Bedtime routines

[NotSoThinLizzy]

So bed time has always a battle. Wee guy never sleeps he's nearly 1 (wow that flew past)
He gets dinner about 6 then plays for a bit then milk/supper around 7.00 then the battle starts he dosent end up going down untill 10. He dosent sleep through and is up between 5 and 7.

And help or advice would be great from one tierd mummy 😴😴

He is clearly tierd but won't give in.

There's a Facebook site called Little Ones that might help

What is his daytime routine? I found good naps led to good overnights. Similarly, plenty of fresh air also helped.

Knowing his naptimes would help OP. I’d try moving his bedtime forward too if you can. So dinner at 5pm then straight to bath, boob/bottle books and bed.

If you’re not getting home till six and he’s in Nursery, I’d spend a few minutes with him then try to move to bath, boob/bottle, books and bed.

The early mornings are horrible so you have my sympathy. If I remember correctly there’s some good information on tackling early waking in the No Cry Sleep Solution

Ah nap times depends on when he wakes so wakes at 7 nap around 9.30 sometimes 10 then he'll sleep for about 2/3 hours then up lunch play ect another nap around 4/5 for half hour then dinner ect hes still tierd when he wakes from 2nd nap. Oh dosent get home till 5 so he wants me to keep him up a bit so he can see him. I don't mind the going to bed late just how long it takes does my head in 😂

Id definetly change up the naps.

Ideally the morning nap should be 45mins long. Then an earlier afternoon nap around 1pm which will be the longer 2 hour or so nap (I let mine sleep as late as 3pm regardless of when the nap started).

I was under the impression you just let them nap as long as they want? I'll give it a go today 😊

I agree with the suggestion of dinner st 5 then bath and bed. Many working parents come home and get on with the bath/bed routine so could that be your husband's special time with him?

I wouldn't put him down for a second nap so late in the day but (going on my experience) I'd move the morning nap a bit later so he eventually only has the one nap each day. You have to train them to stay awake but it can be done; I gradually moved their nap first to 11, and then a lovely long nap after lunch (after being awake all morning).

Cross posted! At 12 months my children moved to one nap a day. I totally ageee that 3pm is the latest they should sleep, to enable a good bedtime.

Dinner at 5, with an aim to be in bed for 6.30 worked for us. Definitely don't let him nap past 3.

Itll take a few days of distraction/cajoling/out for a walk etc to keep them going til 12.30/1pm for main nap. But itll be worth it. Eventually they drop the 45mins am nap.

45mins is a usual sleep cycle so they tend to he easier to rouse at the 40/45min mark.

Totally agree with Tulips. I’d put him down for his nap at 9 but wake him at 9.45am. 45 mins is one sleep cycle at this age, so it’s fine to wake him at this time.

I’d get him dressed and go straight out to something busy like swimming, the park or playgroups in the week. I gave my DS a snack and drink as we were travelling to something usually in one of those snack pot things.

Keep him busy for a couple of hours then aim for lunch at 12 noon followed by a longer nap but not past 3pm.

He may be really miserable for a few days but he’ll get there.

If he wakes early, can you give him some milk and put him in bed with you? Would he go back to sleep then?

Once he’s got used to the new nap times. I’d be looking to work on the early waking and dropping the first nap.

Wow, I managed to x-post with a lot of suggestions there. Sorry if I’ve repeated what’s already been said

My 13 month old is down to one morning nap c.2hrs long- 10.30-12.30, dinner is at 5, then bath at 6, bottle at 7 bed at 7.30pm and sleeps through until 6.30pm.
On the odd occasion she falls asleep late afternoon the evening routine is shot! Rule of thumb for me is afternoon nap (if the morning one is short or non existent) is awake no later than 4pm

At 1 we had the following routine which helped with nighttime sleep:

Wake up 6.30 (or any time from 6 )
Nap 1: 9.15am- wake after 45 minutes
Nap 2: 1pm ideally until 3/3.30 but no later. Then awake until bedtime
Bath 6.30pm
Bed 7pm

I'd definitely not be letting them nap at 5pm! No wonder they won't go down at 7. Short morning nap, long lunchtime nap seems the best way to go.

Yes 2nd nap is very late but he is still knackered when he wakes from it so I start the bedtime early as he just seems to take ages to settle 😂 he can't have a bath every night because of eczema. How long should the actual routine take? I'm going to cut his naps today so far he's been a gurny bum 😂

My bathtime rountine took about an hour. Roughly 20 mins in the bath, teeth clean and get dressed for bed. Around 15 minutes reading and a milk feed. You can shorten it though if you’re busy and if they were really tired they weren’t that interested in the books.

I’d definitely shorten the first nap, if you haven’t already then aim to get him asleep again by 1pm and up by 3pm

He went down today at half 11 and still asleep now going to wake him at quarter to 1. Then lunch then off swimming so he'll be asleep by about half 3/4 so hopefully it'll work. He won't sleep if we are out in the pram to much to look at 😂 planning on cutting the naps short over a couple of days. He loves book would sit and read them all day if he could

Than again he might not nap after swimming it's a bit and a miss

If it were me OP, I wouldn’t let him have a second nap that late, not if you want him asleep by 7pm. If you do let him nap, I’d only let him have 45 mins.

He might be vile for a couple of hours but if you let him have the second nap I think you’re going to be looking at a very late bedtime. Which is fine if you don’t mind having the DC with you all evening or constantly getting up to them but I preferred to let mine do the majority of their sleep at night

I really do recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution too

I think if it got to 11.30 without an am nap its worth pushing for an hour and putting them down 12.30 and letting them sleep til 3.

If I were you id leave him sleep as long as poss now and skip a later nap.

Totally agree with Tulip

Great will give it a try 😊

His late sleep time at night is highly likely to be due to his late nap - he will be just refreshed enough by it to not make him go to sleep earlier, even if he is still a bit tired.

At this age I would either do the 2-3-4 routine (first nap 2 hours after wake up, second nap 3 hours after wake from first nap, night sleep time to be 4 hours after wake from second nap), or just switch to one (hopefully long) nap anytime between 11 and 3 ish

That sounds good as he naturally sleep two hours after waking for his 1st