https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:05:55 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301251 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:55:30 +0000 pastemoo 301251@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It takes time to learn proper planning but you will figure out what works best. AND daycare will eventually realize if LO is constantly crying that they need to let her nap longer.... You can request she gets longer naps, too.<br /> I'm nervous about this, too (going back in 2 weeks). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301225 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:44:23 +0000 dookie32 301225@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: I hear ya. We eat between 8:30-8:45pm and it really really sucks. We have about 15 minutes of "wind down" time before doing the dishes, washing bottles, etc. Being a working mom is exhausting! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301204 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:33:37 +0000 mediagirl 301204@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@dookie32: she's nursing when I'm home, bottles with Mom/at daycare. She's only 3 months old. We could hold off dinner but honestly, we both go to sleep by 9pm at the latest and to eat at 7:30 is tough since we like to wind down at 8. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301196 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:30:26 +0000 dookie32 301196@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: If you are home by 5, starting the bedtime routine at 6-6:30 pm seems like a good idea (wish I could do that!). I'm not sure how old your daughter is but maybe you can hold off on your dinner until after she is asleep? My son is still bottle-fed so that's what works for us right now. Once he's actually eating solids it will be another story but trying not to worry about that for now :). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301139 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:58:52 +0000 mrs. wagon 301139@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ever since Wagon Jr. was a baby, as soon as work was over we'd shove dinner down his throat then throw him in the bath and put him straight to bed. His bedtime routine has pretty much always started between 6 and 6:30. He's a great sleeper... but lil Miss Wagon won't do the same. We try to start her bedtime routine around 7 but she usually isn't down for the night until past 10pm :( so honestly, I think all kids are just different. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301135 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:56:20 +0000 littlebug 301135@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I"m with @highwire: in that from the time I was 6 weeks old, my schedule was pretty similar. And my mom tells me I was always a great sleeper. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301129 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:52:20 +0000 mediagirl 301129@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@dookie32: Thanks for asking...we started doing 7pm because it seemed to work well with her schedule of feedings and naps. My husband actually changed his hours at work so he could be home at 5 and have some time with her so if she eventually goes to sleep by 7, we won't be those parents who keep the baby up just for their pleasure.</p> <p>@mrs. bee: we could definitely start the bedtime routine a little earlier and do dinner as soon as we get home. I need to plan better. I am a horrible planner. My Mom is here through next week. Maybe I'll see if she can make dinner while she's here and we'll start the bedtime routine at 6:30...getting her in bed by 7. Then as we go along, we can push it back even more to start at 6pm. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301118 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:46:01 +0000 DillonLion 301118@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Still cooking my LO over here, but my schedule was like this when I was very young, and my sleep has always been just fine. I'd try not to stress! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-301114 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:42:52 +0000 looch 301114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't think so...my son is a terrible sleeper by most definitions of good sleep, and I stay at home with him. I can only imagine what happens when school starts! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300977 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:34:38 +0000 BabyBoecksMom 300977@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>7:30 Wake LO up (if she doesn't wake up before that)<br /> 8:00 Leave house<br /> 8:30 Drop LO off at daycare<br /> 5:00 Pick up LO<br /> 7:00 Give LO bath<br /> 7:15 Give LO bottle and put to bed</p> <p>We're lucky if she gets a hour nap during the day at daycare. She's such a light sleeper and so alert that they can never get her to nap for very long. She usually passes out on the way to and from daycare so that gives her two 30 min power naps. So... 13-14 hours of sleep per day? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300942 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:19:37 +0000 Mrs. Bee 300942@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Thehistoryofus: we pushed charlie to one nap at 15 1/2 months. he could have been taking 2 naps for a little while longer, but he was able to stay awake longer between his naps, so we had to shorten his naps so that his bedtime wouldn't be too late.</p> <p>12 months is early to drop the second nap. most of my friends' kids dropped it around the 15-16 month mark too. olive is almost 1 year, and she is no where near being able to do 1 nap. she's only up 2 1/2 hours before her first nap of the day.</p> <p>most kids nap 2-3 hours once they're down to 1 nap (our daycare allows 2 1/2 hour naps, but most give a 2 hour nap). charlie can nap up to 4 hours if we let him!</p> <p>can you start her routine at 6? Olive's bath is at 6 and she's in bed by 6:30. that would allow her to get 12 hours at night? it would be especially important when daycare drops her to one nap since she won't be able to make up the sleep with her naps. