Naps Changing again!!!!!!!

[*Natasha*]

Hi Everyone,

When DD was about 5 months she decided she wanted to drop her late afternoon cat nap even though i didn't think this would happen until she was at least 6 months. Anyway though we would have things under control and things wouldn't change until she was around 9 months. Up until a few days ago this was how DD's day looked like:

6.45/7am - Wake
7.30am - Bottle
8.15am - Breakfast
9.30am - Sleep (Anywhere from 1.30mins to 1.45mins sometimes 2 hrs no longer than that)
12pm - Lunch
1pm - Bottle
2pm - Sleep same as above
4pm - Snack (just introduced)
5pm - Dinner
6pm - Bath
6.30pm - Bottle
7pm - Sleep for the night.

However over the last few days i have noticed DD has been waking a bit earlier in the morning (around 6.30am  ) and her naps are starting to get shorter (1.15mins  ) Also i find DD isn't tired at 2pm anymore to go for her nap. She is still falling asleep within 5 mins for sleeps though but i don't want to get to the stage where is crying at nap/bedtime which is what happened before we did the 3-2nap transition.
I also want to push out her bath time to 6.30pm as DH isn't get home until then and he likes to do this and make bedtime 7.15/30pm instead.
I guess i just need some reasurance that DD is ready for longer awake time as it would mean 3hrs before AM nap but would keep it still at 3hrs before PM nap and 3.5hrs before bedtime.

[Katet]

if she is able to do it & happy then do it... all babies are different & I know my niece (who dropped day naps at 2yo) was able to do close to 3.5 hours at 9months old, when my ds#1 was still struggling at 2.5 hours awake time & only just transitioning to 2 naps at 10months. Some babies (like adults) need more sleep other's less... sounds like you are one of the ones who has a baby needing less sleep

[*Natasha*]

Today she woke at 6.15 
I think she is ready for a change in routine again, anyone else been through this? Just when i though we had a good routine going. I think she is telling me she doesn't need 12hrs at night anymore now she is getting older. I want to keep 7am wake time though as it is conveniant for us but did want to extend the afternoon out so DH can start giving DD her bath again as he is working later now 
So my aim is for this:

7am - Wake
7.30am - Bottle
8.15am - Breakfast
10am - Sleep 1.5hrs
12.30pm - Lunch
1.15pm - Bottle
2.30pm - Sleep 1.5-2hrs
4.15pm - Snack
5.30pm - Dinner
6.30pm - Bath with Daddy 
6.45/7pm - Bottle
7.30pm - Bed

Does this sound ok for a 7.5 month old to have this routine?
I plan on going to this slowly over the next 2 weeks so she will be on this routine by the time she is 8 months old.
I think i am just looking for reasurrance 

[Katet]

Sounds fine to me... but remember next week the clocks change & as you're in Aus , we get that lovely "bad end" of the stick & it becomes 5am not 6am 
So you will have that to contend with too

[*Natasha*]

I know another thing to look forward to 

[Mia & Scarlett's Mummy]

Hiya Natasha

Mia can sometimes manage 3 hours in the morning before her first nap.  She is waking too around the 6am mark - which is a massive improvement on 5.30am! - so when that happens we let her play in her cot until she starts protesting thereby not stimulating her too much.

At the mo we are putting her down for am nap around 9.30-10.00 and I let her sleep for 1.5 hours (any longer and she doesn't nap well if at all in the afternoon).

Pm nap - she goes down between 2 and 2.30pm and I let her sleep no later than 5.15 (sometimes she wakes around 4.30pm).  When she wakes late we put her to bed at 7.30pm.  Previously it was 7pm but she was chattering for a while so we figured she could handle a later bedtime plus I feel more relaxed with her going to sleep at that time with the early wakings.

(Nice new piccie of Catherine BTW!)

[Mia & Scarlett's Mummy]

Hi Stacy - it certainly is food for thought and it's been at the back of mind for some time now that Mia may be having too much daytime sleep.  Usually 1.5hr am and 2.5hr pm.....but having said that she is exhausted when we put her to bed at 7pm - we really can't keep her up any longer.  If I shorten her naps she's cranky...so I'm at a bit of a loss

[*Natasha*]

She dropped a bottle at 5 months and at the moment is having a bottle at 7.30am, 1pm and 6.30pm. She sometimes fusses at her 1pm bottle so i am thinking of extending it to 1.30pm instead. Never though of the growth spurt she well could be. However i think her biggest contribution is teething which she has been suffering with off and on for 1.5months. I think she about to cut her two bottom teeth which are at the gum. This morning she woke at 6.30pm grumpy and is struggling to finish her bottle even though she is clearly hungry. I think i will stick with the schedule we are on at the moment and hopefully things will settle down when the teeth come through (fingers crossed).