Would you start with an early bedtime at nearly 4 months?

[Twitchett22]

Just wondered what everyone's experiences are of setting a routine. DDs almost 4 months old and currently:
Wakes 8-9am
Has 5 bottles of approx 200ml through the day (3-4 hourly)
Has her last bottle at 10 or 11pm and sleeps through.
Now i know I'm very lucky with her sleeping believe me im not moaning! But for her last bottle we usually have to wake her, my mum thinks we should give her her 7pm bottle then put her down for the night but then she's only having 4 bottles a day (plus i dont want her waking up at 5am).
However i know that as she gets older she should have a 'bedtime' and 10pm is probably too late.
Should i just carry on for now?

If it's not broken don't fix it. IMO.

I started an earlier bedtime for DS when his presence started being more demanding in the evenings so maybe 8 months or so. Before then he was quite happy to cuddle and feed on and off for the evening or just chill out in his bouncer but from about 8 months he was wanting to play and interact with us so I felt like it was time for a bedtime so he got that sense that the day was for playing and the evening for sleeping, but also so that we got a bit of downtime :)

My DD went down at 5.15 and slept through till 8.30 at 5months.

No no no no no no no.

I wouldn’t. (I didn’t. I don’t ever want to be woken before 9am though and DD slept midnight till noon.)

However i know that as she gets older she should have a 'bedtime' and 10pm is probably too late

Not in my experience.

My nearly 4 month old made it very clear he wanted a 'bed time'! Till recently he's fed whenever and fallen asleep wherever we put him.

The last week or so though he's been having a feed at 7 or 8 and crying till I take him to our room with the fan on, blackout curtains and then feed and put him in his crib where he falls asleep. He gets really upset if I try to get him to stay up or sleep anywhere else at this time of day!

If you did want to start putting her to bed after the 7pm bottle I would keep the 10-11 feed as a dreamfeed at least until she's on solids. It would be so frustrating if she started waking up early and you couldn't go back.

seriously if shes sleeping through just leave it!!
Im only considering an earlier bedtime now at 3yo for my son because he will be starting nursery!
He went to bed late at 4months.... now he goes to bed a 9pm sometimes later... because he has always slept so well with going to bed later... and it has fitted in with our lives as my husband works late so still gets to read him a story some nights.

I dont get why some people put their kids to bed so early and then lament having to get up at 5am every day!!

I dont get why some people put their kids to bed so early and then lament having to get up at 5am every day!!

Me too!

So you put to bed at 7pm and wake for a bottle at 10-11pm?

We did the above with my DD-I'm not sure when, but at some point she stopped taking any milk and then we stopped waking her up. Slept 7-7 fine.

Thanks everyone that's what i wanted to hear lol! She's in such a good routine i dont want to ruin it but then i hear people putting their babys down at 6 or 7 for the night and wondered if i should be doing the same. But I'll leave well alone and keep my fingers crossed it will continue haha

Yes do it! Put down at 7pm, wake at 10.30 to feed, back down at 11pm, sleep through til 7am. You'll feel like a new woman having your evening back

^^unless you’re a night owl for whom waking at 7am is torture.

Depends on your baby really, my 8mo needs her bed at 7 or she's incredibly grumpy. I need my evenings to myself to stay sane so prefer to have her out the way early! She is on the go all the time so I would get zero peace with her up. When she was under 6 months I stayed in the bedroom with her but now she's in her own room with a monitor. She doesn't even remotely sleep through though and still wakens 3 or 4 times a night. So you're definitely lucky to have a good sleeper although, as I'm sure you know, it might not always be like that!

I definitely wouldn’t be waking her. She may wake during the night or earlier but will eventually take more during the day. Are you feeding on demand all day? Five bottles doesn’t seem like a lot at that age, pretty sure mine still had 6-8 at that age. But as long as she’s having as much as she wants it should be fine.

Both of mine stayed downstairs with us until we went to bed until they were 6 months when we started to have a 'bedtime' at nearer 7.

My LO goes down at 7, sometimes she wakes for a feed in the night, other times she doesn't. I just make sure i feed her every 3hrs through the day to get enough milk in her.

Like having a couple of hours in the eve with partner on our own, and happy to get up early as will have to do that anyway when I go back to work so at least it won't be as much of a shock to my system!

Ours didn't sleep through until 8 months, enjoy what you have.

I was in exactly your situation at 12 weeks. We were away on hols sharing a villa with my sister. I really wanted to enjoy the evening and have a glass or 2 of wine so my sister encouraged me to brave it... i breastfed baby at 8pm, put her down and was flabbergasted to see it was 8am when I saw her next! She never looked back either.

If she's happy in a routine then I wouldn't budge it!

However, if she sleeps at 7 anyway, would it be worth just trying it for a night and see what happens? I only say this as at around 3-4 months with my DD she started getting really cranky from 9pm onwards until we put her to bed. This has gotten earlier and now it's usually about 7pm (tonight it was 6:30 but I think the heat knocked her out) and she has a full 12 hours (yes I know I'm very lucky with this). Before all this happened she was going to bed at around 11pm and sleeping until 6 which at the time we were very happy with!

But as PP said, if it ain't broke!! Good luck