Can I shift my baby's sleep pattern by 3 hours?

[Annie456]

Hi there,
I've got a 7 week old DS and his bedtime has gradually been getting earlier over the past week or so and combined with the clocks going back he now tends to nod off at 7 or 8pm and wake up at 4 or 5am. (With 2 wakes for feeds). It would be ideal for him to sleep at 10 or 11 and wake up at 7 or 8...but is it possible to force his habit to change? It's such a horrible feeling at 4am knowing he just wants to be awake. sometimes i'm so tired that i've given him his dummy just to help him nap for an extra 20 mins at a time but thats the time he's really alert and smiling and I feel bad that I am not up and playing with him. It's not really practical for me to go to bed when he does as it would mean never having any time with DH (or DH having time with DS).

His routine is really predictable and all the feeds and naps during the day have also slipped back.

Help! how can I shift it??!!
Annie x

Hi Annie,
Do feel for you, my DS is now one and i was sick of constantly being up at (in his case) 3am
It does help however for both you and your DH to adapt your lifestyles a bit to accomodate your tiny DS. I am not a big fan of sleep training and tended to just go to bed earlier and sleep when DS slept during the day. perhaps DH could also go to bed a bit earlier so he could join you and DS at 4am.
I am not trying to be facetious, but this really is the reality of being new parents.
Others with more experience of sleep training will probably give you different advice, but i would say your priorities are to get adequate rest yourself so that you can cope with your newborn and then your DH will have to fit in around this new family of 3 situation.

Hi there.
Your DS is actually doing tremendously and very typically for a baby in a decent sleep routine. 7 is a perfect bedtime for a child, and any later he will likely get over tired.with time, hopefully a few months. He will not want to feed at 3am and will sleep through til 7am. My dd was doing the gina ford routine, bedtime at 7, feeding around 4am and then once we started weaning she just slept through, no longer needing food at that time. I'd stick with what you have otherwise later down the line you'll be trying to get him down earlier with no success as he will be used to a very late bedtime.

Make the most of your evenings with your DH!!

Do you dream feed around 10pm? That could help...

I think i really need help with routine. Have 7 week old. We get up 8ish and have morning feed in bed then I try to get him to have sleeps during day but will often only sleep when being held and will wake once put down. I am trying to space out feeds during day but he seems to cluster feed alot sometimes just for a snack. He then eats at 7ish and I take him up to bed at 9is where we have dark room, feed and sleep but will only sleep in my bed an it can be midnight before he is asleep. I try to put him in moses basket when he is asleep and sometmes he will stay asleep for a couple of hours but always wants feeding to sleep - is ebf- he will feed almost every 2 hours during night and take ages doing it so i get short gaps till it starts again. We can not fit cot in our room and he has colic so often wakes up cryi ng in pain so think I may be being a bit soft on him. I want an evening back too but he does not seem to be able to settle himself and cries till he is hysterical if left for even 5 min most of the time. Any ideas welcome