10 week sleep help

[Loley22]

Hello,
Just posting for some advice on sleep! Dd2 is 10 weeks old and we are tentatively trying to get a bedtime routine and also contending with 45 minute day naps!. It seems like no matter what time we put dd2 down for sleep or when her last nap was, she only goes to sleep at 7:45pm 🤣. It's been 5 years since we had a baby so a bit rusty on these things. Any tips/tricks would be greatly appreciated

I only have the one DC (6mo) so I am hardly the expert but I have given up with a set bedtime.

I usually just use wake windows and then if the next nap is due at 8pm or later then that was bedtime. He only slept like it was a night sleep from 8pm so I took that as his natural clock. I do my best to get him down for last nap a smidge earlier or later and/or cut the last nap short to try and have him awake by 6/6:30pm so that bedtime is between 8.30 and 9pm at the latest. I know with a 10wo those times would need to be adjusted for an age appropriate wake window.

I heard a timed schedule is much easier to do when they drop to 2 naps.

Also just for a bit of anecdotal hope, at 5mo my DC is now finally doing at least one long nap a day. It's still inconsistent whether it is a long morning or afternoon nap but I really don't care once its more than 40min 🤣

At 10 weeks it is quite difficult to persuade baby to do anything routine-wise! Their circadian rhythms aren't developed fully. You'd be better off waiting a couple of weeks before you get too worried - just stick with whatever works in the meantime!

10 weeks is very young for a bedtime routine imo, why the rush? We didn't bother with a routine til 6 months ish both times.

I’m not an expert either but have a 21 week and I’ve been led completely by dd on naps and sleep (I didn’t have any energy in me to try and enforce a routine or try and get my dd to do something she didn’t want to) although I’ve always kept a vague awareness of wake windows for babies age

DD gradually bought forward her bedtime herself and has ended up setting her own bedtime of 7pm (think this happened aRound 3 months) and it’s stayed that way - can’t remember whether there was a change when clocks changed or not.

Likewise with naps she has chosen to always have a nap at 1230 (been this way for ages) regardless of any other naps. Last few weeks she’s also been clockwork napping at 9am and 3pm. How the hell does she know the time is another question as it is honestly bang on!

No chance I could change these routines she has set as she’d scream the house down if I didn’t get her in her pram or cot for nap or bed time.

Anyway what I am trying to say is that my advice is to be led by baby at the point. Still so small.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I know 10 weeks is still brand new and we are being baby led throughout the day. My main reason for trying to have a fixed point bed time is (aside from this working well with dd1) we have to be up at 6am to get dd1 to school and with short naps she's overtired most of the day. By 5:30/6pm she's completely beyond tired/overestimated and needs a quiet dark room. This leaves one of us sitting in the dark for 2 hours trying to comfort her which of course is fine but is pretty full on. Hope that makes sense!

Mine the same age mostly does longer naps in the carrier / on me. Have you tried baby wearing for longer day naps? (Sorry if that's obvious and you're already doing it!)

I get what you mean - our dd is 15 weeks and has had a loose routine / bedtime since around 10 weeks I think.

if you want them down at 7pm then make sure their last nap is between 4-5.

the rough schedule we work to at the moment is;
Nap one 0900-1000
Nap two 1200-1400
Nap three 1600-1700
Bedtime 1900

whether this actually happens or joy is another matter! Her naps are usually more like 45 mins. And today she woke after just 30 mins. So it’s a bit of a battle and I just try to go with it. But I like having a loose scheduled to aim for!

@Trying2bemum what time does yours wake up for that schedule? About 7am? And does she wake in the night?

I’m feeling really lost when everyone speaks about naps because my 15 week old sleeps normally 10pm to 1pm (wakes at midnight, 5am and 9am to eat/nappy change), then it’s hard to get her to nap at all in the afternoon/evening. She’ll fall asleep on the boob but wakes if I put her down. Is that really abnormal?

I'm going to look into different slings. This was my ²nd c section and had some problems with stitches so couldn't wear for 8 weeks or so. Im hoping to go to a sling group and try some different ones. I just have a carrier and it's really uncomfortable! Thanks for the tip :)

@Trying2bemum thank you for sharing! Yes I've been trying to watch for Windows of being awake and putting down for naps after 2 hours but it usually ends up being awake for 45, sleep for 45 all the way until 5:30pm then it's screams until 7:45! We will get there, feeling very rusty and out of practice.

@CastleTower sorry didn't tag you in my reply! New to mn so still trying to figure out how to post etc!

Having the same issue as you OP, so watching with interest! Have a 4 y/o with a 7pm bedtime and tentatively trying to get our 9 week old to the same point- at the moment we still seem to have two hours of overtired crying between 6-8pm. Can't even start a routine upstairs as he wakes our eldest with crying.
I'm sure time will fix all of these things, but like you, were all up at 6am, so no lie ins for anyone!

@Februaryschild2023 it's so difficult isn't it! Congratulations on your new little one! I'm also hoping to have a loose structure and for dd2 to be able to go to into her cot awake and sleep before the sleep regressions hit.