Does an early bedtime NOT work for anyone?

We have finally started to get on a schedule (around 6 months) and I'm trying to narrow down our STTN issues. Our schedule looks somewhat like this:

7am - wake up, bottle (they'll only take 2-3 oz), breakfast (oatmeal and a fruit)
Play
8:45am - bottle - 2-4 oz
9:00am - Nap for 1 to 1.5 hours
11:30am - bottle - 3-5 oz (trying really hard to get them to take more at a time)
noon - lunch (oatmeal and a veggie)
1:00pm - bottle (3-5 oz) then Nap for 1-2 hours
4:00pm - bottle (4-5 oz)
4:30-5:30pm - somewhere in there they usually take a 45min - 1 hr nap
5:30pm - Dinner (meat dish and a fruit or veggie)
6:30pm - Bath
7:00pm - Bottle (try to get 6-8 oz down them)
8:00pm - Bed (sometimes! This varies from 7:30 - 9:00 some nights)

The bottles are iffy on here. I give them formula in a cup with meals to try to add up the ounces also. I pretty much feed on demand since that is how I breastfed them and they're still trying to get the hang of eating more at one time. I don't think I produced much at one time so they ate every 2 hrs. DS has STTN twice now (10 hrs the first night and 12 the 2nd) so I know he can do it. Most nights he'll wake up once to eat. DD on the other hand wakes 2-3 times still to eat. If they're hungry then they're hungry and I'm ok feeding them but what drives me insane is when they are wide awake and ready for the day. This only seems to happen when I put them down before 8pm. I've tried going much earlier - like 6-6:30pm and they think it's a nap. They wake up much more frequently during the evening and night and are up for the day at like 4am! The two nights we got DS to STTN was when we got 8-10 oz of formula in him in the evening and he didn't go to bed till 9pm. I'd love some time to myself in the evening but I'd rather have STTN kiddos - KWIM? I see what great success everyone has with putting their kids to bed earlier and having them sleep better and mine just don't. What am I doing wrong or do some kids just do better with a later bedtime?

 

I bet some kids to better with a later bedtime. My girls have always gone to bed early, but my SIL's baby sleeps 8 pm - 8 am and the little boy I babysit does the same thing.

 

My kids (all 5 of them) were much better with a later bedtime. They all had 8:00 bedtimes from a very early age, I don't think any of them ever went to bed before 8:00 and sometimes, when the twins were little they were up until 9:00. I'm always jealous when I read on here that people put their babies to bed at 6:30 or even earlier sometimes! Even after a really busy day & not napping anymore, my two are still never in bed before 8:00. I tried putting them down at 7:30 last night & they played & talked and laughed until 8:00 anyway and were up at 6:00 this morning. ardon:

 

My older DD had a 9:00 bed time, and she did great with it. She slept through the night, took two good naps, and was very happy. Eventually I got her down to 8:00, but I didn't change her schedule; the time changed (day light savings)and I just kept putting her to bed at the same time she was used to. My twins on the other hand HAVE to go to bed early. Every baby is different.

 

For us it was all about finding the right time, which ended up being 7pm. Any earlier or any later would cause major problems! :gah:

 

We decided 8pm was right for our boys because otherwise I wouldn't have any time to spend with them after I got home from work. I don't get home until 6:30 on most days, which is just enough time to eat dinner, feed them, have 1/2 hour of playtime, then bed. And I still have a hard time putting them down because I want to keep playing with them!

But they do really well with the later time. They STTN (well, Nate does; Jack has had teething issues for the last month!), wake at 7am, and take good naps.

I think it's important how much sleep they get, not necessarily when that sleep is. If your LO's seem to be doing well with a later bedtime and can get enough hours of sleep in during a 24 hour period, then I think you've found what works for you!

 

Mine have always done well with a 7:30 -8:00 pm bedtime. Any earlier then 7 and they won't go to sleep and they can hang a little bit past 8, though we don't like to do that. They usually wake up between 7:30-8 in the morning.

 

Ditto! (except for the 5 kids part ) mine go to bed at 9 now and Ian sometimes stalls till 9:30 but still gets up by 7 nearly every morning!

 

Our bedtime is 8 pm here. I've tried earlier and later, but this seems to be the one that works the best. It's a little harder to get them to sleep at 8 now when it's still daylight. It's been 8:30 or so lately, but I hope to back it up to 8 pm again in the fall.

 

My first ds would go to bed at 1am, after dh got home from work so he could see him a little bit.

My first dd did the same thing for the same reason.

Now dh is on an earlier schedule (gets home at 7pm). The twins go to bed around 10-11pm and sleep until 9:30/10am the next day.

 

Ty goes to bed LATE sometimes 11pm. He usually sleeps 12 hours from when he goes down though so if its 7pm hes up at 7am but midnight means hes probably sleeping until noon.

 

We tried it all and early definitely worked better for us but the key was to make sure they could tell the difference in naptime and bedtime. We fed them their last bottle in low lights and quiet, put them into their pjs, turned the sound machine on, gave them a bath, etc. and they knew that it was bedtime because of those things more than because of what the clock says.