did you have a set bedtime when your twins were 3 - 4 months?

DH and I have been trying to stick with a bedtime between 7 - 8pm (with the last bottle around 6:30 - 7:00pm). I feel like we are always strategizing in terms of giving them their last bottle for the day. We typically do a 3 hour feeding schedule -- and it turns out that three hours (give or take 15 minutes) is when they want to eat anyways. However, they wake up at different times everyday so it's hard to do this.

Like today - they woke up at 5:45am, I gave them their bottles, they suck down 6oz each. They were up for one hour and then back down to sleep for nearly two hours and then they woke up at 8:45am, and they weren't hungry and then 9am hit and they were crazy hungry so I fed them. Then they took another hour or so snooze and they woke up and I played with them...they then took another bottle at 11:45am (I tried to hold them off until noon and that wasn't going to happen) and then they went back down for a nap at 12:10pm. So they are sleeping now -- and this means that the next bottle should occur aroudn 3ish, but my husband wants me to hold them off until 3:15pm and then the last bottle at 6:30pm. Of course he's travelnig, so he doesn't have to deal with this....

Does anyone else ever feel like they had to rework the daily schedule to preserve a set bedtime? This is starting to drive me crazy -- it's nice to have a bedtime because we know they will sleep until at least 4 - 6am...so that's a nice stretch. HELP! Suggestions?

BTW - I live in Seattle so in Sept and Oct it was easy to hold them off, I would just take them for a walk...now I'm in my house by myself so it's just a little harder to do.

 

We didn't have a set bedtime at 3-4 months, but that is the time that I noticed that they were starting to consistently fall asleep after nursing around 6:30pm and not wake up again until 1:00-2:00 a.m. I just followed their cues and bf them on demand - and I know you can't do that with bottles. I'm sorry I'm not more of a help!

I wouldn't stress about giving a bottle 15 minutes early or 15 minutes late. I don't think it is that big of a deal - and they are still really young, you'll have plenty of time for getting them on a stricter schedule when they are older and more distractable. At that age, once mine were hungry - there was no distracting them!

 

we did bedtime between 6:30 and 8, depending on when the last nap was, when they woke up, etc. we still do it that way, and it seems to work. sometimes if they wanna eat but bedtime is only an hour away i will give them 1/2 a bottle, and then feed them again right before bed. good luck!

 

We did (and still do) bedtime between 8 and 8.30. We're on a 3 hour feeding schedule, with the first bottle normally being around 7am. If we're out of sync, I adjust it in 15 minute segments across the day so that it eventually evens out in the end. We always give ours a small 3oz top up right before bed, which they often fall asleep on near the end. They usually sleep until 6.30 or 7 in the morning, and don't wake up for food at night (although it doesn't stop them waking for other things at times).

 

We always had a bedtime between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on most days... but sometimes it was 6pm. It's only now that we have a set schedule that it's always 7pm. Before that, it depended on when they woke up from their last nap usually... We would add 1.5 to 2 hours and then it would be bedtime.

 

our girls have a 7:00pm bedtime & we started that around 3.5 months. the last week or so though they've been getting up from their last nap at around 5:00pm instead of 5:30pm & they can only manage about 1.5 hrs before needing to be back asleep so for the last week they've been going to bed at 6:30pm. as their awake time stretches out, we'll move it back to 7:00pm.

 

Ours eat their last bottle between 6:30-7:30. They are sttn too!!!Yay!!!

 

I think what I did around 4 months old was try to put them down after their 6 pm bottle and just see how long they'd go. The only difference b/w bed time and the rest of the day was that there was no play time after the 6 pm bottle it was straight to bed.

 

QUOTE(aimeethomp @ Nov 21 2008, 05:57 PM) [snapback]1081391[/snapback]
I think what I did around 4 months old was try to put them down after their 6 pm bottle and just see how long they'd go. The only difference b/w bed time and the rest of the day was that there was no play time after the 6 pm bottle it was straight to bed.



THank you for saying what the difference was ... For me they wake up to eat, change diapers and they go back to sleep pretty much on their own
(after holding them upright on a pillow for 1/2 hr due to reflux)...niight time just means putting warmer clothes on and giving the night medicine.

For those who say the STTN... how many hours is that on a strech?

They have a big long strech nap during the afternoon - about 4 - 5 sometimes, but at night they do wake up every 3 hours to feedding. DS onely takes about 3 ounces at 11:30 bottle... I thing if he drank more he would sttn... becaucse at teh 2:30 he often doe snot drink much as well... but once he fall asleep there is no waking him up to finish his bottle. DD has a clock in her belly... always drinks a full 6 ounces but is up every 3 hours.

 

Gimena -
sounds like your babies have their days and nights confused. The three hour feedings should be during the day and the 4 - 5 hour stretch should be at night. I would talk to your pediatrician about this to see how you can get this corrected. If you look on the web - babycenter.com - it says that by the time an infant hits the three month marker they usually hit a stretch of 5 hours at night. Believe it or not, this is considered STTN.

