How to Get My 8 Mo Old to Sleep Later?

Funny you ask. I'm going through the same thing right now, except my little guy is 21 months. I'll be interested to see what others say. I totally agree about the problem with leaving them in bed...because he wakes up his sister! I looked it up in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and he suggests leaving baby in bed until the "wake up hour"...designated by parents...which for me is 6:30 am. He also suggests putting them to bed earlier. We're also doing a 7:30 bedtime, but are going to aim for 7:00 now after reading it. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm pretty frustrated with this 5 am thing, too! Hope we get some good advice. (I was a teacher for 11 years and am home with my 4 year girl and 21 month old boy...been home since he was born)

Sometimes the smallest amount of light can cause a kid to wake up. Make sure her windows are covered with room darkening shades, and that they are big enough so the sun can't prak through the sides. It could make a big difference.

J.,
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! None of my 3 (now grown) girls ever slept that much. If you want your daughter to sleep later, put her to bed later.

Yep, my 9month old is doing the same thing- 7:30- 5:30 now. It has been getting earlier and earlier. I think it is that the days are getting longer, and the baby is waking up with that first *hint* of light from dawn. She'll chat to herself for about 10 minutes, but then she is ready for company. They are just so ready to get moving on their day! I'm also going to try putting her to bed sooner, and seeing what happens. Is there any way to darken the room some more, to prevent stray light from coming in so early?

Hi J.,
As a mom of 6, I agree with the other two posts below. If you don't already have that book, it's by Dr. Marc Weissbluth, and it's well worth the price. I have used it over and over. I would definitely try for the earlier bedtime, even thought that's not what common sense would tell you to do. Everything I have tried out of that book has worked with my kids, and saved my sanity more than once. Could be she's actually needing more sleep, as they really start getting more active at this age, and especially if she's outside in the fresh air. That seems to make them more tired, too. Good luck.

Goodmorning J.
I know some of the kids doesn't need has much sleep has others,or do you give her a snack before she goes to bed at night maybe when she wake up she's hungry but to young to tell you I can't go back to sleep because my stomach is hungry try to give her some baby cereal try that and see or you might have to put her to bed a little later.
GOOD LUCK AND MAY GOD BLESS

I've read that children only need between 12-15 hours a day of sleep. My daughter has always been on the 12 hour routine. She will sleep ten hours at night, then take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. This started sometime in her first year. It may be that she needs to go to bed later, or only have one nap a day.

My son who is now 2 did the exact same thing for months when he was that age. We could just leave him in bed because he has always been happy in his bed, but he didn't have siblings he could wake. My sleep "bible"-"Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" said that this is normal behavior for many babies about this age. Contrary to what you might think, the book advises earlier bedtimes to get children to sleep later. I didn't think that was true, but lo and behold, it really makes a difference. To this day, the later my son stays up at night, the earlier he wakes in the morning (although this affect is starting to wear off now at this age). Try moving her bedtime 1/2 hour earlier for a few days, and see if that helps. In our case, we found that 6:30-7PM bedtime was the sweet spot for a long time.