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We kind of do the same thing...DD is 4.5 mos old (almost 5 actually) and we "put her to bed" in the swing every night at 7/730...then at 10 I take her upstairs and she gets her bottle and goes in her crib...

For me...its fear of being able to go from 730-6am with just that bottle...

With DD1...we continued this process until she was probably 8 mos old...of course her meals before that varied (now she nurses right before the swing...but once she starts cereal next month she might not anymore). I had just gotten so accustomed to no MOTN feedings that I was afraid to move her 10pm bottle any earlier...

Is it bothering you more that you feel like she should be in bed? Or is it a pain to keep her with you until you go to bed? I feel like there is a good chance things will be changing soon with your LO anyways, if I were you I would stick with the most painless stress free sleep pattern until I am sure the 4m sleep regression isn't about to hit. Things change so quickly around this time, I would just attempt to start a loose bedtime routine and be flexible to avoid stressing yourself out. The way you described your current routine sounds pretty good to me!

If you are certain she's tired by 7:30 and she's fighting it, then I'd try an earlier bedtime. If the issue is she can't fall asleep on her own, then I'd just do what it takes to get her asleep and worry about potential bad habits of and when they happen. At 4 months, DD1 naturally shifted her bedtime closer to 8 pm.DD2 is 10 weeks and the past week has started shifting her bedtime to around 8/8:30.

Both my boys have had a 730pm bedtime (give or take 30 minutes) since very early on. So the time doesn't seem that off to me. It just sounds like she's used to being held to sleep at that time. I'd probably try just putting her down a little earlier like 7pm and just keep getting her to work on the drowsy but awake thing for that sleep and just go in an comfort her every few minutes until she gets the message. It may take a few days but she should transition fine.

We are in a similar place. LO will often fall asleep around 8 but if I put him in bed then he's up 20 min later. After 9/9:30 though he'll stay down for hours. He's four months this week. I've just been waiting out the 4 month sleep regression and then maybe we'll get more serious about bedtime.

My son frontloaded on night sleep, his best stretch was between 7 and 11 pm, so I would say that's your child's true bedtime.

How long is she awake from the last nap of the day, it is possible that she has too much awake time and that's causing difficulties falling asleep.

@csross217: yeah that's exactly what my ped said. Everyone universally accepts that witching hours just happen and it's part of the deal. But it's actually related to being tired and people don't realize it...because they're always told it's just a phase they all go through. There's a reason why they are all cranky at the end of the day...they're tired! (That's what my ped said).
I can honestly say we never had a witching hour because we always put him to bed early and did the catnap around 5. But of course I can't say that everyone should and can have the same experience. My son has always loved sleep, I just had to make sure he was getting it by putting him down in time, he likes dark and white noise so we had to be in his room, etc.

At 11 weeks we started a gentle kind of sleep training after I read the book "Sleeping Through the Night".

For bedtime (in a nutshell) we put her to bed between 6:30 and 7:30 when she starts showing signs of get tired. We try to limit any naps after 5 (try is the key word here, naps are not our strong point).

We do our bedtime routine (dim lights, white noise, change diaper and into pj's, read a book, and then put her in her Merlin suit in her crib with her wub a nub, kiss goodnight, leave), and if she fusses I wait as long as I want (usually about 30 seconds but a little longer would probably be better), go in and say "it's OK" and pat her (no picking up or staying long), then walk out. I do this over and over until she sleeps.

The first 2 nights it took about 45 min, now she either falls asleep on her own with no fussing or I have to go in maybe 3 times. It is great! I have time to get stuff done! Now I just need to work on STTN and naps.

The book has more info and troubleshooting. It made me feel better having the book to reference, and it has stuff for older kids too. The main idea is teaching the baby to self soothe.

IDK if that helps at all