OK! So I posted this on my facebook status as well and I have already gotten a few responses but I am up for more advice when it comes to helping me figure out how to transition Jake into an early bedtime routine. Jake is 4 months old so think back to when your kids were that age! He is a great sleeper when he is sleeping and I don't have to rock or nurse him to sleep. He goes down being swaddled and with a pacifier wide awake and falls asleep on his own. No loud toys or bright lights are in his room when I put him down. He is in a dark room with a fan on low.
So far here is his whole routine throughout the day.
7am - Wake up and eat
7:30a-9:45a - Back to bed
9:45 - 11:15a - Eat time, play time for 1-1.5 hours
11:15- 12:45p - Nap for about 1.5-2 hours
12:45-2p - Eat, play
2-3:30 or 4p - nap (1.5-2 hours)
3:30 - 4:30 or 5p - Eat/play
5p-6or 6:30pm - Nap
6:30 - 8p - Eat/Play
8p - try to put down for bed and he will fall asleep
9p- wakes up not acting tired or hungry so we get him up and wait until he acts hungry, feed him, and put him back to bed. He usually will sleep for another hour or little longer and wake up again and by 10:30-11pm will be out for the rest of the night.
I don't know if you see the pattern there. He is asleep for 1.5-2 hours and awake for about the same amount of time. His wake time is usually shorter then his sleep time because he always shows signs of being tired at right about an hour of being awake. I then will change him, swaddle him and put him down without but more then a kiss on the forehead and he is out within 5-10 mins.
I feel like I need to shorten his morning nap and then he can have a longer afternoon nap, and a third, but short late afternoon nap and then try to get him down for the night around 8-9pm.
What do you all think and what did you do with your 4-5 month olds?
That is a hard question as EVERY child is different as well as parents. We just let our kids sleep when tired. There were night our oldest was up at midnight playing. We didn't have anywhere to be in the mornings because I stayed home so we just slept in. It just worked for us. When our second came he was a little different and we did what worked for him and us. As so on for the other two kids we have had since. You will get this figured out! And just in case you don't know I'm Jeff's wife.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the above post. Every kid is so different it's hard to say the "right" or "wrong" way to do something. As for us, we didn't get Annabel into an early bedtime until closer to 8-10 months. I know it's frustrating, but there are so many changes during the first year that it's almost impossible to get into a "routine." As soon as you do, something changes. My advice would be, go with his "schedule" for now and don't stress about it. He'll get there!
ReplyDeleteThanks girls! You are a big help. I really don't mind the late bedtime as much, it is really just the inconsistancy of him going down and waking up after an hour and doing that twice before he is ready for bed. I always think he is going to stay asleep and then I fall asleep only to have to wake up again. Oh well, the life of being a baby and a mom. It isn't going to always go the way you want it too.
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