For some reason, my son has shifted his sleeping pattern. He takes a nap about two to three hours after he wakes up. Then he takes another nap around 2pm until about 4 or so. Regardless of his schedule, he falls asleep by 7:30pm at the latest and then wakes up around 5am. He used to go to bed around 8:30 or 9pm and sleep until 7am. I would love to somehow get him back on his earlier schedule as it makes it so much easier when we travel (and we travel a good bit with him). Anyone have any ideas? (BTW, he's almost five months old. Just started this sleep pattern this past month) I'm wondering if he's not getting enough sleep during the day so he fall asleep earlier? If so how do I get him to nap longer?

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Tigriz
Mom to Alex - 1/21/06

YOu can adjust their schedule, but it takes a certain amoutn of patience and more time than you'd think. Only adjust the time you want him going down by 10 - 15 minutes. And then do this consistently for a week or two. Then, adjust by another 10 minutes, etc. It may take apprximately a month or a bit longer, but you will have him on a schedule that fits better to yours.

I have to echo what Amy said - shift the sleep time by only tiny increments - and you will have to probably put up with him fussing quite a bit. Keeping them awake without over stimulating them is tough.
Personally, I just let them sleep whenever they needed it and worked around them.

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Umbilical Cord Blood Storage | Breastfeeding Advice and Information

I would have to agree with shifting the time slowly. It is a hard thing to do and we have our daughter on an excellent sleep schedule that works for us now. At that age however, we just kind of let her sleep when she wanted. If you're having trouble keeping him up that extra time, try doing something engaging with him for the last 10-15 minutes.