move bedtime an hour later so they wake up an hour later

I would love to get my babies in a routine where they are sleeping in an hour later in the morning. Right now they wake up between 4 and 5am and then I put them back down to sleep...they sometimes go to sleep for another hour, sometimes 2 hours like this morning. I'm wondering if we should be keeping our babies up later and if they would sleep in later? Right now they tend to want to go to bed around 6 (after their 5 or 5:30pm feeding), but DH and I wake them up at 7pm to top them off for the night. We used to have a pretty steady 7 - 7:30pm bedtime, but things have changed on their own.....

I know things will continue to change, but boy I wish they would sleep in an extra hour. Suggestions?

Also, everyday is so different (in terms of feeding times and naps) since they don't wake up at the same time everyday -- is this normal? Have others experienced this and when did you see more regularity? My b/g twins are 4 months old (3 months and 2 weeks corrected age).

Thanks for the responses in advance.

 

QUOTE(dezmitch @ Nov 29 2008, 03:33 PM) [snapback]1090266[/snapback]
I would love to get my babies in a routine where they are sleeping in an hour later in the morning. Right now they wake up between 4 and 5am and then I put them back down to sleep...they sometimes go to sleep for another hour, sometimes 2 hours like this morning. I'm wondering if we should be keeping our babies up later and if they would sleep in later? Right now they tend to want to go to bed around 6 (after their 5 or 5:30pm feeding), but DH and I wake them up at 7pm to top them off for the night. We used to have a pretty steady 7 - 7:30pm bedtime, but things have changed on their own.....

I know things will continue to change, but boy I wish they would sleep in an extra hour. Suggestions?

Also, everyday is so different (in terms of feeding times and naps) since they don't wake up at the same time everyday -- is this normal? Have others experienced this and when did you see more regularity? My b/g twins are 4 months old (3 months and 2 weeks corrected age).

Thanks for the responses in advance.

I'd get back to the 7-7 if I was in your shoes. Do you trying feeding them at 4 and putting them back down.

 

Personally, I'd start a consistent wake up time. This will give you consistent feeding times every day and a consistent bedtime. Then treat any thing before your set wake time as a middle of the night waking. If they are going 7 to 4 or 5, you're doing great! Treat that early morning wake up as a middle of the night meaning no talking, very little light, etc. What I started doing to stretch that 4am was do whatever I could to soothe them back to sleep without picking up or feeding. At the very least, it pushed the feeding about 15 min later than it had been before. Then shift it a little more. Go to bed right after them for a few nights here and there and you'll be able to wake up with them to help them transition without being terribly sleep deprived yourself. There were plenty of nights that I went to bed at 8!

 

Yes, I feed them at 4am. Sometimes they sleep until 7 sometimes 6 after that feeding. And then...the kicker is when they wake up at 5am...we always put them back to bed if it is before 6am....but the 5am feeding sometimes they only sleep until 6:30am.

So maybe I should start just waking them up at 6:30am -- i'd rather do 7 to 7.

 

How old are they? Mine did that between 6 and 7 months... once we added a solid feeding at dinner time they started sleeping longer in the morning.

 

oh, mine are only 4 months old and I'm hoping to start them on rice cereal on Friday when they have their 4 month appt with the pedi. That may help, huh?

 

Give it another month or two and it will work itself out. I think you are doing a great job ! I did find soon after mine started to play with toys (4.5 months) that they started to sleep a bit more throughout the night. The early AM wake up took a few more months to become 6:30 AM.

I have tried to do nap #1 at two hours after they wake up (anything after 5 AM was a wake up) and then sometimes they had three naps in the day depending if they woke up early like 5 AM.

Keep working at it and within the next couple of months you will get more of a precise schedule worked out.

Heather

 

QUOTE(dezmitch @ Nov 29 2008, 05:28 PM) [snapback]1090378[/snapback]
oh, mine are only 4 months old and I'm hoping to start them on rice cereal on Friday when they have their 4 month appt with the pedi. That may help, huh?


Uh.. no. Solids do not help. If anything they make sleeping worse because tummies may be upset or not getting enough MILK. There are some babies who are just early risers. I would be up by 5:30 every morning with my twins and they would NOT go back down. That was just who THEY were. :hug: I have been there and it is frustrating. They were horrible sleepers all the time. I'd be up with them at least 4 times a night, every night. I'm talking they were over a year before that stopped.
Have you tried letting them go to bed at 6 when they want to? See how that works. Don't wake them up at 7 to eat. Sometimes Evan sleeps best when he isn't 'tanked' up. Just a thought. I hope they find their rhythm.

 

Ok, so they really aren't up for the day at 4 or 5, they are waking for a feeding right? So I'd try putting them down around the same time, but I wouldn't top them off. They may get up at 2 or 3, but they probably will go down much better and get up later.

