Moving 10pm bedtime to 7pm

[SleepingtonSue]

My 4-and-a-half month old twins sleep from 10pm to 6 or 7am at the moment. They will be going into their own room in about six weeks and I want to get them into a 7pm bedtime. But I am very nervous about disrupting the great night time sleep arrangement we've got at the moment! They have absolutely no nap pattern in the daytime unfortunately - I just let them nap when they get tired. Again this is because I'm nervous to "force" anything which might disrupt their 8 hour night time stretch. I am the sort of person who really needs a lot of sleep, so I'm beyond thankful that we are doing well at the moment. Any tips would be appreciated! :)

Why 7pm? If you were going to change bedtime I'd do it gradually. I'd be grateful for the sleep I was getting already tbh

Their current routine sounds great! Presumably your partner is home in ten evenings and gets to spend time with them awake and help put them to bed at 10pm?

It's probably doable but will be loads of effort - is there a particular reason why you want a 7pm bedtime? Are they hard work in the evening? Mine had probably 7:30 or 8pm bedtime at that age but woke early, 5am was not unusual.

@dementedpixie I suppose I'm just thinking longer term, 10pm is not a sustainable bed time - just something a bit nearer 7 would be amazing. But yes believe me I am so thankful for how they are sleeping at the moment!

@RandomMess yes that's right, we usually take one each to feed and change, after a little bedtime cuddle and story (I know they're too young to understand stories but they seem to enjoy it haha). We are very lucky in that respect too, we just pop them in their baskets with some soft music on and they're asleep within a couple of minutes.

they're only 4 ½ months, plenty of time for bedtime to become earlier. When naps start to decrease then bedtime will probably get earlier naturally.

It will change as their daytime sleeping pattern changes, I would expect it would naturally change then and you can bring it forward.

I wouldn’t be worrying about bedtime at 4 months old, @SleepingtonSue. What’s happening now is in no way representative of what it’ll be like at a year or whatever.

Plus, if you shift bedtime to 7pm, they’ll probably just start waking at 3 or 4am.

Thanks all, I think I will forget about it for now based on what you've said. We got to this point "naturally" so I think I will just carry on going with the flow
I am terrible for thinking ahead too much... For all I know we will probably still be faced with sleep regression!

I probably wouldn't bother changing bedtime for fear of disrupting their long sleep! It will naturally fall earlier as their daytime sleeps change and become more regular. If you find it a bit late maybe start off with a 9.45 bedtime for a few days, then inch it back until you get closer to 7 over the course of a few months.