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300932 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:15:44 +0000 ladyfingers 300932@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I stress out about this all the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300929 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:14:57 +0000 Andrea 300929@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you work on getting her to bed earlier, it will be enough sleep. If you get home at 5, you can aim for a 6:30 bedtime maybe? I am home by 5:30 with DD and she goes to bed by 7 at the latest so she can get about 12 hrs of sleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300917 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:08:34 +0000 T.H.O.U. 300917@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Bee: Wow! 4+ hour naps! When did he go down to 1 nap per day? I'm a bit disappointed that our daycare only does 1 nap starting at 12 months. They will let her sleep for about 2-3 hours but sometimes she still wants a nap when we get home at 5pm </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300906 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:04:24 +0000 T.H.O.U. 300906@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a very short bed time routine. We leave at 6:40am as well and get home around 5. We start her bed time routine at 7 and shes in bed by 7:30, maybe 8 pm at the latest. If she has a bath (we are bad and only do bath every other night) shes out of the bath before 7:15 or so. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300895 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:00:47 +0000 Mrs. Bee 300895@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>can you make dinner ahead of time so that she's going down by 6:30? even an extra hour of sleep helps.</p> <p>charlie slept only 10 hours for a long time, but he would take 4+ hour naps in the day. does your daycare allow her to take longer naps, or are the nap times set? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300881 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:52:49 +0000 yoursilverlining 300881@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our LO sleeps on a similar schedule - about 9pm to 6am. Before I went back to work, she would take a big morning nap from 6am (immediately after finishing her bottle) to about 9am, but basically zero other naps during the day. Now that she's in daycare, she just spreads her naps out during the day. She isn't a big napper, but isn't fussy and doesn't display any other signs of not getting enough sleep. We start out bedtime routine at 7:30pm. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300866 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:45:22 +0000 dookie32 300866@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours is similar. We leave the house at 7am and get home at 7pm. Our schedule is like this now because I commute downtown so my husband drops me off at the train and picks me up on the way home (our daycare is at his work). Even when I (eventually) get a job out in the burbs though I don't think it will change that drastically. </p> <p>In a perfect world we would leave later &amp; get home earlier but our jobs are what they are and we have bills to pay :). My son is almost 6 months and sleeps about 10-10 1/2 hours a night and about 3 during the day which is in the normal range. He seems to be pretty happy and not have a lot of big sleep issues so I'm not that worried. We do make an effort though to keep him on the same schedule on the weekends as we do during the week. It sucks being up at 6:30 on Sat &amp; Sun but I think it would make it harder for him to adjust on Mondays if we let him sleep in for 2 days out of the week. </p> <p>Is there a reason that you don't start a bedtime routine until 7pm? Just curious. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300839 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:24:53 +0000 prettylizy 300839@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm glad to hear kids adapt. Our LO sleeps in pretty late these days, and when I go back to work I'm not looking forward to her being woken up to early and being a cranky girl. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300795 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:49:00 +0000 mamabolt 300795@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm wondering about this - Right now LO sleeps from 10 or 11 to 9 or so. Starting tomorrow when I go back, we will be waking her up at 7 so I can nurse her before I leave for work. I'm hoping she'll adjust and start going down earlier, but if she doesn't I forsee a tired mama and a baby that naps a lot at daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300789 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:45:43 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 300789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds similar to us. Lala is now 2 and has adapted really well to the situation. When she was napping at school, the teachers were kind of shocked with how long she slept, but that's how she makes up her sleep. Monday mornings can be kind of challenging to get back on schedule. M is such a good sleeper that we just don't worry about her. She goes to bed at 7:30 pm without a fuss every night. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-we-setting-our-kids-up-for-failure-with-sleep-habits-by-having-two-working-parents#post-300768 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:22:23 +0000 mediagirl 300768@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband and I work early in the morning so we can get home with our daughter at a reasonable hour. He drives 45 minutes to work, it takes me 30 minutes. When daycare starts, I will leave the house with her at 6:40am and drop her off at daycare at 7am. </p> <p>We get home at 5pm and start her bedtime routine at 7pm. Sometimes she doesn't fall asleep until 9pm. Obviously, 9-10 hours of sleep a night cannot be great for her. On weekends, she has been known to sleep until 8:30am.</p> <p>Is anyone else in this situation? Do you feel like we are setting our kids up for failure with their sleep habits by having two working parents? </p>