You are probably going through the infamous 4 month old sleep regression. Good luck with that one; it's tough, but hey, I'd love to have my guys sleeping as good as you're are right now. Were down between 7-8 and up between for food between 11-1 and back up between 4-5. Then they are up for the day at 7. I guess you and I are up at 4:30 together.

And Jackie's right; solids don't help.

 

QUOTE(dezmitch @ Nov 29 2008, 06:28 PM) [snapback]1090378[/snapback]
oh, mine are only 4 months old and I'm hoping to start them on rice cereal on Friday when they have their 4 month appt with the pedi. That may help, huh?


Yeah, we all hold out a glimmer of hope when it comes to the cereal, but no, doesn't help at all. The amount they get is so tiny that it really doesn't do anything. If you choose to feed solids at that age, its really just practice, they may not even be physically ready.

I found when mine were 4 months their days started falling into a regular pattern on their own. We put them to bed around 8-8.30pm and they woke up around 6.30 or 7am. Now they are a little older, we've started putting them to bed between 7 and 7.30 and they usually sleep until the same time, which is great as DH and I can actually have a little peace in the evening.

I agree with you about putting them to bed a little later. They may need a top up bottle right before you put them to bed, but that should help hold them a little longer at night. Mine stopped having early morning feeds right around the 4 month mark, and if they woke up early, I didn't feed them, and tried to give them a chance to go back to sleep on their own. The first bottle of the morning has been 7am for a while now, and even if they wake up a little early some days, they don't get grumpy until its time for food. Sounds easier than it is, but things do eventually fall into place, just takes a little time.

Good luck

 

just curios:: how much do all ur kids eat (ounces) dduring the day?

 

Mine wake up for the day between 0720-0830 [usually]. We go from there and keep the same schedule. For example: If they wake up around 0800, then they'll usually go down for their first nap around 1000. If they wake at 0730, then they'll usually go down for their first nap at 0930. Their schedule changes a little depending on the length of their naps [ranging from 1 hr to 2.5 hrs]. I just go with the flow with them. I am a SAHM, so it's no damper on any of MY plans, lol.

Also, if one wakes up first I will bring them downstairs and let the other sleep for another 15 mins or so, then wake them up. I like to keep them on similar schedules so when they're napping I get a little ME time. That's really important too. At first I thought if they're on different schedules then they each get 'mommy time'. But they've been better at entertaining themselves [and each other!] that I no longer worry about them getting the attention they need. While one is playing happily by themselves, then I get some alone time with the other ^_^ it works out.

We are currently on a 2 to 2.5 naps a day schedule. The half nap is in the evenings around 1730 [around the time when yours get tired and a bit cranky. I let my girls nap for about 20-30 mins for a 'power nap' but nothing that will prevent them from sleeping well at night. We start to get ready for bed around 2000 and they're in bed by 2030-2045. They sleep until 0400-0530 to eat, then go back to sleep until 0720-0830 to start the day off.

 

I think yours are at a good age to start cereal. We started by putting a spoon of cereal in their normal bottles at 4 months (as recommended by our pedi). We also used to offer them an ounce extra for the last feed. We used to do a dream feed at 11.30pm which we eliminated when ours were around 4.5 months old. They´ve both been going 12 hours (7pm-7am) since then. Mine eat every 4 hours (during the day) and are on solids twice a day now. I still offer them milk at those 2 feeds incase they want it.

As you dont have the dream feed, then I would do what a PP said and try pushing the feeding times forward a bit. It has to be a gradual process. Other than that you could try the dream feed and wake them at 11.30pm which is what we always did. I don´t know if that would backfire though... Other than that, it may just be a question of giving them time. I think its very good that they last 7pm-5am!

Someone: DS ate 32oz a day & DD 28oz. Now they´re on solids x2 a day so their milk intake is less (though I still offer it).

 

I wish I could say that moving bedtime an hour later helped mine to push that waking up an hour later into place. But it didn't. Doing such just seemed to disrupt their rhythm altogether! Ugh!

They were sleeping through the night, but this stunt seemed to throw them off.

But then again, this may be the sleep regression thing. . . my guys were 6 weeks premature. So that might be it.

 

6 seems really early to me for them to be going down for the night. Our boys go to bed at 8 and wake up at 7:30. I would definitely push them back to a 7pm bed time.
I also wake mine up by 7:30am if they are not awake yet so they always have the same nap schedule during the day.

 

At 4mo old my girls were going to bed at 6 and I did not get them out of the crib till 6am, I would nurse them and put them back down, sometimes they slept and others they didnt.
I have had no luck with moving bedtime later to get them to sleep later, it always backfires and they get up earlier.

I agree with having a solid bedtime routine, keeping everything dark and quiet until your said start time and being consistent.

Good luck!!