Should A time be longer? Nearly 7 months old

[DizzyKershaw]

Hi,

My LO is nearly 7 months old and is a routine baby.  He is on 4 hour EASY.  We have started sleep training this week, using the shuh-pat technique  and it is going really well.  He is actually slept through the night for the first time ever all week!!

His routine looks a bit like this:
WU at 7am
E = 7.30 and solids at 8.30 (he has a go at some toast)
S = 9.30 (at the latest, he starts getting tired about 8.45 which I just feel is a bit early)
WU = 11.30 (is that too long for his nap)
E = 12 and solids about 1
S = 2.30
WU = 4.30
E = 5 and solids about 6
Start the bedtime routine of bath, quiet time and milk and then in bed about 7pm

My issue is are his naps too long and should I be trying to get his awake time longer as its only about 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon.  How do you get your LO to have more awake time?  Yesterday we went out for lunch with friends, he missed his afternoon nap time, and then wouldn't sleep in his pram on the way home, I had to give him a catnap to get him through to bedtime.

Any help, gratefully received.

Liz

[katie80]

Hi Liz,

Well done on getting him to sleep through the night!! That's a great feeling, isn't it?!

It looks like his A times are on the short side and naps on the long for his age, but honestly unless you are having problems with him settling at BT or long, happy NWs, then there's no problem with it. He's likely a high sleep needs baby. When you start having those types of issues (or if he starts fighting his naps), then it will be time to look at making some routine changes. You'd just start keeping him awake by 10-15min longer and hold it for 3-5 days. If that doesn't solve it, then add another 10-15min, etc, etc.

[DizzyKershaw]

Thanks for your reply, up until today I decided to just leave him to have his shorter A time and longer S as it wasn't causing an issue, however, the last few days he has woken from his naps earlier than before and tonight I have had a real battle getting him to bed.  He was normally going to bed well by about 7pm but tonight it was 8.10 till he was asleep.

So should I try and keep him awake 10-15 minutes longer for each activity including bedtime?  I don't really want to be making bedtime any later than 7 as that's when my OH gets home and we can get some quiet time together.

Also how long would you say naps should be about?  the last couple of days he's had about 1 and half hours in morning and about an hour in the afternoon.  He's so good at starting to change his routine himself, he naturally moved from 3 hr EASY to 4hr EASY practically on his  own!!!

Thanks again for your reply

[katie80]

So should I try and keep him awake 10-15 minutes longer for each activity including bedtime?  I don't really want to be making bedtime any later than 7 as that's when my OH gets home and we can get some quiet time together.

Yes, I'd start keeping him up 10-15min longer. He may not need the extra A time before bed, you'll have to see how it goes. You can always cap the second nap at a certain point to keep BT near 7pm as well.

Also how long would you say naps should be about? 

It depends on each LO. Likely, you'd still be shooting for 2x1.5hr naps at this point, but some can probably do with 1x1.5hr and 1x1hr.

HTH!