I've received valuable help in the past and I thank you for this! Things have gone great, with minor exceptions but DD (10.5 mo) was sleeping and developing wonderfully until a week ago. Our routine was:
WU & BF 6.30 (give/take 15 min)
E breakfast solids 9.00
S 10.00 - 1h
E lunch solids 12/12.30
S 2.30 pm - 1h
E BF 3.30 pm upon waking up
E dinner solids 6.00 pm
S 7.30 (BT routine start at 6.30 pm, including BF 6.45 pm - she falls asleep at the breast)
NF between 3.30-4.30 am
There were of course exceptions, but this was generally the day routine including during a holiday abroad to see the extended family.
Back from the holiday and everything continued fine until BAM! A week after we got back she started sleeping very poorly: only 25-30 min CN during the day, EW at 5.30 and not going down even after BF in the dark and quiet, 2 wakings at night (11 pm, 3am), waking multiple times in the evening after going to sleep...
So now our day looks like this:
WU & BF 5.30/6.30 - sometimes she goes to sleep eventually after waking up super early and sleeps until 7.30
E solids 9.00
S 10.00 - 25-30 min
E lunch solids 12/12.30
S 2.00/2.30 pm - 25-30 min
E BF 3.30 pm
E dinner solids 6.00 pm
BF as part of BT routine 6.45 pm
S 7.00 pm
So I've tried to keep the times for everything else even though she sleeps much shorter. The problem is, she can go even 4h A time but still catnaps!
Before she goes for nap I have 10min quiet play with her to wind down (reading book), then ritual which has stayed the same. She yawns and rubs eyes the whole time through, but the moment I put her in bed she comes to life, singing, babbling, standing up. I often go again 2-3 times to lay her down again, eventually she falls asleep but only for a short nap. It's like resisting/fighting sleep. When she wakes from catnap she cries and it's obvious she hasn't slept enough.
No major developments happening right now, but I think I can see the tip of her 1st tooth pushing through. Is this what's causing the bad sleeping? She doesn't seem to have any local discomfort - no rubbing gums, no excessive saliva.
How can I improve her naps and overall sleep? She's dropped from an average of 12.5-13h of sleep / 24h, to 11.5
Am I stuck with a bad sleeper until the teeth are out, or do you see something in the routine which should change?
I should mention: in 2 months she will start daycare and their sroutine looks like this:
E breakfast 9.00
S (optional) 10.00
E lunch 12.00 or even 11.45
S 1.00 pm - 2-3 hrs
E snack 4.00 pm
pick up at 5.00 pm latest, evening is ours
They are very strict on these timings and I'm thinking I shouls start bringing her closer to this routine. But how in the world will I manage such a long nap in the afternoon with such a short A time between the naps?? When currently she is having A of 3.30-3.45 and these days even 4.00 hrs and STILL sleepig only 30 min.
Looking for your opinion, maybe I'm missing something... Thank you in advance!