Confused about baby's bedtime

[DeeAndMe]

My baby boy is 14 weeks and for the last 6 weeks I have been trying to get him down at the same time in the evening.

He wakes from his last nap at around 4.50 - 5 pm. Bath at 5.50 pm and feed at 6.10 pm. I usually put him into his cot at 6.30 pm (he can't stay awake longer than 1.5 hours). Sometimes, he goes straight to sleep or is asleep within half an hour. However, more often than not, he has a catnap and then usually stays awake another two hours or so. I have tried taking him back downstairs with us but he turned into an overtired, screaming baby. So most of my evenings are spent in a dark room, trying to settle him for three hours or more. Is this normal? I thought the witching hour only lasted 10-12 weeks?

I always wake him up at 7.30 am, he has rarely woken before that time, I don't know if this is relevant!

SIDS recommendations are that baby sleeps in the same room you are until 6 months. Which means baby's "daytime" spent downstairs matches yours - so for example 7am to 10pm or whenever you go to bed.

It is also very usual for babies to have an unsettled evening.

Cluster feeding in the evening is normal.

Spending the evening napping, rather than night time deep sleep is usual.

This is all the reasons is normal to not take baby up to bed early evening until baby is older, around 6 months.

Sounds to me like you're rushing. Baby isn't ready for a "bedtime" yet. It will come though. For now just follow baby's lead.

If I had to spend more than 15 minutes settling baby to sleep id stop bothering and have a cuddle in front of the telly instead. But that's because I have 4 children and time is too precious to waste like that. My now 2 year old is the most routined baby on the world (in terms of bedtime and naptime) in part as a result of not faffing around with extended pointless settling at sleep time.