https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:32:24 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2033353 Wed, 21 Jan 2015 08:14:18 +0000 autumn865 2033353@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At that age the earlier DD went to bed the better she slept and the better she slept the better we slept so her bedtime was set in stone top priority! (And early bedtime meant 6:30). Our family understood and we had a lot of early dinners. We also had people over for dinner if we wanted to be on a later schedule. This way we could still put DD down on time for bed and then enjoy spending time with friends. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2033213 Tue, 20 Jan 2015 23:03:22 +0000 NurseDMB 2033213@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Meridian: You don't, lol. My son used to be asleep at 6 pm!! Talk about early. Now that he's 17 months his bedtime is 7:30 but it doesn't bother me - we don't go out that much anyway. People used to make fun of me for being super anal about his bedtime but he's an amazing sleeper, soo I don't care! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020803 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:40:29 +0000 fussygal 2020803@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't really go out anymore - haha, sad but true. We've had bedtimes ranging from 5:30 (!) to 7:30 and we usually schedule stuff early if we can, but sometimes it just can't be avoided (family birthdays and dinners) and we take the hit for that day. If it's something that one of us can attend we'll send either DH or myself. We've become experts at morning and afternoon activities on the weekends! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020666 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 15:18:20 +0000 Ajsmommy 2020666@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't go out. DD goes to be around 615 and always has. Everyone said she'd start staying up later as she got older but we are at 14 months and still same bedtime. It's ok most nights though. Sometimes I'll go out with friends after she's down for a late dinner at 7 (hard to believe that is "late" for me now!) and DH goes out on certain nights. If we want to go together we get a sitter who just sits in our living room and watches tv. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020547 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:25:29 +0000 psw27 2020547@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our LO goes to bed at 7 so we either do something early (late lunch/brunch) or we have a sitter come right at bedtime and then we go out. It is an adjustment, but I'm pretty tired myself these days so it doesn't really matter. Plus even my friends without kids don't do anything too crazy these days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020493 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:06:15 +0000 meredithNYC 2020493@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I know this is not what you want to hear right now, but we kind of just didn't go out or did things separately for a while, unless we were able to get a sitter. I can't lie- it was a big adjustment and even now with a 2.5 year old the bedtime is still fairly early (like 7:30/8:00) and we try and stick with it. Although, at this age it's easier to move bedtime back if necessary, though we tend to just do that for special occasions. Child sleep pretty much rules our lives, lol.</p> <p>ETA: I agree with those who say that the silver-lining w/ an early bedtime is more alone time with your SO. With baby asleep you can relax, eat a late dinner, have a glass of wine, watch your shows. Not exciting, but pretty appealing for an overtired parent. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020481 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:01:30 +0000 MK0180 2020481@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS's bedtime is around 7:30/8. He's 6 mos. We were at dinner last night until 8 and he needed a bath (which, captain hindsight, I could've just passed up on), so he didn't go down until 9. He was overtired and cranky. It took him a long time to get to sleep. He then woke up multiple times last night - not sure if it was due to being overtired or what. I felt like such an idiot that it would be ok. :bummed: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020415 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:39:16 +0000 twodoghouse 2020415@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Before the 4 month sleep regression we would throw caution to the wind and put them down late or let them fall asleep on us at friends' houses. At 8 months old I think we are finally past the 4 month regression (yeah, I'm not even kidding) so we are religious about bedtime now. The routine starts at 6:45 or else! We went out for date night at 4:45 this weekend, haha. Generally we do things during the day now. Most of our friends have kids so we all understand. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020409 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:36:56 +0000 irene 2020409@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Don't have a life until 1.5 to 2 years later. It will fly by. Then your child will no longer be over-tired by 6:30pm, and you guys can stay out with him together for until 8-9pm! It really flies by.</p> <p>I thought having an earlier bedtime gives us a life in general than putting him to bed late. I was able to resume a sort-of normal life after putting him down, and mentally told myself OK this is bedtime and I no longer need to worry about playing with him, tummy time or keeping him up so I can do my things. It is just the weekends that sucks but before you know it they grow up and you can go out later. :D </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020395 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:33:42 +0000 NeekieRose 2020395@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At that age, DD would sleep anywhere so it was really easy to just put her in her infant car seat when she got tired. It was almost as if the louder it was, the better she slept. And we weren't too rigid about the bedtime routine so when we got home we would just put her in her crib or bassinet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020332 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:12:47 +0000 edelweiss 2020332@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i think it depends on the family and the baby. we didn't go out after bedtime (which was around 6pm for a while). if we did go out, someone was babysitting. we rarely keep LO up past his bedtime (which is now about 7.15/7.30) because i am scared to see what happens after all the sleep struggles we have had. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020331 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:11:26 +0000 oliviaoblivia 2020331@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wish we had an earlier bedtime so that DH and I could have more time alone together.</p> <p>Brunch, weekends, lunches. That's life with a kid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020306 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 13:07:05 +0000 Corduroy 2020306@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If people want to go out with us we do breakfast. LO has always woken up before dawn so I am more than ready to meet someone for breakfast - even on a workday although that hasn't happened yet. </p> <p> Our LO does transfer from car seat to bed fairly well so we can go out for dinner if we are done, in jammies and car seat by 7. That typically means sitting down at 5:30 though and that is too late in the day for good restaurant behavior so we only do that at houses. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020235 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:40:25 +0000 loveisstrange 2020235@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Shit, our DD had a 6pm bedtime when she was that age. Lol. We just didn't go out or people came over. