How to get 8 month old asleep before midnight?

[AyeOopMoose]

DD2 is 8 months old and sleep is a nightmare! The problem is she won't go down for the night before 11pm (sometimes midnight). She also won't sleep in her cot and we usually end up co sleeping as she'll go back to sleep on the boob. She then sleeps til 8-9am sometimes even later.

In the day she has 2 naps. Short one in the morning (10.30 ish for 40mins) and longer in the afternoon (2 hours til about 3.30/4).

We are following BLW & BF, she has only really taken to solids in the last few weeks but now has 3 "meals" & snacks as well as being fed on demand.

After bath time she has a feed and usually goes off to sleep (7pm). If I then put her in her cot or move her from me she wakes up within 10 mins. If I leave her on the boob she may sleep for 30mins. Either way by 8pm she is wide awake and up playing until really late.

What can I do to get her to sleep at 7 (ish) pm? I don't mind the night wake ups as I know we can use CC to sort this eventually.

you would probably have to wake her earlier in the morning e.g. 7/8am to get her to be in bed earlier in the evening. If she was awake earlier in the morning, her naps would be earlier and she should be ready for bedtime earlier (in theory!)

I agree, if she is regularly sleeping in till 9 am or later she just won't be tired enough at a sensible bedtime. Put the wake up time gradually back by 20 minutes at a time until it is at something more usual like 7.30.

At the moment her 7pm sleep is like what should be an afternoon nap rather than bedtime!

My DS is 8 months - sleep can be quite crap due to the night wake ups but he is usually ready for bedtime by 8pm and is usually up for the day some time between 7 and 8.

Wake her up earlier. My 8 month old is always awake between 7-7.30am.

Wake - 7am
Nap of 30 minutes - between 9am and 10am. Always awake by 10am.
Nap as long as he wants - between 12pm and 2.30pm. Always awake by 2.30pm
Nap of 30 minutes - between 4pm and 5pm. Always awake by 5pm
Bedtime - 7pm

He normally sleeps 12 hours straight through, but is teething at the moment, so wakes a couple of times, but is happy to go back to bed after a cuddle.

Agree with the others, get her up at 7 for a bf then breakfast at 8. I also wouldn't let her sleep after 2.30 in the afternoon. Sounds like she is getting all the sleep she needs, just not when you want her too.

Waking her earlier will hurt for a few days but if you want to reclaim your evenings, its a small price to pay

If the night wakings are bothering you google askdrsears 12 alternative for the all night nurser and askdrsears 31 ways to get your baby to sleep should help too

Thanks all. That does make sense and seems obvious now!

She slept til 9.30am this morning which was great as it gave me time to get DD1 up & ready but I know I'll regret it tonight.

Will have to let DD1 stomp around the cot when she gets up tomorrow-she's always trying to do this anyway!

If DH is home you can always bf dd2 at 7 and then send her downstairs with DH while you sort out dd1 and yourself.