Keeping your baby up late doesn't make them sleep in later. The video explains why this backfires and how to handle bedtime routines, plus advice for nights when you can't stick to schedule.
Okay. Didn't my mom do great? I promise you, she knows not to keep little ones up until midnight. But let's talk about that. So many people think that if we keep little ones up late, they're going to sleep later. And for the most part, keep in mind little ones have kind of an internal clock. And so they have this set time, let's say, hopefully between 6 and 7am that when you keep them up later, they're still going to wake up about that same time, sometimes even earlier, because they get overtired. So keeping them up later is rarely the answer. After about 8pm they can get a surge of cortisol, which makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. There will be times in life where your little one will have to stay awake later. Let's say you have family in town and go out for dinner. Or let's say every Sunday night you have a group of friends who get together and you get home at 9. I want you to know this is part of life and I want you to live life and not stress about that. Once every week or every once in a while is okay. Babies can most likely handle it. It might take them a little bit longer. They're probably still going to wake up the same time the next day. But I don't want you to live in fear that you can't ever attend a wedding or go out for dinner that's a little bit later, or go to a small group each week or whatever it is that you do in your life. My goal is that you have a great sleeper so that you can live life and get to do some of these things. Because if you're doing a 7-8p bedtime most other nights, then this is fine. Occasionally, sometimes babies in those first three, four months of life will do better with an 8 to 10pm Bedtime. Okay? But starting at about five months, that's when we want to make sure that we're aiming for that 7 to 8pm bedtime. Another reason you would have a later bedtime would be if nap time ended a little bit late. Remember, we always want a full wake window before bed. So if that last nap of the day ends a little bit later, it may push bedtime after 8pm Keep in mind the wake window is always arranged. Sometimes you're going to be on the shorter end of the range, sometimes on the longer end of the range. I'll put those next for you, okay? If this is your story, I want to tell you I have classes to help you, okay? For 5 to 24 month olds. I want you to know I have the 5 to 24 month collection and I'm going to help you make bedtime easy. It doesn't have to be a fight. I'm going to give you a step by step plan and it's going to work for bedtime and all through the night and for naps. It covers all of that, and not just now, but now until your little one turns two. I'm going to walk you through regressions and teething and separation anxiety and daycare and all the bumps along the way. Okay? So check out the 5 to 24 month collection. If this is your story and it's been a real struggle and you saw like, my hope for you is that you get a live life. I'm not going to make you stay at home and not have a life after this. I want you to have a great little sleeper so that you can have a life.
