Is it time for a later bedtime?

My boys have had a 7pm bedtime for well over a year now. They pretty much sleep 7pm-7/7:30am, although they have had phases where they woke up much earlier or much later. However, they have recently been on a streak where they are ready to get up much earlier, like 6am or so.... :icon_eek: I am wondering if they are ready for a later bedtime. I have tried pushing it back to 7:30pm with not much difference. DH says maybe it's time for 8 pm. I think they might just waking up when the sun comes up, even though the room is really darked out.

The thing is, when I put them down at 7pm, they usually go right to sleep without a peep. At 7:30pm, they are even more ready. The thing with them is they will play hard right up until they go to bed-- you have no idea how tired they really are...... so if they are willing to go to sleep at 7pm or so, is it still time for a later bedtime?

For what it's worth, they take a nap from 1-3:30pm or so.

 

If they are tired and going to bed right away, I would take that as a sign that they are ready for bed at that time and leave bedtime alone. Do you go to them as soon as they wake up in the morning? If so, I would try making them wait until 7am. At 21 months, you might have to do this little by little... start with 6:15, then 6:30, etc. We did that when ours were about 9 months, so they would get used to a 7am wake up. Now they sometimes wake at 6am (when DH gets up), but they know we aren't coming for them for awhile... so they read, chatter, play, etc.

 

A later bedtime many times ends up with an even earlier wake up time. When my boys were in cribs, we never got them out until 7:30-8, regardless of when they woke up. Many times they would wake, chatter and then go back to sleep.

 

QUOTE(rosie19 @ May 3 2007, 12:58 PM) [snapback]242167[/snapback]
If they are tired and going to bed right away, I would take that as a sign that they are ready for bed at that time and leave bedtime alone. Do you go to them as soon as they wake up in the morning? If so, I would try making them wait until 7am. At 21 months, you might have to do this little by little... start with 6:15, then 6:30, etc. We did that when ours were about 9 months, so they would get used to a 7am wake up. Now they sometimes wake at 6am (when DH gets up), but they know we aren't coming for them for awhile... so they read, chatter, play, etc.



Oh believe me, there is no way I go in there to them when they are up that early! Sometimes we make them they wait until closer to 7:30am.... they definitely just play in their cribs and talk to themselves (and sometimes they do drift back to sleep), so they're not distressed, but I'd rather they not wake that early.

 

I really don't think 8 p.m. is going to help you. I have been known to be wrong, but if they are going straight down without a fight then that's their correct bedtime. I don't go in until 7:00 a.m. usually to get mine. There can be consequences of that for me though.... they sometimes try to undress during that time, but they are always happy and playing/talking and throwing all their stuff out of the cribs. Driving their trains and cars on the walls etc. (That's Martin, Ali will talk and jump etc....) So, you are going to be sorta awake but you can at least take your time pulling yourself out of bed. You could turn your monitor off (if you even need it) and sleeping through it, but I kinda doubt it'll work....your intuition will kick in and tell you that they are awake......or your supersonic hearing

 

My boys are 22 months, go to bed between 8:30 and 9 pm and are waking up at 8 or 8:30 am. This has been their bedtime from the beginning though because DH gets home from work later in the evening and we want him to be able to spend time with them.

I have a friend who's twins don't do well staying up later than 7:30 pm and they are up early.

I don't know...

Mendy

 

I wouldn't push their bedtime later.
Kids phase in and out of wake times, I'd just leave them until 7am or whatever time you want.
My boys still have a 7pm betime and they're amost 3.

 

Its prolly just a phase. ITA that if they go to bed fine at 7pm do not change it. Wait it out and see. My boys wake anywhere from 6-7am and go to bed around 7pm. I cannot put them to bed anylater or it gets into my felicia andme time for her homework etc as she needs to be in bed by 8Pm to get up at 630am for school. HTH

 

I think it's just a matter of what works for your family. Bedtime for us is 8:00pm and has been for well over a year now. They usually wake around 8:30 and we nap 1-3. In the summer it's daylight here until really late so we are always doing outdoor activities when DH gets home, so the 8 pm bedtime helps with allowing time for everything. Also, our kids don't seem to be tired even at 8:00pm, so I'm sure we could move it even later. Sometimes they chat to each other for almost an hour before falling asleep.

 

I am also going to say that I think that slowly pushing bedtime back to 8 will help. I love how well mine sleep and they go from 8-7 and then nap 1-3:30 in the day. They do require a little less sleep now that they are getting "bigger". I would try it, and see how it works.

 

I'd try shortening the nap rather then push bedtime. Perhaps 1- 2:30 or 3. Mine were 7-7:30 too and then they started having way too much energy at bedtime. Now we don't have naps much (unless they're obviously tired, sick, or I'm loosing my mind) and they sleep much better at night.

A year from now you are really going to want the 7 pm bedtime, so I'd stick with that.

Oh, is their room light in the morning? I had to put up room darkening shades in the boys' room because they were getting up with the sun for a little while!

 

QUOTE(TwinMom205 @ May 4 2007, 08:17 PM) [snapback]243959[/snapback]
I'd try shortening the nap rather then push bedtime. Perhaps 1- 2:30 or 3.



Ditto. our bedtime is 730 and if they are waking too early i cut the nap short and put them to bed 30 min earlier then they are going back to sleeping 12 hrs. although 11 hrs is good amt of sleep.
we also had to start using a Morning light. they are allowed to get up for the day when the light comes on. we are still in cribs but it has helped. if they wake up and the light is off then they know they can't get up for the day, they have to go back to bed for another hour or whatever. my next task is to train them to be quiet in the AM. sometimes I want to sleep alittle more and they are awake at 630am and not getting up till 7 am and so i want them to be quiet .

 

Just wanted to post again and thank everyone for their responses. The boys are still waking up pretty early, but I am going to keep hanging with it for a few more weeks before I do anything like shortening their nap (they can be really cranky when woken deliberately from a nap). Their room is very, very dark, but I know the early morning sunlight is still creeping in and cueing them to wake. But I can't imagine making it any darker-- it's already cavelike!

I also feel like they are just going through a phase where life is just so much fun and they can't wait to get up and play. They are acting sillier, talking more and just being little boys (not babies anymore!). I honestly feel like they are just excited to start their day! Maybe it will phase out, maybe not... we'll see.

 

Ditto to what everyone else said. Mine go to bed between 7pm and 8Pm and wake up between 6am and 7am. We never get them earlier than 7am so they know they have to play in their cribs. I think you should keep the 7:30pm bedtime and let them sort things out. They are taking a great nap and seem to be getting enough rest.

Maybe try 30 mins of quiet time before bed. We start at 7pm with books and snuggling.....