30, and on rare occasions, 8 pm...she doesn't stay up a minute past it, but will not go down before it...she will even nap until 8 pm, hang out for an hour and then go to bed at 9. I am not messing with it because I get home at 7 pm from work and like some time with her...

She sleeps until 7am, eats a bottle, and goes back down for two hours in the morning...I like this schedule. Babies make their own schedule, is she sleeping through the night? If not, than maybe you should try and change it...maybe put her to bed ten minutes earlier every night...

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

Posted by Princessmaris

I find if I skip the naps, it makes things worse....

Ryan goes to bed @ 7... and if 1min. passes...hes a beast


If 6 didnt start our bedtime routine....he'd prob wanna go to sleep then.....


This is a tough one...

For us:
6 cereal and fruit
bath
baby massage
bottle bed... by 7

could you maybe do something like this...to keep her away that last hour....???

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

Message edited 12/16/2011 6:38:54 PM.

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime

Here is the answer that worked for me when I lowered Talia's bedtime.

If I were you, I would let her nap from 1-3 then let her nap from 5-5:30 - bedtime at 7:30

oooor...

I would try to push the afternoon nap from 1 to noon and let her sleep until 2ish - then nap from 4-4:30 - bedtime at 7 (this is what Talia does)

Is she taking a morning nap?


ETA: I am all about never waking a sleeping baby UNLESS it is to protect the sleep cycle. IMHO from everything I read - her 1pm nap is too long. An infant her age *should* be napping 2-3 times a day - it should look something like this...

wake at 7am
nap at 9 for 1-2 hours
Nap at 1 for 1-2
variable late afternoon nap (some babies dont take this - Talia does for about 1/2 an hour)
Bedtime between 6-8

I had to train Talia to get on a schedule like this which included, at times, waking her up when her naps were too long.

(Ps I learned a lot of this from The healthy sleep habits, happy baby book.)

Message edited 2/3/2006 7:12:33 PM.

Re: 4-5 Month Old Bedtime