what to do at 8 mos??

[lilapple]

i'm confused, can someone help me?  dd has been overtired so I've started today putting her down after2 hrs ten min wake time  (then she took 20 min to go to sleep)---second nap I put her down at 2 hours and it took 15 min to fall asleep---first time cooing, second nap a little more fussy.  She took a catnap in stroller for about 25 min.----that time after two hours forty min wake time and from there until bed was 2 hours ten min.  (took her an hour ten min to fall asleep!!! )  most of the time in crib at bedtime she was trying to get me to laugh, or interact with her ----interspersed with trying to get to sleep, crying-----finally getting to sleep.  I left when she started getting social but always came back (about 6 times) because she would cry.  Then i stayed with her until in deep sleep.  My confusion is, is she overtired by bedtime?  could there be separation anxiety mixed in, wanting to keep me there and crying when I leave?  Or is she just being social b/c she's wired and overtired?  Or, since she is 8 mos did she not really need that catnap so she's not tired enough, thus the bedtime playtime?  What should I do with wake times?  (I did wake to sleep to get that hour plus am nap, b /c yesterday and previous days she was a thirty minute napper.  The second nap, she was already stirring so I did not intervene and she ended up kind of waking up about two times during her nap timec but total got an hour b/c she put herself back to sleep---she's also done that on previous days occasionally. ) THANKS! 

[CanadianMom]

has she been napping fine until now?
Is it possible that she is teething?  Liam had a hard time sleeping when he was teething.
Lisa

[lilapple]

yes she's teething but she's always had a hard time with naps---30 min mostly

[squeaky's mum]

Hello,

It sounds as if we have been going through a very similar thing to you. DD is 8 months at tends to nap well for one nap and badly for another. At night she has been waking 3-4 times and at least one of these is 'social' where she is crying and as soon as I or dh go in to her she stops and starts blowing bubbles at us! She can be awake here for up to 3 hours.

I have been keeping a sleep diary for the health visitor, and I reckon she has been overtired. Over the last few days we have seen an improvement. During the last week I have tried really hard to get more sleep into her and very slowly she has started to sleep better. I think it has also coincided with a developmental burst as although she has been mobile for a while she has started crawling this week.

The main difference I have noticed is in her body. When she was waking last week she would be on all 4's with her legs poking through the cot and stuck like that. Over the week she has become more and more relaxed.

I am really beginning to believe the BW advice of consistancy. As long as you keep to your routine the sleep disturbances will come and go but eventually the babies will settle. Although it is much easier said than done when you are having a hard time.

I hope this helps