Enough sleep?

[vero86]

Hi all,

Just wondering if my 8.5 month old is getting enough sleep. He is sleeping through the night but wakes after 9.75-10 h of sleep no matter what time I put him to bed. He now goes to be around 7:15-7:45 and wakes anywhere between 5:30-6:00.

He takes two naps a day generally 1 h 15 minutes but sometimes 40.

So... if we do math, he sleeps at the most 12 h 30 minutes a day. He does act tired and cranky from time to time and sometimes in the morning he wakes up and is yawning and has huge bags under his eyes... but it's impossible to put him back to bed. Should I worry?

Sample day:

6 a.m. wake and bottle
7:30 - breakfast
9:30-10:45 nap
11:00 bottle
12:00 lunch
2:00 - 3:15 nap
3:15 bottle
6:00 dinner
715-7:45 bedtime

[Lindsay27]

I think his naps might be slightly UT, so maybe try pushing those A times a little bit by 10/15mins if possible and hopefully that will help extend his WU a bit

[vero86]

OK thanks, will give that a try. I guess I will go with an A time of 3 h 30 min.

I suppose that the first few days will be hard (cranky baby and all) but it should take a few days/week for his night time sleep to increase?

[Albertalady]

I'm having the same issue with my 11 month old for the past month.  He consistently sleeps 9.75 hours at night no matter what time we put him down.  We've tried adjusting his naps, adjusting his bed time, going in and shushing him, leaving him to squawk on his own...and we can't extend it. He's happy during the day - we're just tired from 5am wake ups!! I'm interested to see what other advice you get.

[Lindsay27]

Albertalady - is he doing 2 naps?  At 11 months you might be getting into 2 - 1 territory, those 5am EWs are a classic sign!

10/ 11mo sleep gone wonky? Read this first! (2-1 switch)

[vero86]

Ok so it's been a few days an still no luck. I have increased his A time to 3:45-4 hours which has helped his naps (now 2 hours in the morning) and around 1.5 hours in the afternoon. But it has not helped his wake up times at all. He is both a very curious guy and a little guy that loves to eat (never has enough!) so am wondering if I should give him a bottle at 5 - just give it to him in bed and hope that his full stomach help him go back to bed... But then I am scared that he starts waking up in the middle of the night expecting a bottle. I wouldn't mind the wake up call if he wasn't tired all the time...

[Lindsay27]

Great job on extending A times and getting longer naps   What time is BT?  If he is not doing a DF or a NF it's entirely possible that the 5am WU is hunger related.  You could always try feeding him and putting him back down to see what happens.  How many feeds is he taking in the day?

[vero86]

So unfortunately things are not getting better... but even a little worse... and I am getting desperate. 2 nights ago, I put him to bed 15 minutes earlier so 6:45 and he slept until 5... I was happy because I extended his night time sleep by 15 minutes... So I did the same thing last night... and he was up at 4 AM!! 4!!!! So desperately, I gave him a bottle (stopped breastfeeding at 5 months because he had trouble digesting something in my diet)... and it didn't help. I put him back in his bed and he played for another 45-50 minutes and then started crying... but he is exhausted... he fell asleep at 7:45 this morning in his high chair having breakfast!! Any more suggestions? We are pretty exhausted parents these days ha ha

[vero86]

Sorry forgot to answer your questions.

He drinks at least 24 ounces a day - generally 4 feeds, sometimes 5.

Previously bedtimes were around 7:15. Will probably go back to that time tonight.

[Lindsay27]

I think you've probably hit the dreaded UT/OT loop - I think he was possibibly UT which is why he was having those EWs, but due to the EWs he's now OT.  For today, APOP naps as needed and let him catch up as much as possible and shoot for an EBT and see what WU you get tomorrow.

When you pushed those A times and were getting 2 x longer naps, what time was BT?

[vero86]

Bed time was around 7:15-30... but for the past 5-6 days, his wake up time is now 5 am at the latest. So is it because I stretched the A times too much maybe? Crazy how these littles ones are so sensitive to a 15-30 min change in routine! Will try for a 6:45-7:00 a.m. bedtime tonight.

I keep on doubting everything now (when he is OT/UT, etc)...

Oh and what is APOP?

Thanks so much for your help!

[vero86]

Another update - Two morning in a row of waking at 4:30. Last night I was at a friends so he went to bed at 8 and when we got home at 10, took him an hour to settle... was hoping for a later wake up but no luck. I will keep trying but not sure there is anything to do at this point. Thank you Lindsay for your help, I appreciate it!

[Lindsay27]

How are things going hun?

[vero86]

Thanks so much Lindsay for following up!

Things haven't been going great unfortunately. July 13, 14 and 15 wake ups between 4:15-4:30. He has had 2 wakes at 7:00 and 5:45... but I am completely lost why I get long sleeps and short sleeps so I apologize for this long post but maybe you can help make sense of it!

Schedules:

June 12:
4:00 a.m. wake up
7:45 - 9:15 nap
1 - 2:45 nap
6:45 bedtime

June 13:

3:15-3:45 wake - had to help him go back to sleep
4:45 wake
8:30-10:00 nap
1:30 - 3:00 nap
8:00 pm bedtime (was at a friends and he had trouble settling
10:30-11:30 woke up in car, pooped so was wide awake - too forever to settle him

June 14:

4:30 wake
7:00 - 8:00 nap
10:25 - 1:00 nap
4:00 - 4:45 nap
7:00 bedtime

June 15:

4:30 wake
8:00 -9:30 nap
12:45-2:00 nap
7:30 bedtime

JUNE 16
WOKE UP AT 7:00 AM!!!
10:20-11:50 nap
2:35 - 4:05 nap
7:00 bedtime

June 17
woke at 4:30
nap 8:15-9:45 - he fought it from 8:00 am but was yawning and rubbing eyes...
1:00 - 2:30 - went to sleep without a fuss
7:00 pm bedtime

June 18:
woke at 4:30 stirred a bit but fell back asleep 10 min later until 5:45
9:10-9:55 nap - he was rubbing his eyes acting tired... but short nap woke up crying
1:25 - now... still napping... but has been crying on and off in his sleep (overtired sign...) - and neighbours are hammering something so it will wake him


Maybe you can make more sense out of this than me... I am honestly getting so desperate and discouraged We are leaving for overseas next week (6 hour time difference) so all this is going to be screwed up anyways but am desperately trying to figure out what I am doing wrong to make things easier there. Feel a little bit as though I am failing.

Thanks!

[Lindsay27]

With those super early EWs I'd say OT is likely a huge factor - I'd try for EBTs as much as possible on the days he is waking before 6am to combat that.

Have you thought about trying W2S at all?