How can I get them to bed earlier?

I have a question about my 4.5 month old twin boys. They drink 5 bottles throughout the day and don't wake to eat at night. I feed them every three hours during the day, beginning around 7 a.m. when they wake up. That means they eat at 7, 10, 1, 4 and 7 (give or take 1/2 an hour) with naps in between. Because they eat every three hours (or three and a 1/2 hours) I can't seem to get their last bottle in before 7 or 7:30. That means after a bottle, bath and massage they're not getting to bed until 8 or 8:30. I'd like them to get to bed no later than 7 because I want them to sleep from 7 to 7 and get a full 12 hours (that's what I'd like - not sure if it'll happen!). But I can't seem to feed them less than 5 bottles a day (they're big boys and I think they sleep well at night partially b/c they get all the nutrients they need during the day). Any ideas? I tend to follow HSHHC and The Baby Whisperer (with a few modifications).

 

how much are they eating per feeding?

 

Can you do the bath/massage before the bottle?

 

I have this same problem. I'm trying to get them to bed earlier but dont' know how! Mine go 3 hours as well but are up at 5:00 so we go 5, 8, 11, 2, 5, 8 and then bath and bed.

Anxious to see answers!

 

My girls just turned 5 mo. this week. My girls are big too. We are on a similar schedule. I think you should move the bath up before the last bottle. My husband helps with bath and bed time so that helps to make everything stay on schedule. We have started solids because our ped. want us to, because our girls were so big
Wake 7 am bottle
play
9 am solids
10 am bottle then nap
play
1pm bottle then long nap
play
4pm bottle
play
5:45 or 6pm solids
6:15 or 6:30 bath/massage/read a book
7pm last bottle
By 7:30 the girls are put down in their cribs for the night.

 

We have a similar schedule too. Sometimes mine sleep in until about 7:30 am and then I try and get in 5 feedings before bed time. Usually in order to have the last feeding start at about 7:00 pm I take them up and start the bed time around 6:30 pm. They have a quick bath and massage and then we nurse. They actually usually fall asleep nursing so are asleep by 7:30. Lately they've been napping poorly so we are even starting the bedtime routine as early as 6 pm some nights when I can tell they are just too tired. Another thing I do is to only go 2 hours between the last two feedings of the day. So sometimes we get off schedule and end up on 2 pm, 5 pm etc but I still do the last feed at 7 pm.

 

They're eating 220-230 ml per feeding so that's quite a lot.

I did the bath and massage before the last feeding last night so they were down earlier. I've avoided this in the past because I've made it a priority NOT to feed them to sleep in the past (I didn't want them to get into the habit of needing to eat themselves to sleep b/c I wanted them to be able to self-sooth at night, etc.) but maybe at 4.5 months they're in enough of a routine not to get hooked on milk to sleep? Esp. if I'm not doing that for naps.

I'll try it.

 

I went through the same thing and was feeding at almost the same exact times as you!! I actually went down to 4 bottles each at that point. They were eating the same amount, just bigger bottles.