Bedtimes for 4 months old

[chardonm]

Hi all,

Could do with a little advice. Now I do realize that I have a good sleeper...
My 4 months old goes to bed between 8 and 9 - bath at 8 then however long it takes her to eat. She wakes up at 4 then at 5 or 6 each time to eat for about 10m. Then she goes back to sleep until 8am or 9am!! Which is great right now as I am at home but when I go back to work dd will have to wake up at 7 or earlier.

Should I put her bedtime earlier? I'm a little reluctant to do that as I don't want her waking up at 2am... at the same time I don't know if it's really normal for babies to sleep this long in the morning?

Any advice?

When are you going back to work?

In two months time! When dd is 6 months old.

Fair enough. I'd try getting her up earlier and seeing what happens. Well done for getting a sensible bedtime so young though.

Whatever works for you! I was back at work soon after 4 months so we always had bedtime at 7ish (and still do at 2.5!). We used to do a dream feed when we went to bed at 11 then he’d sleep til morning.

Thank you both.

Welsh - did you find putting bedtime earlier meant waking up earlier during the night? When did you stop the dream feed?

I’d be careful here... my 19 month old has never slept much 😂 but she sleeps much better 9/9.30 - 9/9.30 - if she goes to bed st 7/7.30 her sleep is all over the place through the night.

Hello, I am new to this and I find this site extremely useful and a brilliant idea!

I would really appreciate some advice from mothers who may be going through what I am with my little one or previously went through this..

I am a first time mum and my daughter is now 15weeks so approaching 4months.y understanding was that after 3 months babies get into a routine at night and sleep more better at night where they only have to wake up one or twice but I am still waking up every two hours or even one hour at times and it is getting really exhausting and I just would have thought by now she would be in a set routine and would sleep more longer through the night - or have I got this wrong?

LO usually starts getting cranky around 8pm for bed time then once I put her to sleep she will then wake up frequently throughout the whole night and come the day that’s when she wants to sleep - almost reversed!

Thank you!

Sorry ignore this post I was meant to start a new one! Sorry new to this!

Mimi no worries.

Cat - thanks, good to know!

We stopped the dream feed at 7 months (forgot one night and that was that!). If he woke other than that i used dummy and patting and didn’t feed. Rarely woke after a couple of days.

@Mimi2018 baby sleep isn’t linear it goes up and down for the first couple of years. Look up the 4 month sleep regression it will give you an idea of what is happening at the moment. But it’s a really outdated and old fashioned view to assume babies suddenly start sleeping better after a few months (I assume someone put this in your head!) - my 19 month old has just started to occasionally sleep thtough the night - otherwise she wakes a few times.

Thanks Chardonm!

@crazycatlady5 thanks I will look that up!
Yes the health visitor and my sister in law put that in my head hence why I feel I’m doing something wrong! Thanks again

Mimi, the 4 month thing is a killer.

I do think they sleep better if they go to bed a bit later and have had the opportunity to Tank up in the eve (breast fed).

Oh and teething. And the 8-10 mo regression. As @crazycatlady5 says it isn't linear and your baby sounds normal. It's rather unhelpful of HV to suggest otherwise as a healthcare 'professional'

Sorry that was for Mimi. To OP

2 months is a hell of a long time for a baby, don't worry about it yet!

Op I think your 4 month old is doing really well! They do change a lot in a few weeks. Mine isn't doing as well as I simply can't get the wind up once he's asleep at the moment (employing the sling tonight) which wrecks sleep from 1 or 2 onwards!