7 month old going to bed too early?

[GillL]

Ds has started to get really tired between 6pm and 7pm so I've been putting him to bed and dream feeding him later on. The last few nights he's woken in the night and stayed awake for an hour or more. Dh moaned last night that it was because I put him to bed too early. I think it was due to his cough and cold/teeth (he's got none yet but lots of white lumps). I don't see the point in waiting til he has his last feed to put him to bed. It will only result in him screaming when he gets past it.

I didn't think 6pm was too early to put him to bed. Does anyone else agree?

I don't think it's too early... how old is he?

don't forget that the clocks change in a couple of weeks anyway, so you may find that he naturally gets tired at 7pm after that..

sorry, missed the title somehow.

I think it is a little early,...I have put DS down at 7pm since he was10-12 weeks. I also started offering him supper at about six as part of his routine as he was waking up hungry at about 8mths.

Would not want to go much after seven though,...that is Mam and Dad time

definatley not too early if he's tired, he's tired. my dd 15 weeks goes at 7pm and sleeps till 6am next morning (I am very lucky) did worry at first that she maybe not getting enough to eat etc. but still putting on weight well and now not having a crabby baby all evening. tell dh he should be glad to get his evenings back, and i'm dreading the clocks changing and messing with what is an extremely good routine for us

Mine have always gone at about 7pm but my sis's go at 6.30pm (her youngest is 6mo).

TBH I don't think it makes much difference to night waking, that would probably happen whatever. However if he started waking v.early in the morning i.e. 6ish or earlier, I would think about putting him to bed a little later.

when ds started nursery at 9 months old he'd fall asleep in the car on the way home at 5.30pm, I'd do a dream feed at bout 10.30 and that would be it until 7am when he'd wake for a feed. (all being lucky that he didn't need resettling during the night- if he did though he went back to sleep fairly quickly not like he was ready to start the day at 3am or anything!) Made me as I ddn't see him as much as I wanted to on the days I worked.

So thik 6 o'clock is entirely reasonable.

at 7 months both DS1 and DS2 were having a bath at 6.30 to be in bed by 7 (they still are)

I don't think its too early. If you think he is waking in the night due to teething though, I would suggest giving medised or similar when you put him down after the dream feed. Also, he could be getting overtired because quite often their daytime routine is not the same in nursery and they tend to be more stimulated for longer periods of time IYSWIM.

6pm seems a bit early to me - ds (17 months) is in bed for 7.15pm and dd (4.4years) is in bed for 7.30pm.

You could try waiting till nearer 7 for a few days and see what happens - no way of telling effect on your LO till you try, and may be temporary thing cos of cold anyway.

My DD has always had 7pm as official bedtime but at 19 months she is sometimes so tired she is rattling the bars of her cot asking to go to bed at 6.30. More mummy and daddy time so I'm not complaining, obviously.

I don't think 6 is too early at all. It depends entirely on your baby. They all need different amounts of sleep. My 7 month old goes to bed a 7pm but only because he still has three naps a day and doesn't wake from the late nap til 4pm ish. I think you know when your baby is tired and if they get over tired before bed, they're probably even more likely to wake in the night and take longer to settle. Keep doing what your doing. If he keeps waking up, I'd adjust the time by half an hour or so til you find a time that works. Could just be teething though, or just a phase. Lots of babies at this age start waking up in the night, jist for a 'chat' or to roll over and practice new skills. It should pass and just enjoy the hours that you and dh get alone!

Not too early, my DS sometimes used to go to bed at 5.30ish at that age when he was really tired. Both DS and DD1 have had 6pm bedtime up until they were 3, but neither of them got up in the night. DD2 is 5m and goes at 7pm with the rest. Every baby is different. I'd say try him later for a few nights to see how you get on. It might be that due to his cold he is a bit unsettled during the night anyway. Medised is great

Thanks for all of your input. I normally leave him until he starts rubbing his eyes and getting irritable. Unfortunately I don't get more adult time because dd doesn't go to bed til at least 7:30 and generally isn't asleep til at least 9 - but that's another story.

Kekouan - that's a very good point about the clocks changing. Hopefully it will make a difference.

hiya, my dd has never been able to stay up after 7pm without getting really beside herself with tiredness. it didn't stop her sleeping through though, usually until about 5-6am since she ws about 5 months. i did try to push her bedtime back to 8pm for a while but tbh it wasn't worth it, she got so fed up, and by that time in the day, so did i! she stays awake a bit later now at 10 mnths, but that has happened naturally. so in short, no! i don't think that's too early, i'd say just go with it...

My 4months old charge is in bed and asleep by 6.30pm and she usually needs to be woken at 7am to get going for the school run. She doesn't have a dream feed any more as she was only taking an ounce if we were lucky. She has one big sleep from 11am - 2pm and a quick nap in the car on the school run at 3pm and by 5.30pm she is cranky for her bath, bottle and bed. I've always encouraged her to go to sleep on her own and that's been a big help if she's woken for any reason in the night. Your little one may be teething but I have never found that trying to give a later bed time makes them sleep any longer in the mornings.

DS needed 6pm bedtime until he was about 3 I think. 6.30ish sometimes depending, we weren't on the dot about it but he definitely needed that early a bedtime.

Didn't affect his night-time sleep, he woke for one feed in the night and we fed him at 11pm before we went to bed.

He now goes later, he's five - but my mum tells me that she put me and my bro to bed at 6pm for YEARS. We were obviously more biddable children than my ds who has got strong opinions now on when he's ready for bed!