Bedtime for 14 month old?

[AbbysMom]

I've been putting DD to bed at 7 p.m. and she's always woken up anytime between 6-7 a.m. which is great. She's had stages throughout the year where her sleep has changed but, in about a week, she usually readjusts. For the past few weeks though, she's been getting up at 5 and I can't stand it! Should I be putting her to bed later?

She takes one afternoon nap a day between 1-2 hours. She is teething and apparently going through a growth spurt b/c she's been eating like a maniac. She's also much more active and walking in the past couple months. I'm wondering if I should try to ride it out a bit longer or make a change. Any suggestions?

[carolinamama]

When ds was that age, he also went to bed around 7 and slept until about 7. When he would get into one of his phases of waking up (usually around 5 too), we would treat it like a night waking, not morning. It usually worked. We were lazy - he either got bf or a bottle from dad just like a little baby would and he would go back to sleep. We never turned on lights etc and never left his room with him. I know some would disagree with this approach, but I like my sleep!

Hope it's just a phase - 5 am is just too early.

[brittone2]

DD is 15 months. For many months she was going to bed at 7pm and sleeping until 7am with a 1/2 hour to an hour nap or so around noon. (not much of a napper ;) )

With the time change, etc. she has kind of moved toward going to bed closer to 8, and sometimes she's not even tired enough to go to bed until more like 9. She's sleeping until about 8 am, sometimes even closer to 9. She naps anywhere between noon and 2pm depending on when she got up, usually for an hour or so. In some ways it is nice because it is easier to take her out in the evenings.

When her big brother (4 years old) moved to one nap a day he napped from 1-4 pm or so at times and was up until 9-10 am and slept in until 9ish. That taught me to just roll with things. He was getting plenty of sleep, he was just a night owl ;) Once he stopped napping around age 3, he started going to bed by 7-8pm.

Unless you have a specific schedule you need to keep with getting DC to daycare, etc. I guess I tend to be of the just roll with it mentality, provided the number of hours is enough sleep overall, kwim?

ETA:
nak-I missed that your dd is getting up at 5. That would be too early for me too. I'd play around w/ a slightly later bedtime, or earlier/shorter nap.

[dcmom2b3]

Our DD is 15 mos, and moving her bedtime back has little or no effect on the time that she wakes up (which was 4 a.m. for a while :banghead: . So I know your pain). Shuffling her mealtimes and adding a pre-bath snack (high protein, something like turkey or cheese) did seem to help.

The phase eventually passed, I think her increase in activity/exploration as a new walker, along with some teething pain made her a little less interested in eating what she needed to get enough calories to get through the night.

But she still wakes up at 4 am when we're at my mom's house. B/c she knows her Namby will get up and play with her. :rolleye0014: That's a whole 'nother thread, 'tho.

Best of luck.

Mary-Helen

[maestramommy]

When Dora was about 14 months, she started going through a weird waking phase. Sometimes at 2:30, sometimes at 5. And I had to sleep next to her bed. It finally faded away a few months later. We never did find out the cause, we thought it was bad dreams. But we also found her molars and canines were popping all the same time, so teething might have been the cause.

Her bed as always been and is still 7ish.

[JillSP]

I'm with Carolinamama. 5 am is too early for anyone to be up for the day in our house. We throw them a bottle and go back to bed.

My philosophy is that I am "on the clock" from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. unless overtime is required due to illness or something else unique. I need to be the best mom I can be during the day, and getting up at 5 a.m. would not help fulfill that goal.

Treat it as you would a night waking and your child should learn that 5 a.m. is too early to be up for the day. You could try moving the bedtime back, but I'd do it slowly (move it back 20 minutes for a week) and see if it has any effect on the wake-up time.

[nfowife]

My 14 month old goes to sleep at 6:30 most nights and gets up between 7-8 generally.

[AbbysMom]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I really love her and love to spend all day with her. But at 7 at night, I really want to have some time to myself and with my DH so I hate to think of keeping her up late. I'm a morning person (but a 6 a.m. morning person not a 5 a.m.). I really don't mind getting up at 6 but I'd hate to have her up at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. to tell you the truth. Problem is, I'm also too lazy to go downstairs and make her a bottle but maybe I'll give that a try. anything for another hour! Thanks again!

[dcmom2b3]

Problem is, I'm also too lazy to go downstairs and make her a bottle but maybe I'll give that a try.

Do you have a small fridge you could move upstairs til this phase passes? I've got the lazy bug too, it's totally self indulgent but sooooo nice to be able to have bottles at the ready when the late night call comes.

[salsah]

Our DD is 15 mos, and moving her bedtime back has little or no effect on the time that she wakes up

But she still wakes up at 4 am when we're at my mom's house. B/c she knows her Namby will get up and play with her. :rolleye0014: That's a whole 'nother thread, 'tho.

Best of luck.



ditto.

if your dd falls asleep easily (tired but not overly tired) at 7 pm and at nap time then i doubt that you need to change her bed time or nap time (you didn't mention if her nap time has been affected -- does she seem to need an earlier nap now that she is waking up earlier?).

hopefully it is just a phase and will pass. until then, i agree that you should treat it like a night waking.

and just be glad that it isn't worse. dd1 has always slept from 10pm to 6 am. send her to bed earlier and she will wake up earlier. send her to bed later and she still wake up at 6. most days she takes a 2 hr nap. even when she skips her nap, she still sleeps a max of 8 hrs at night.

good luck!