To delays toddlers bedtime?

[AmbitiouslyFit]

I’m at home with a newborn and a toddler. We have a 7-7 sleep routine with toddler which works well for him. He also naps for an hour or two during the day.

He used to sleep at 9.30 and wake up at 9.30 but I changed that to accommodate with all the activities we do in the morning. To be fair most mums I speak to their kids are awake by 6 am and asleep by 7.

Is there any wisdom behind toddler sleep time being so early as I am struggling to wake up at 7 am in the morning.

DH is a night person and by the timr he feels like watching a movie it’s the time I’ve collapsed in bed and so I was hoping to change our times to fit around family life better.

Would it I regret changing his bedtime from 7.30 pm till 9.30?

I’ve understood your question OP- my answer is don’t do it

Definitely don't remove his nap, that won't help.

I was a 7-7 person myself when my DC were younger, but I know one mum who was on more of a 9.30/9.30 schedule for the reasons you give. It worked fine for her (although it was tricky when they started school).

In my experience you can mess with their bedtimes (unless you have a chronic early waker) but you have to put everything later otherwise their body clocks dont adjust. So eat all meals later, and nap later etc. Some people say their kids wake up at the same time every day but they seem to manage when they're on holiday and adjusting to new time zones etc.

I'd do it gradually though half an hour a day or something. If it doesnt work and you find down sides then just change it back to earlier.

In the summer you may need to put blackout blinds up so they dont wake at dawn

No way would I mess up the 7-7 routine if I was in your shoes. Pre-school or nursery will come around quickly and you may struggle to move it back. Also you don’t know what sort of sleep pattern your younger dc will have. My oldest sleeps 7-7 but my youngest is up any time from 5am and I’d struggle if I had to entertain ds2 for 4 hours until his brother got up.

Later bedtimes than the norm worked for me. The idea of being woken at/before 5am every day... no way! .

It also means that their main block of sleep coincides with yours. It was a total no-brainer for me.

I did later bedtimes too and it worked brilliantly. I have never 'forced' them to go to sleep if they're not tired (this was before my eldest started school) and if never once had a problem with them not sleeping straight through the night and waking up at stupid times. I don't regret it for a second! I get migraines if I don't get enough sleep so there was a genuine reason for doing it this way but I'm so glad I did!

7 to 7 is the holy grail for lots of people. My son wakes at the same time no matter when he goes to bed. It sounds like a great routine so I honestly wouldn't mess with it

This is an odd one but I often find that the later my DS goes to sleep, the earlier he wakes up.

A 7 to 7 night is an absolute dream. You get some adult time in the evening to unwind and you're not up so dreadfully early that it hurts.

I'm not sure who told me this or if its true but an hour sleep before midnight is worth two compared to an hour sleep after midnight. If that makes any sense at all.

A 7am wake up is also going to make life so much more manageable when your DC start pre-school etc.

I'm not sure who told me this or if its true but an hour sleep before midnight is worth two compared to an hour sleep after midnight. If that makes any sense at all.

Do you know it's really strange. If I sleep 11pm-7am I feel totally fine. 12am-8am and I feel more tired. I am to be in bed at 10pm then DH and I chat for a while etc. so we're asleep by 11.

howmuchfood

Clearly some witchcraft in the works here

Let him wake when he's ready, you'll feel better for extra sleep too. There are no hard and fast rules about how long a little one should sleep, go to bed, get up etc.

Does your DH realise that by refusing to compromise on his schedule, it’s making you exhausted and resentful in the evenings? If so, does he care?
DH is a night owl. Since having three young DC, he knows that no longer fits with our family life. He would happily sit and watch a film until midnight, but he can’t as we need to be up early in the morning for our three children (baby up at 6am, 2 school aged DC up at 7).

9:30 is too late for a toddler to be awake to in my opinion. Hell even 7pm is too late.

Personally I'd suck it up and keep the earlier bed time. Once you move it later it'll be very difficult to adjust to the earlier nursery/school times, where there is no choice but to get up early, and even more difficult to adjust to a different bedtime.

I thought the op said he wakes up at 9.30am which I think shows the child is highly civilised :-).

For those that did absolutely NEED to nap I simply shortened their nap time. It worked for me with zero ill effects.

My DS you couldn't shorten his nap as he would just howl the place down then fall asleep again. Funny how they're all so different.

He also slept 9-8 no matter what time I put him to bed, so I gave up on the 7pm bedtime as it just made everything stressful.

Mine did 6 to 6

My DH has a long commute,v my 2 and 4 year old do 8-7.30/8. (We are aware this may change in September). Means DH sees them, we eat together and helps/does evening routine. He is up at 5.30am and not home until 5.45. he doesn't have a nap he wants to interact with his children. Your husband is missing out on them. He can sleep when they do. His priorities need to change, however you could come to a compromise and move bedtime back half HR or so but only if it will fit in with your activities.