Tips for getting 10 week old baby to sleep earlier?

[sarahb083]

We're trying to get our 10 week old EBF baby into a bit of a routine. She usually sleeps 10pm - 1am, then up at 3/4am and again at 6/7am.

We've been trying to get her to go down at 7pm but she's not having it! She'll go down for 20 or 30 minutes at 7pm, but wakes herself up 20 mins later and is then awake and very grumpy until about 10pm, when she finally falls asleep.

​Because she's so grumpy in the evenings, we have to constantly walk around bouncing her so that she doesn't cry. She seems wide awake and it's exhausting us!

​She also resists afternoon naps - she'll sleep for 20 mins or so but wake herself up - which I think makes her even fussier at night.

Any tips?

[Poppy709]

I think that's really normal, tiny babies often want to cluster feed/generally be fussy in the evening, my DS has only just started wanting to go to sleep around 8 at about 5/6 months. Where is she napping in the afternoon? If it's in a Moses basket, will she sleep longer on you or in a sling? You can start gently introducing bedtime associations like story/bath whatever suits you from whatever age but I wouldn't worry about an early bedtime for a while yet X

[sarahb083]

Thank you, that's helpful! I keep reading online that she should be sleeping earlier / longer, but maybe she's still too little to expect it from her.

[princessbananahammock252]

Do you bath her in the evenings? I've found with my 2 (older DD is almost 4 and youngest is 8 weeks), that bath time before bed gave them a very clear cue to get ready for
the night. Initially it started with every few days but for my youngest it's now a firm part of his bedtime ritual and he just knows it's time to guzzle for bedtime. He does have a much earlier bedtime cos he seems to need a lot of night time sleep; but when he's down, he's down until his feed. Daytime however he doesn't stay asleep for more than one sleep cycle if we put him down!

I agree with PP that it's very normal to experience witching hours with babies, especially when they're so small! And then add to that cluster feeding and over tiredness due to cat naps built up through the day!

Over tiredness could also be why she's not getting much night sleep. How do you nap her in the day? She's still very young to know how to join sleep cycles without help. My youngest was getting so overtired up to a couple of weeks ago that we've resorted to 2 long pram naps in the day. It's not something we want to do in the long term but for now it works and ensures he's not overtired by the end of the day, which then avoids multiple wake ups after sleep cycles. We continue to persist with 1-2 cot naps in the day too!

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

Mine were both cluster feeding until about 10pm at that stage before settling down for a longer sleep.
Go with her pattern and do stress too much if you can help it.

[Chickenlickeninthepot]

Mine was the same, we just let her do her own thing though it's hard work trying to eat your dinner over a crying baby. There's been a definite move shift in her bedtime and she's gone from.going to sleep at about 10/11 to around 8pm (she's nearly 5mo)

[Skyla01]

Sounds very similar @sarahb083. My baby is ten weeks too. Fortunately doesn't scream / cluster feed for hours anymore (that was the routine every evening for about a month) but she can still be pretty grizzly. I try to get her to nap as much as possible in the afternoon to prevent over-tiredness (easier said than done). In the evening we have started a bit of a routine (bath, PJ's, book, lights dimmed, no noise) which she currently doesn't pay much attention to but hoping she'll gradually get the idea! I try to feed often in the evening too. Last night she was asleep at 9pm so think we are gradually getting somewhere! Although it was midnight the night before...

[Skyla01]

Re: short naps I feel any sleep is better than none so I'm happy if I get her to sleep for just a few short bursts in the afternoon. My baby has a mammoth morning nap then not so much after that.

[HurlyBurlyyy]

Mine was the same (now 18 weeks) and wouldn’t go to bed before 11. In the last fortnight that’s really started to change and she now goes to bed at 8 consistently.

[F1rstt1imer]

My 12 week old has been incorporated into my 2.5 year olds evening routine out of necessity (she’s obsessed with her baby brother! ) since about 6 weeks and I’ve found that he does sleep longer in the evening for it. Usually he’s asleep by 7.30 then a dream feed at 10-11ish and then wakes between 3-5 for another feed before up at 7am. During the day there isn’t too much of a nap schedule as I usually put him down for a nap when he’s been awake for 1 to 1.5 hours, and he’ll nap for anywhere between 30mins and 3 hrs!