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Yes, I would move her bedtime up. We have settled in to the 6/6:30 range, and while that's earlier than I would prefer (for reasons similar to yours), it is the only way that LO gets 11.5-12 hours of sleep. It has been my experience that sleep begets sleep . . . when my LO is overtired, it definitely shows up in the form of less overnight sleep.

Honestly, I think that waking up earlier and earlier can be caused by SO many things, so it is hard to pin point exactly what it is. I am wondering what has caused the wake up time to creep earlier and earlier over the last few weeks. How are her naps? How many hours of sleep is she getting during the day? I remember reading that around 11 months babies can show signs of transitioning to 1 nap, and early wake ups are one of those signs. She might not be ready for 1 nap yet, but you might be in the transition to 1.

I know for my LO, an early bedtime definitely helps her be more rested at night and wake up happier/sleep better, but that is only when her naps were short and crappy. However, I do not think 7pm is too early at all so I would def try it. I've put LO to bed as early as 5:45 on crappy nap days, which leads to her being more rested the next day and gets naps back on track and then she can go to bed at her normal time the next night.

@septca: no harm in trying an earlier bedtime if you think its what your LO needs! I know how you feel though, some nights my DH doesn't get to see LO before bed, but I think her sleep is more important! and yea, my DD did the same thing during the 2-1 transition. Fighting afternoon nap or only taking 2 short naps, then fighting morning nap, waking up earlier and earlier. When we switched to 1 nap it took awhile for her to adjust (about a month) and she started taking a 1.5-2.5 hr nap and sleeping 7- 7/7:30.

@ShootingStar: I generally maintain office hours between 8 and 4, which is not nearly enough time to do all I need to do (I have a very demanding job and a heavy workload). After LO goes down for the night, I generally spend another 2-3 hours doing more work. I don't have a *regular* job though, so I have more flexibility in some areas than others (office time is somewhat flexible as long as I meet my billable requirement).

@septca: that's great! not for your DH, but having a well rested baby is awesome, plus sleeping in later is better for everyone in the household!