tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

i know what i'm doing is probably wrong for when ds gets older (he's 3 1/2 months now) but it works for us. i need to know if i should stop anyway b/c it'll be bad later on...

i don't really have a "bed-time" for my ds. i like him staying up very late and i feed him between 11pm-midnight) and have him sleep till later in the morning (between 8-11am). the thing is, my dh works long days and nights and sometimes doesn't come home till very late (10pm-12am). if ds isn't awake when he comes home then he'd never get to see and play with his dad. they play until ds gets tired (could be 12:30 am).

ds seems great with this. he eats every 3 1/2 - 4 hours (ebf) during the day and he goes a bout 6-9 hours at night. during the day he stays awake for 3 hour stretches and then naps for about 1 1/2 hours. he's very happy and hardly ever cries.

feel free to yell at me. i know this is probably bad but if it works for us should i still do it?

thanx!

Message edited 8/16/2007 9:12:30 PM.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

If it works for you, then why change it????

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

It seems fine for now. Of course when he gets older it would be a problem getting up for school, etc. , but you have a long time before that happens

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

If that schedule works for your family then it is ok.....I dont feel there is a right or wrong way
when my first DD was born my household was on a wacky schedule so she had to adjust to that
she id 10yrs old now and she is fine she actually gets up before me

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

If it works for your family, no need to change it.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

My "Joshua Ethan" had an 8 PM bedtime till we went on a westcoast vacation...now he is all messed up and staying up till 11. At first I hated it, now I am enjoying it more and the mornings are great.

DH also works late nights, its easier for me to stay up and see him knowing I won't wake up till 10 am ish.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

Our schedule is like that as well. It is easier for us for him to go to bed later and me sleep later or Im cranky which in turn makes him cranky. LOL

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

Posted by prncss

If it works for you, then why change it????

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

There's nothing wrong with what you are doing. I think it's great that DH still gets to spend time with DS...that's more important than trying to conform to what others use as a bedtime.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

Nothing wrong! Apparently it works for all of you.

You have quite some time to change the schedule by the time he goes to school.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

Posted by prncss

If it works for you, then why change it????

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

We did the same thing with Cailen. Honestly, it wasnt like he was sleeping when I put together this whole schedule for him.... I threw in the towel and let him stay up until he passes out... it works, and he's up all the time anyway.... but this way daddy gets to spend some QT with him

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

This is so us and it works!!

Megan used to stay up even later than she does now. My dh works nights so he needs to sleep in in the morning. So this was perfect for us. Also, I am NOT a morning person. So this way I can still get up a little later and she just goes to sleep a little later than other kids. No big deal.

Now her bedtime is between 10-10 30. She wakes up usually around 10, which is perfect for us. It works so well, I cant see changing it. You have to do what works for your family!

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

I think it's great. Dd likes to stay up late and sleep late- if I wasn't working I would let her stay up til 2am so we could both sleep till noon!

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

DS used to stay up with us until 11pm or so. Now that he has preschool 2x a week, and karate,etc., we shifted him down to 8-8:30pm. It may take a few weeks, but when you know that you need to have DC get up earlier, just start a month before. DD is going to bed around 10, and we'll transition her (already starting slowly) to an earlier time when scheduled activities start.

All kids have to go through a time shift 2x a year (for most of us, anyway) for Daylight Saving Time, so it's not a big deal shifting bedtimes.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

I think it's more important that your DS spends precious time with DH! You can never get this time back!

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

I agree with the above posters..if it works for you then its fine.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

WOW i'm so surprised! thank you all so much for making me feel better about keeping ds up so late! i felt like a bad mommy giving him such a late bed time. i didn't think anyone else did this too. i really feel sooo much better now. thanx so much guys!!!

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

Whatever works for your family is the right thing!!! Our DS stays up until 10-11pm so that he can have quality time with daddy. He sleeps great and is happy which is just what I want him to be.

Re: tell me why this is wrong? (sleep)

I think at that age it works really well, but once your child starts moving around, and uses up more energy, not to mention starts to get (if you will) a mind of their own...well, then it could be a problem. We kept our son up really late when he was around that age because we didn't know what else to do, but when he got older, he was a monster after around 6 pm, so we had to decide on some kind of bedtime.

When he gets older he will need and crave an earlier bedtime, but for the time being, if you guys are happy, go with it!