I'm lucky -- my babies go down between 7 - 8pm, and they basically stay asleep until 4, 5 or sometimes even 6am.

 

Do you have Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child? I refer to this book a lot, still now. At four months we decided to try to get them down around 7. Prior to that it was really all over the place, but quite a bit later. They were still waking up twice in the night to eat, but slept roughly from 7 to 6. I fed mine every 3 hours during the day also. Why does your DH want to push the afternoon feedings back 15 minutes?

Are your babies pretty happy at 7 or 8 pm? I would use their sleepy signs as a guide. If they're getting fussy or otherwise showing signs of tiredness, try to put them down sooner than later. My babies now are in bed by 6:00, and are falling apart before that, but I just can't get them to bed earlier than that.

 

At 12 w (3m) my dudes had a bottle at 6, and were asleep by 6:30 and I didn’t hear from them until 6am… and it been that way ever since (well except for the 4 m regression… but I never fed them, just plugged in a binky). I have tried to push it to 7 pm but they are done by 6:30… I would love a wakeup call of 7am not 6am… but not gonna complain as I know it could be worse (it was w/ my older ds)

 

QUOTE(dezmitch @ Nov 21 2008, 11:06 PM) [snapback]1081224[/snapback]
DH and I have been trying to stick with a bedtime between 7 - 8pm (with the last bottle around 6:30 - 7:00pm). I feel like we are always strategizing in terms of giving them their last bottle for the day. We typically do a 3 hour feeding schedule -- and it turns out that three hours (give or take 15 minutes) is when they want to eat anyways. However, they wake up at different times everyday so it's hard to do this.

Like today - they woke up at 5:45am, I gave them their bottles, they suck down 6oz each. They were up for one hour and then back down to sleep for nearly two hours and then they woke up at 8:45am, and they weren't hungry and then 9am hit and they were crazy hungry so I fed them. Then they took another hour or so snooze and they woke up and I played with them...they then took another bottle at 11:45am (I tried to hold them off until noon and that wasn't going to happen) and then they went back down for a nap at 12:10pm. So they are sleeping now -- and this means that the next bottle should occur aroudn 3ish, but my husband wants me to hold them off until 3:15pm and then the last bottle at 6:30pm. Of course he's travelnig, so he doesn't have to deal with this....

Does anyone else ever feel like they had to rework the daily schedule to preserve a set bedtime? This is starting to drive me crazy -- it's nice to have a bedtime because we know they will sleep until at least 4 - 6am...so that's a nice stretch. HELP! Suggestions?

BTW - I live in Seattle so in Sept and Oct it was easy to hold them off, I would just take them for a walk...now I'm in my house by myself so it's just a little harder to do.


I know EXACTLY how you feel as I did/do the same thing. DS wakes and eats at 7am so the 4-hour routine works out quite well. DD used to wake at 9am (now 8am thanks to the time change) for feeds which would throw out the 7-7.30pm last feed!!! It´s funny though but both babies will eat at bedtime regardless of whether they ate 3 hours earlier. I guess they know it´s bedtime and are used to having thier last bottle at that time.

With DS, I used to delay his bottle by 5 mins at each feed during the day until it hit a better time. If he could wait longer, I let him. If not, I fed him.

In your case, I´d stick to what you´re doing. They will get used to eating at 7pm. The other feeds will gradually reduce but the last one is key, as is breakfast and lunch. Mine adapted fine and yours will too, Im sure. I used to stress about the timetable too but it all falls into place, don´t worry.

Mine eat at 7pm ish and are fast asleep by 8pm. They sttn and go 11-12 hours without food.

GL, it will be work out!

 

QUOTE(dezmitch @ Nov 21 2008, 08:26 PM) [snapback]1081470[/snapback]
Gimena -
sounds like your babies have their days and nights confused. The three hour feedings should be during the day and the 4 - 5 hour stretch should be at night. I would talk to your pediatrician about this to see how you can get this corrected. If you look on the web - babycenter.com - it says that by the time an infant hits the three month marker they usually hit a stretch of 5 hours at night. Believe it or not, this is considered STTN.

I'm lucky -- my babies go down between 7 - 8pm, and they basically stay asleep until 4, 5 or sometimes even 6am.



I would agree with this - I wouldn't let my babes do such a long stretch during the day. I would wake them definitely to try and get that long stretch at night! Sounds like you are doing a good job though! I always gave my babes a feed or top up at 7 am and that would kind of kick start the days schedule (very loose one!). Then feed every three hours or so - and I would wake them for a feed - you want as many calories eaten during the day so they need less at night! So that's the theory anyway! Then mine would go down between 6.30 and 7.30 pm.

 

I had heard about the night/days being confused.... but I just thought it was when they are completely awake during the night (talking and giggling
even on their own).... at night they do wake up to eat but then they just go back to sleep.

I have to add..mine were premies (6 weeks early) so maybe I just need to give them more time.

 

We've always gotten ready for bed at 2010ish and in bed by 2030-2100. They pretty much know when it's time for bed ^_^