Night Owl - Need recommendations!

Natasha - posted on 01/23/2011 ( 1 mom has responded )

3

0

Hello!

I am a first time mother to a two month old baby. Ever since he was born, he has been a night owl. He would fall asleep around 12:30 am or sometimes later. Recently I started putting him on a bedtime routine. I noticed that he is starting to get sleepy around 8 PM. So I have been putting him down to nap however, when I do this, he is sleeping in the living room where there is noises from the TV, kitchen, etc. So once he goes down at 8 PM, he wakes up around 8:45ish. Then at 9, I give him a bath, dress him and read him a few books. Then at 10, he gets his last bottle for the evening. He is normally up for another hour or so after he eats at 10 so he doesnt start getting sleepy until like 11-11:30 pm. Once he is down at this time, he will sleep for about 6 hours. He doesn't wake to feed.

Now, I am going back to work in March so I need suggestions on how I can start getting him to fall asleep at 8 PM and stay asleep through most of the night, if not the entire night (outside of his 10 PM feeding). Should I push his bedtime routine (bath, dress, read) to 7 PM since I know that he starts getting sleepy around 8 PM? And then put him down in his bed in his room with all lights off and quietness? Or should I continue to do his routine at 9 PM, which is essentially keeping him up until 11:30. I'm afraid that if I put him down a 8 PM, he'll be back up later and not want to go to sleep again until 1 AM. I just need to get him on a decent sleep schedule so that when I go back to work, I am not staying up until 11:30 at night waiting for him to fall asleep.

Please help!

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1 Comment

View replies by

Maria - posted on 02/01/2011

27

22

I like your suggestion and there is no harm in trying to move his routine forward. 2mo babies need quite a bit of sleep still - see link for general guidelines... http://www.babycenter.com.au/baby/sleep/...

He is waking up at 8:45pm when his sleep cycle changes, any chance you can try and push him through the change? (E.g. tapping his bottom)

Habits don't take long to form, and are harder to change. So my advice is to start asap.

As for the noise, put a fan on in his room or buy a white noise cd... works for me!