Why Are Earlier Bedtimes Better for Babies?
A question I often hear is, “Should I push my baby’s bedtime back so they sleep in later?”
If your baby is older than 12 weeks, pushing baby’s bedtime back can actually cause MORE night wakings and/or earlier morning wakings.
Why Is It Bad To Push Back Bedtime?
Right around 3 months, melatonin is released in the brain earlier (usually sometime between 6:30-7:30pm), causing the sleep drive to be strong. This is why I highly recommend early bedtimes. If your baby goes to bed during their “sweet spot” of melatonin being released, they will not only fall asleep easier but STAY asleep as well.
If baby goes to bed after this small window of time, their body will get a “second wind,” making it difficult to fall asleep, get into a deep sleep, and stay asleep. This is why later bedtimes do not help baby sleep in later, and can actually cause more sleep problems.
If your baby is struggling to sleep, try moving bedtime up a little!
Do I Need to Move Up Bedtime?
If your baby is one or more of the following:
Close to 12 weeks old
Struggling to make it to the 10pm bedtime
Having early morning wakings
Then it’s probably time to bump up that bedtime! I’ll use 10pm and 7pm to make it simple, but adjust to your goal bedtime. I recommend no later than 8pm.
How to Move Up Baby's Bedtime
In short, follow the 15-minute rule I talk about in my e-book.
Example:
Night 1: 9:30 feed, bedtime routine, 10pm bed.
Night 2: 9:15 feed, bedtime routine, 9:45 bed.
Night 3: 9:00 feed, bedtime routine, 9:30 bed.
Continue this process until your 7pm feed merges with the last feeding. Yes, the last 2 feedings get closer and closer and it feels weird to do! But when you make it to 8:00 as your last feed, try pushing the 7:00 back to 7:15, do bedtime at 7:45, and drop the 8:00 feed.
If you’re new to this, it sounds confusing. I totally get that! And if you’re not to the 12-week mark yet, it seems even more confusing. However, once you reach this point you’ll know what to do. Just take it one day at a time.