# getting baby to sleep before midnight?



## NicaG (Jun 16, 2006)

My dd is almost 4 months old, and she rarely goes to bed for the night before midnight. Is there a way I can encourage her to go to bed earlier? So far I have tried:
-nursing her in her darkened room, for up to 2 straight hours (she nods off, but cries if I try to put her down)
-sitting in her darkened room with her while she's in her swing (she fusses but doesn't go to sleep)
-nursing her lying down in my bed (she cries every time she comes unlatched, nursing for up to 2 hours)
-walking her around in the Moby (she falls asleep but cries if I put her down)
-keeping her awake more during the day (she gets unbearably overtired and cranky)
-encouraging more naps during the day, on the theory that sleep begets sleep (she just ends up going to bed later at night)

Once she's asleep, she'll sleep for 5-6 hours.

I was fully expecting the first few months to be an adjustment....but I am getting really burned out. I have an older ds, and I just want a few hours in the evening, here and there, without kids, so I can recharge a bit, kwim? Even 11pm would be an improvement. Is she just a night owl? Help!


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Dd was a toddler before she would go to bed before we did.










-Angela


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## Lizafava (Nov 28, 2004)

I feel your pain. Can you nurse and watch a movie? Read a book? Does she stay asleep in the morning after you get up? I had to adjust my productive "alone time" to be in the AM with this baby. It sucks though - I really miss having my evenings kid-free. I have watched lots of great movies and entire TV series' with ds snuggled up nursing/sleeping/hanging out. I read books too, with a dim light on or with my clip-on reading light. I know it will pass, and soon enough he'll be passing out at 7:30 with his big brother.


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## Carolyn R (Mar 31, 2008)

Have you tried swaddling? We still swaddle our almost-six month old because she will startle and wake herself up if she's not. Seems to help her get into a deeper sleep faster so I can sneak out of bed. Also, have you tried taking her to bed earlier? It seems counterintuitive, but we found that if we let our daughter get too tired, she was actually harder to get to sleep deeply and peacefully. At first I thought if I kept her up later, it would "wear her out" so she would sleep better. Now I lay down with her around 7:30pm, with her swaddled, and I can usually sneak out of bed within half hour or 45 min. I keep a baby monitor on and sometimes I need to go back and nurse her again, but that usually only takes a few minutes. Best of luck, sleep issues are SO frustrating!


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## gcgirl (Apr 3, 2007)

DS went to bed around 1-2 AM for the longest time. Then around 8 months he started going to bed between 11 and midnight, and now at 13 months it looks like he's starting to go down between 9:30 and 11:00. So you very well may see a change of schedule down the road.


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## erynw (Jun 13, 2007)

Oh man. When I saw your post I thought, "perfect!" I'll find out what I can do because I have a night owl, just like you! I am not surprised, frankly, since both dh and I are night owls by nature but when ds, who is 3, goes to bed at 7 and is up and at 'em at 7, staying up until midnight or 1 gets old...fast.

Our dd literally livens up around 7pm after being in and out of sleep all day. I think she knows she is getting us all to herself.

One thing we've done that makes it more bearable is one of us goes to bed around 9, sleeps a couple hours and then takes over for the other around 11pm. Since we are ebf, I generally don't sleep as much as dh but that's to be expected.

I'm with you on the sleep deprivation mama!


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## NicaG (Jun 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *erynw* 
Oh man. When I saw your post I thought, "perfect!" I'll find out what I can do because I have a night owl, just like you! I am not surprised, frankly, since both dh and I are night owls by nature but when ds, who is 3, goes to bed at 7 and is up and at 'em at 7, staying up until midnight or 1 gets old...fast.

Our dd literally livens up around 7pm after being in and out of sleep all day. I think she knows she is getting us all to herself.

One thing we've done that makes it more bearable is one of us goes to bed around 9, sleeps a couple hours and then takes over for the other around 11pm. Since we are ebf, I generally don't sleep as much as dh but that's to be expected.

I'm with you on the sleep deprivation mama!

Yes, this is us exactly! I swear dd knows that she gets us all to herself after 8pm, when her big brother goes to bed. Sometimes she'll appear to go to bed at 7 or so...but then she wakes up after ds is in bed. It's like she just took a late nap! Argh! Then she's just so active and cute all evening...but I still want a break! And yes, then ds gets up at 7 while baby sleeps late, so it's like there's just never a break.


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