https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 15 May 2026 19:34:42 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/early-bedtime-schedule-for-newborn#post-2532800 Sat, 23 Apr 2016 14:14:09 +0000 brownepiano 2532800@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We put our lo to bed at 7:30 from the beginning. He'd take three 1 1/2 hour naps and sleep 12 hours at night (including waking up to feed though). We also woke him up at 7:30 so that we could have consistent nap times. I know that isn't for everyone, but it worked for us.<br /> There's differing numbers on total sleep needed in 24 hours, but most say 16-18 at that age. So if you're aiming for 12 at night, the rest will be spread out as naps throughout the day. Some babies just have lower sleep needs but I guess I'd aim for the high end first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/early-bedtime-schedule-for-newborn#post-2532791 Sat, 23 Apr 2016 13:56:16 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 2532791@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started our girl on a 7:30/8:00 bedtime at around 3 months, when I went back to work. We wake her for the day at 6:30 and I asked her caregivers to start her first nap by 8am. The rest of the day is loose/on demand. Mostly she takes 3-5 naps that last 45-60 minutes each for a total of 2.5-3 hours while at daycare. She naps one more time after work, but wake her by 6/6:30pm. We do a quick bedtime routine from 7-7:30 and she's almost always asleep by 8. It's working so far, although I hope her naps steady out around 6 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/early-bedtime-schedule-for-newborn#post-2532771 Sat, 23 Apr 2016 13:14:33 +0000 gingerbebe 2532771@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son had reflux and colic and weight issues so nothing really stuck until like 12 weeks but we kept a 3-hour EASY cycle for feeding purposes and held to a 730pm bedtime and 730am wake time pretty early on - like around 6-8 weeks like you. So basically we always knew to feed him every 3 hours unless there was a growth spurt and he was hungry earlier, and tried our best to get him to not puke and get some sleep. Largely not successful until we got his reflux meds fixed and the colic passed, but after 12 weeks it was pretty much like your schedule. He would have about 70 minutes of wake time first thing that increased about 10 minutes at each subsequent wake time, which meant 3 naps a day and sometimes a 30 minute disco nap if he was tired. He was in bed between 730-8pm and we did a 1030pm dreamfeed. Once he was actually sleeping all the way to 7-730am off the 1030pm dreamfeed we slowly upped daytime ounces in his milk and made the dreamfeed earlier by 30 minute increments. By 5-ish months he was STTN 12 hours and off reflux meds and we've pretty much stuck to that and DS is 19 months! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/early-bedtime-schedule-for-newborn#post-2532740 Sat, 23 Apr 2016 11:32:26 +0000 mrs.kiwi 2532740@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Btw I already do an EASY routine </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/early-bedtime-schedule-for-newborn#post-2532739 Sat, 23 Apr 2016 11:31:45 +0000 mrs.kiwi 2532739@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just read mrs.pinata's blog post on early bedtime. It inspired me to try an early bed time with my 2 month old.</p> <p>Before I had been giving her 4 naps a day (last one being around 630-8 ish give or take half an hour).</p> <p>But her naps started taking a nosedive- she would cry and cry, only sleep for 30-45 min when before she was doing1-3 hrs.. So I figured she's tired from all this and needs more sleep!</p> <p>Yesterday I put her down for bed at 7pm (bath and nursed a lot). Woke her up for diaper change and another feed at 1030pm. She woke for one more night feeding and woke up at 830am. So I think the early bed time "worked". Woohoo!</p> <p>My question is how does an early bed time for newborn affect her naps? I mean obviously now I'll give her 3 naps since I'm putting her down earlier.. Did you find that your newborn napped well still or had shorter naps? Or did it affect her wake time?</p> <p>I'm totally new to this early bed time for newborns (my first baby boy didn't have early bed time til way later) and all the sleep resources I read don't recommend an early bed time til later as well.</p> <p>Share your experiences?? Or your early bed time newborn schedule? (I'm all for a loose schedule)</p> <p>TIA! </p>