Bedtime at 11 months

[kumber]

Just wondering what time your LOs went to bed at 11 months.

DS was going to bed about half 6 and was conking out immediately but recently has been taking about 2 hours to get to sleep as he just wants to play, play, play. So, I'm thinking put bedtime back a bit later so he can stay in the living room with us to play and then conk out properly when he goes to bed. My other reason for later bedtimes is that he's waking up at 5:30 and refusing to go back to sleep

He naps twice - once after brekkie and again after lunch. He has dropped from 2 hours to 1.5 of his own accord. Cutting out a nap hasn't helped, it's created a very cranky baby who will fall asleep at mealtimes so I'd be a little reluctant to drop a nap altogether.

Anyways, what are you experiences with bed times for an 11 month old? Thanks!

 

[LaceyKeo]

Sleep breeds sleep. Don't drop a nap until he decides he wants to.

I don't think there's anything wrong in pushing his bedtime back though.

I can't remember when DS was going to bed at that age, but he's always been somewhere around the 6:30-7:30 mark, right from little.

Let him lead for a few nights an see how he goes xx

 

[kumber]

I think I will do, have done our bedtime routine of milk, teeth, story, kisses and cuddles but started it half an hour later at 7 so it'll be interesting to see what happens now. If this doesn't work, I'll try starting bedtime at 7:15, see how that goes?

I was also thinking of just putting him to bed when he's at the point where he can't stay up any more, but I'm concerned about him associating bedtime with crankiness?

 

[juliekim0908]

Hi!.. My boy is also 11 months old. Up until about 2 weeks ago.. when he first turned 11 months he was having 2 naps a day.
Now we have 1 nap a day. Get up between 6 -7am. nap around 9/10 am for about 2 hours.
Then bed at 7. usually goes to sleep by 7.30.

When he had 2 naps. it was usually up at 5/6am nap around 9 am till around 11am. 2nd nap around 3/4 pm for 30 minutes. then bed around 7.30pm sleep by 8.

He kind of started cutting out the 2nd nap himself, sometimes he was so cranky but refused to go to sleep.

So I think I cut it out myself eventually, I did all sorts to keep him occupied, bath/go for a walk. or even try put him down for a nap, leave him for 20 mins and if he didn't drop off bring him downstairs.

Now he's great on one nap, it wasn't easy to change over. But routine is great now. Still wakes for 1 feed usually though. Pushing back bed time is probably a good idea, we used to have a 6.30 bed but I soon realised it wasn't working.
xx

 

[juliekim0908]

Oh! and the thing of them looking like they can keep going! We do dinner at 5, then play till 5.45. Bath by 6 then downstairs again by 20past 6.
Then I usually put 'in the night garden on' I've found this great to know its bedtimes, lay him on floor with bottle. He has about half of it, then plays around watching tv.
Usually it looks like he can go on and on and on.. come 7pm, I put him up in cot, give him bottle, when hes done, take it away and leave him to it. It seems like he isn't tired a lot of the time, but once he's in bed with the bottle it hits him xx

 

[kumber]

Thanks Julie. Riley is the same, he will keep playing and not indicate he's tired at all. Tonight seems to have done the trick, he was asleep by 7:45 so it'll be interesting to see what time he wakes up in the morning. I have also realised he's cutting another tooth which might explain why he was waking up at 5:30 for the last week or so?

 

[LaceyKeo]

Julie makes an excellent point there...

Even as young as 11 months, they do recognise routines.

Having one particular "bedtime cue" should eventually help him realise it's time to wind down and get a sleepyhead on, be it a low-key cartoon, a song, something he can connect to bedtime for a few minutes beforehand xx

 

[kumber]

We have quite a set routine at bed time, he'll have his bum changed, get his pjs on, sippy cup of milk, teeth brushed, into bed, bedtime story, kisses and cuddles, lie down for sleep. Having said that, we have only really started making sure this happens in this exact order every single night for just over a week so it is perhaps a wee bit too early to expect him to recognise it - I've read it can take months to cement a routine in their heads.

I think sticking to this routine and a later bedtime will help, both from the great advice you have given and his response tonight. We'll stick to it rigidly over the next few weeks (it doesn't help he is going camping next weekend but he seems to settle back into his home routine very quickly after a night ir two away), and hopefully we'll start to see the difference soon. Of course, if he needs an even later bedtime we can do that too.

Thanks ladies, you've been really helpful

 

[Staceylou27]

A consistent routine is the main thing to help them realise it is bedtime

I'm a trained sleep councillor as part of work (more for older children but same principles apply) they discourage any technology right before bed so no tv iPads phones etc. the blue light they produce slows down the production of melatonin (which helps you relax and sleep) so they find it harder to go to sleep. A bath would really help as this relaxes the body and is also a big que that it's bedtime. If it works for you that's great but thought id post it anyway.

My lo is 7 months old and has her bath at 7pm straight to her bedroom to get dried and dressed, she has a bottle in her room followed by a story and then bed, it works really well for us.

 

[kumber]

Thanks for the advice Stacey, a bath evey night wouldn't work for us unfortunately as he has my dry skin so bathing every day makes it much worse. I don't fully understand how it works, something about the skin's natural oils being pulled away with the drying process or something? But I appreciate the help

 

[chitters100]

Don't know if this is of any help to you Kumber but when I went on a course about skincare for a company I worked for, they always said to just pat dry instead of rubbing the skin, protects the skins natural oils better x

 

[kumber]

Yep, we pat dry here too! Possibly not doing it in the right way though, I'll see if there are any videos online or anything to help. Thank you for the tip

 

[Staceylou27]

Aw bless I hope you find something to help with the dry skin

 

[kumber]

Thank you I'm finding Oilatum is really helping, just makes him smell a bit strwnge!

Another question about sleep - what do you use as cues for naptimes?

 

[Staceylou27]

We take my lo up to her bedroom close the curtains and lie her down with her dummy and her comfort teddy, I also put her cot mobile on.
I tell her it's nap time too, she will eventually know what this means.

I think so long as your consistent with what ever you do baby will begin to recognise the cues

 

[kumber]

We do this too, minus the mobile so that's reassured me that we're doing ok there. He's the sort of child that forces himself awake even when he's shattered because he doesn't want to miss out on anything - it gets so frustrating!

 

[kumber]

Just an update if anyone is interested - bedtime is slowly getting easier with the new routine. Thanks for all your advice ladies!