Mumsnet Talk

he has a nap in the morning 30-60 mins, then another in the afternoon 1-1.5hrs but by 5pm (dinner time) he is crying tired again.

we put him down 6.30/7, he stirs around 4-5am but goes back down to 6am. is putting him to bed at 6pm too early?

any ideas what i can do so he's not so tired in the day and to stop the stirring at 4-5am?

cheers

Nope both my dc's were in bed at 6.10pm this evening.

If they're tired then they go to bed and ideally sleep 11 - 12 hours. dd age 2 always wakes up at 5.45am and has done since birth. DS (5) would cheerfully sleep for 14 hours a day.

Think the naps you are giving are reasonable for his age.

My ds went to bed every night at 5.30pm and slept till 8am the next morning from about 6 mth until 18 mths. He had a nap of about 1 hour after his lunch. I only changed his bedtime to 7pm at 18 mths as I went back to work full time and with this bedtime I felt like I wouldnt get to see him mon-fri. The only downside is that putting them up to bed that early I felt so tied. Even a trip to town or to the supermarket I knew I had to be back in the house no later than 4.30pm to do his routine and have bottle. For the year I think I only left the house once after 4.30pm- it can make you feel very housebound- but on a plus side you get a very good wedge of quality time with yourself to do jobs/study at home or time with your partner and my son was happier for not been overtired all the time.

thanks, i definately think he is overtired, his stirring at 4/5am doesn't help, maybe thats because he is OT? i'll try putting him down earlier and see if that helps. the screaming crying is getting too much for me!

My dd also 1 year wakes at 5ish no matter what time she goes to sleep - I used to aim for a 6.30 bedtime and she was also always tired in the evening, so now we have supper at 4.30 - then bottle, bath, bed and she is often asleep by 5.30.

I'd be interested to see how it goes when you put him down a bit earlier!

Early bedtime here too for my 11 mo. Bath at 5:45, asleep by 6:15 or sometimes even earlier. Almost never later than 6:30.

He sleeps until 6:00 regardless, so I may as well enjoy a bit of extra time in the evening!

I look after my friends dd 4 days a week, she is 13 months. I have her from 8.15am to 6.45pm, so it's a very long day for her.

A few weeks ago she was so tired by 6 that she was almost falling asleep in my arms, so I had to rethink her routine.

I have adjusted it so that she sleeps from 11 to 1.30, then I put her down at 4.30 for 45mins to an hour, and she is able to keep going until 7.30. She sleeps until 6.30/7.00am