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020192 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:21:25 +0000 Mamasig 2020192@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>But for family events or dinner, we just take them and try to do it on the earlier side. And we come prepared - snacks, toys, entertainment and pjs if it's a drive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020190 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:19:59 +0000 Mamasig 2020190@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honestly, I guess we don't have a "life" anymore. We work full time and it's tiring taking care of 2 babies. So we rarely go out with friends. We'll have date night every so often and my mom will watch the kids. Most of our free time is family time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020180 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:15:27 +0000 SleepyMonkey 2020180@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We usually do daytime things, with other parents that have kids or we get a sitter if we want to go out after lo goes to bed. Which we usually don't because we are so tired. Haha. I'm OK with this though since I'm kind of a homebody anyway. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020178 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:14:33 +0000 tinyperson 2020178@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We stay in most of the time. We've had my parents and DH's parents babysit a few times to go see a movie, but LO is up so early (6-615 is typical, but can be earlier), that we don't want to be out late anyways! For dinners, we try to do 5-530 or do morning or late afternoon things on the weekends. We're homebodies in any case, so we generally weren't out late before LO either! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020112 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:52:14 +0000 Anagram 2020112@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't have much of a life anymore, kind of. But if we are meeting people for dinner, we either schedule it earlier (6-6:30 pm), or we have them over to our place so we can put LO down and continue eating/chatting.</p> <p>DH and I also go out separately with friends, so the other person is at home with LO. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020088 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:39:02 +0000 autumnlove 2020088@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just went with the flow. 1-2 late bedtimes during the week on my maternity leave didn't ruin our schedule long term. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020086 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:38:20 +0000 blackbird 2020086@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do things earlier or lunches. We go out late with a sitter but don't often have late nights lest we are tired the next day. Now that she's older, she can stay up without major repercussions </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020084 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:36:40 +0000 gingerbebe 2020084@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our son goes to bed between 7-730pm but has one more feeding around 830pm. We have people over at our house for dinner by prepping everything in advance and have DH do bath and prep around 630 while I greet guests and mingle. Then we bring the baby out for people to say goodnight to and then I put him down as we are getting ready to eat. Then I will go do the 830 feed while DH entertains.</p> <p>Or we go out for dinner after LO is in bed and my mom is watching him. But LO usually doesn't fight bedtime and the 830pm feed is a sleepy feeding so it's not that hard. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020073 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:30:31 +0000 matador84 2020073@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Same as a lot of pp...I'm not really interested in having a social life after my kids are in bed. Too tired! They are 28m and 10m and I've just recently gotten a sitter a couple times and only stayed out until 8 or so. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020063 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:23:53 +0000 BadgerMom 2020063@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At that point, LO didn't really have a bedtime, and he would still sleep anywhere and everywhere. He would actually sleep the best at noisy restaurants, so we went out to dinner A LOT while I was on mat leave. He was fussy during the evening if we were home, but he would conk out if we went out. I would then feed him when we got home and put him to bed for the night. For us it worked, but I guess it would definitely depend if you LO sleeps in their car seat while you're out and still go to bed immediately when you get home.</p> <p>We started a solid bed time of 7:30/8pm when we sleep trained at 5.5mo. Now we either:<br /> - get a babysitter<br /> - go out to eat before 6pm and bring LO with<br /> - have people come over to our house</p> <p>I second the not wanting to stay up late anymore now that LO gets up early anyway. I'm done and ready to hit the hay by 10pm, so even on "social" evenings we're home pretty early. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020061 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:23:01 +0000 Mae 2020061@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO's bed time is 7:30 and we have never once been out (together) later than 8pm since we had her 8 months ago! lol We either plan things with friends during the day during the week or have them over to our house for dinner/hanging in the evening. But admittedly we are sort of slaves to our schedule and we will move hell and high-water to avoid messing with it. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020056 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:21:51 +0000 nana87 2020056@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>dd goes to bed SUPER early--between 5 and 6:30 usually. we either have people over, go out one at a time, or have my parents babysit (but that's rare). we usually socialize during the day now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020055 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:21:14 +0000 Grace 2020055@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You don't. But once a month, I get a sitter and we go out. And people can come to us for dinner. And each of us can go out easily on our own. I have a friend who's kid goes to bed at 9:30/10. On the one hand I envy the flexibility this gives her, but on the other hand, it's nice to relax in the evenings. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020045 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:14:11 +0000 mediagirl 2020045@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't - and your bedtime is late for us. :) We would have people over early and do a 4pm cookout or have people over for football or something. Bedtime was 6pm until she turned 2, now it's 7pm. We don't go out after dark. We get a sitter once a year and otherwise go on couple dates without her when my family is in town. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020042 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:12:42 +0000 hilsy85 2020042@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As pps said, we had really early dinners out (like 5:30), we did lunch/brunch with people, or we would put him to bed and then go out . </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-lo-has-an-early-bedtime-how-do-you-have-a-life#post-2020041 Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:12:40 +0000 lawbee11 2020041@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Uhhh....you don't? :silly: You could always do an early dinner at around 5:30. 9 or 10 seems late to be out at dinner anyways (but maybe that's cause I'm just used to eating earlier now). Having a well-rested LO makes our lives a lot easier, so it's worth the trade-off for us. Plus I love having a few hours every night to ourselves (LO goes to bed at 7). </p>