Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

What time do your kids go to sleep at night when you have to wake them early in the AM to get to daycare ??

I'll be home for 6 months, so I'm not TOO worried about DH missing out b/c Baby K will not have to be on a rigid schedule ........

But when I go back to work, and have to drop him off @ daycare @ 6:30 or 6:45 AM ........what time does he have to go to sleep at night in order to get enough sleep??
I get off the train at 6ish ........but DH takes a 6:15 AM train in, and sometimes doesn't get home until 7:30 .........

I don't want him to have to miss out -

Am I being stupid?

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

You will have to wait and see how much sleep your child requires. Don't be fooled into thinking that you will "decide" when they need to go to sleep----DC will let you know when sleep is necessary. You will see a pattern develop.

For my DD, she never required more than 10 hours a night but for others, they may require 12 hours per night.

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

DS is 11 months old but has pretty much been on the same schedule since he was 6 months old.

I start his bedtime routine at around 6:30 - 6:45 (bath, bottle, book) and he is asleep by 7:30.

He wakes up at around 6/6:30, so he gets 10-11hrs of sleep at night.

DH gets home between 7:15 and 8:30 so most nights he does not see DS at all.

That being said, I have tried everything to get DS to sleep later (8-8:30) and wake up later (7-7:30) since we do not have to be out of the house till 8, but no matter how late we keep him up, he still wakes up at 6 and is just cranky from not getting enough sleep.

I think generally, your DC will set his/her routine and you kind of just have to stick by it.

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

I agree, your DC will set their own bedtime. DS has been going to bed between 6:30-7pm since he was 3 months old. Any later then that and he melts down- not pretty! He usually sleeps until 6-6:30am so he requires a good 11-12 hours a night.

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

It's hard because while you feel you are missing out, you don't want to keep the baby awake either so you have more time together. Sleep is very important for them and things will be harder if he/she isn't getting enough rest and is cranky. The baby will tell you how much sleep it needs. Now my DS goes to bed at 9pm and wakes around 7am. When he was younger though, he needed even more sleep and was going to bed at about 7pm and waking about 6:30am at about 6months old. We didn't get home from daycare till 6pm and it was a mad dash to get him fed, bathed and in bed by the time he was rady toc rash, cause he was already cranky tired by then. There were nights DH didn't really see DS at all. But it'll all depend on what your baby needs.

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

I agree with the others, it depends on each particular child and how much sleep your baby requires, how much he naps during the day, etc.

With DD, she slept 11 hours a night as a newborn/infant; and now, at 20 months, she sleeps 10 hours at night. So bedtime is earlier that we'd like (she's in there by 8:30pm at the latest), but she's got to be up & out of the house by 7:00am (we don't use daycare, but she does go to MIL's during the week).

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

Kids need more sleep than adults for their growing bodies and brains to recoup.

My DD sleeps between 10-12 hours a night at 2.25 years old. Most of the time, it's around 11hours - 8pm to 7am. She has been on that sleep schedule since one of her two naps were cut shortly after she turned one.

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

Every child is different and requires a different amount of sleep. Some nap a lot and don't sleep so much at night, while others don't nap at all and sleep a solid 10, 11, 12 hours a night. I don't think this is something you can predict or anticipate until you have your baby

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

Like everyone else said, you won't be the one to decide this the will be

My DD goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up between 6:45 and 7:30. She is in daycare, and there are times when I have to wake her because we need to leave for work/daycare.

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

I "assisted" ds in setting a schedule. When he was 3 months I went back to work FT and the thought of putting him to bed at 7:30 or such when I would only have been home with him for about an hour I just couldnt do, so we geared his schedule towards a 9pm bedtime and he wakes up at 7.

Now I work PT and he is 15 months so we have a bedtime of about 8:30, when I am home I try to get as much done as possible so DH can just come home from work and enjoy his son before bed.

ETA: we are lucky though because my ILs watch DS so if he sleeps late they just come pick him up and wait for him to wake up. If I had to be more regiminted about his wake up time I would probably have done an earlier bedtime!

Message edited 3/18/2009 3:54:15 PM.

Re: Getting WAY WAY ahead of myself here - but have a question about something bothering me .........

Well, the day I have to wake Cailen up will be a day I will mark in a calendar and celebrate every year!!!