Parents Say Their 5-Month-Old’s Bedtime Is 2 A.M., And Every Attempt To Fix It Just Makes The Baby Miserable Or Sleep Even Later

After trying numerous strategies, the parents are finally reaching a breaking point. They’ve become the unwilling participants in a trial-and-error process that just keeps spiraling. The laundry lists of strategies they’ve employed read like a sleep-deprived parent’s guide to failure:

1. Early wake-ups: They thought if they started the day earlier, the baby might feel naturally tired by nightfall. But instead of a sleepy baby, they were left with a cranky one who still managed to keep his bedtime at 2 A.M. The result? An unhappy little one and two frustrated parents.
2. Capped daytime sleep: This one felt like a no-brainer. By limiting daytime naps, they figured the baby would build up enough sleep debt to fall asleep earlier. Instead, the baby just napped longer in the next session, blissfully extending his nocturnal escapade.
3. Cap last nap: They decided to experiment with the last nap of the day, figuring that shortening it might be the answer. But that backfired quickly; the baby somehow managed to sneak in yet another nap, which merely pushed bedtime even later.
4. Keeping the lights off: They tried making the atmosphere as sleep-friendly as possible by turning off lights and minimizing sounds once the last nap was over. But their little one didn’t seem to get the memo. Instead of winding down, he either played calmly in the dark or, when unhappy, cried out until they turned the lights on and engaged him.
5. More sleep: In a last-ditch effort, they let their baby sleep as much as he wanted, thinking maybe fatigue would drown out his resistance to an earlier bedtime. The baby slept up to 14 hours at night and took three hefty daytime naps. Unfortunately, he remained effortlessly locked into his late-night schedule.

As the baby continued to wake up at 11 A.M., the parents felt like they were losing their minds. They were initially hopeful that he might adjust to an earlier schedule, but instead, it seemed like he was just becoming a later sleeper. They were living in a world that revolved around a tiny human with a penchant for late nights and early afternoons filled with crankiness.

The parents co-slept with their baby, and he had developed a habit of feeding to sleep. While cozy in the bed, they found themselves tiptoeing around trying to keep the peace while feeling completely outmatched by their little “night owl.” Every time they thought they had made progress, it all seemed to unravel, leading to more frustration and sleep deprivation.

With their collective sanity hanging by a thread, they turned to the internet for guidance. The Reddit community quickly chimed in with suggestions, commiseration, and shared experiences from their own sleepless nights. Some offered advice that had worked for their own children, while others simply shared their empathy, knowing the struggle all too well.

As they navigated this sleepless endeavor, the couple realized that while they were determined to help their baby sleep earlier, they also needed to keep their own sanity intact. It became clear that every child is different, and sometimes, it’s a matter of riding out the current phase until they naturally adjust. They might learn that being a parent means learning to embrace the chaos, even if it comes with a side of sleepless nights.