My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

Hi ladies,

ii've been trying to get my 3.5 month old on more of a sleep schedule. For a while he was going to bed in between 7 and 8 which I thought was great, but lately he's been getting tired earlier and earlier - like 5 or 6. I'd love to get him back to the 7 to 8 range, but it's impossible. He already melts down and rubs his eyes as is. Sometimes it's so bad that he won't take his bottle, or for example today he had a bottle at 4:20 but by 5 he was just ready for bed. When he goes to bed at 6 he'll wake up at around 11:30 for food and then sleep until 6:30 to 7:30, which is fine, but going to bed at 5-5:30 is just too early isn't it? Any advice?

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

At 3.5 months, they aren't really on a set schedule yet...it will work itself out! As long as he isn't up at 5 am for the day I would say you are fine :)

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

I agree with the op..my 3.5 month old will nap around then, get up and eat and go to bed around 10-11 for the night until 6-7 the next morning...

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

I think what you are doing is fine. DS (almost 4 months) gets sleepy after his 5 pm bottle. We don't put him to bed but let him nap at that time. He'll wake up at 8/9 and we do his pm routine. Then he'll sleep until morning.

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

Hmm thanks for the responses. So does that mean I should be doing the bath at 11:30 when he wakes up for that bottle? Isn't that too late?

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

At 3.5 months, 5 or 6 is not too early for bedtime. I highly recommend this book by Dr Weissbluth for information on sleep. It really got me through the early months with my DD. He bases his recommendations on studies, not his own personal experience from practice. As for the bath, I used to give my DD an early bath since it was her schedule at the time. I wouldn't give your LO a bath at 11:30 pm since you mention he falls back asleep after the feeding. The bath might be too stimulating. HTH :)

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

totally normal. Just go with it. My son did 6:30 bedtime for months and months. Maybe over a year. He needed lots of sleep and we never fought it since we liked our alone time too.

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

That sounds fine for a 3 & 1/2 month old. Infact it sounds awesome. I wish my DD had that sleep schedule when she was that age.

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

My dd had the same schd when she was that age. Then around 5 months she started staying up till 7ish. Now at 9 months shes in bed by 7:15 the latest usally.
If hes only waking up once at night to eat and is still sleeping till 7am the next day why try to break it?? There bodies need the sleep.

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

i think you have to follow their lead at that age, which is hard i know!! i'm lucky (knock on wood) and have always had great sleepers. DD is almost 4 months and for about a month she has been going to bed between 7 and 8. She does sometimes get tired and cranky earlier and i have put her down for a cat nap in the evening.

Re: My 3.5 month old is going to bed too early!!!

What usually eventually happens is that the 5pm sleep will be just a nap, and your baby bedtime will be sometime around 7pm. Around 4-6m they will drop this last nap.

sure, its fine for a 3.5m old to sleep whenever however... but sometimes that makes for a grumpy mommy, and a 3.5m is better off on a schedule with a happy mommy.

You can push for this a little, by waking her up after 30min to 1 hour, playing, happy, etc ... then do a nice long bedtime routine... music, books, baths, massage, etc etc... and do the same thing every night.