7 month old NW, could it be not enough nap time?

[Rugbys Mom]

So when Rugby was 6 months I was having trouble with short naps and sleeping through the night. I had posted about short naps and some people helped me out by telling me that we should switch to 2 naps rather than 3 and inplement an earlier bedtime (I can't find my old post). Anyway, I was able to make the switch and things were going great. He was taking his 2 naps and pretty much sleeping through the night. Now we are having trouble again. He is still doing 2 naps, but only for about 1 1/2 hours. His nap schedule goes like this he wakes usually about 6 and then first nap is 9-10:30-40ish. Then he is up and playing until about 1. I can't seem to get him to stay up longer than that without meltdown so I put him down when he is tired. Then he will sleep until 2:30 - 40ish. Now he is tired around 5, is that too early for bed? SHould I be putting him down for another nap then? I have been holding him out for bed until 5:45 sometimes 6, but he has been having a terrible time at night and so I think he is OT. He will wake 2-3 times a night and is near impossible to get down, just screams and screams. Help!

[Krissy18]

i am wondernig the same thing. it seems we may be reaching that point sooner than we though. naps are too early in the day, wont take the catnap half the time and wants to go to bed way too early.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Hi Rugby's Mom!  From what you are describing it looks to me like Rugby is a bit OT.  I had the same problem with DS when he would refuse his catnap (he was a serial 45 minute napper) and he would tend to have NWs if he was OT. 

I would try putting him down for a quick nap around 5pm (don't let him sleep more than 30 minutes though) and see what happens.  If this doesn't work, I would try increasing his A time very slowly so his 2nd nap ends a bit later.

[Rugbys Mom]

Now he is even worse today. He took a good 1 1/2 hour nap this morning, but nap 2 was only 45 minutes. Hubby took him out and had him set for while and then tried to put him back down since he was cranky. No luck. I took him out and fed him. He downed a bottle, but still no sleeping. He is now just screaming in his crib. We are noth so over dealing with this after the past few nights. We are ready to just let him CIO. I knwo this won't solve anything, but at least we can get a break. I guess we will have to try again tomorrow when he has hopefully had some nigth sleep.

[Rugbys Mom]

Ok, don't worry ladies. I took a short break and then took him out and out him in the swing so he didn't CIO. He was content for a while and then when his eyes started closing he started fussing. I took him in his room and just let him fall asleep in my arms. I just figure if we have to do that every so often it is not that bad. We will just have to brace ourselves for tonight and hope for the best tomorrow.

[*Natasha*]

Try moving that second nap out to 1.30pm do it slowly by 5mins every few days so he doesn't get OT.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Thank goodness you didn't CIO!!  I know sometimes it seems like it's the only thing that will help, but it won't!  And yes, it is totally OK to let your LO fall asleep in your arms if just for a catnap at the end of the day as long as he is still falling asleep in his own for everything else. 

So how did it go today?

[Rugbys Mom]

Well after his late nap yesterday he actually slept through the night until 5 am! Then I had to work to get him back down until 6:30, but I can't be too upset about that because it was one ofthe best nights we have had yet.
Now he has had a bad diaper rash and so I had to take him to the Dr today. I put him down for his first nap early and he only stayed down for about an hour, which was okay since we had to get ready to go anyway. They determined it was yeast so then we had to pick up a prescription that took forever! By teh time we got home he was so tired and had been up for 3 hours (he fell asleep for a few minutes right before we got home). So when we got in I changed his nappy and put the new cream on and gave him a bottle. I tried putting him down, but he just was too OT so again I had him fall asleep in my arms. He woke about a half hour later and I was able to get him down by just giving him the paci. Now he has been asleep for about an hour and a half. If he needs another nap before bed I will give him one rather than stretch him to bed since it worked so good yesterday. I will have to work on getting better timing of his naps in the next two weeks. We will be out of town this weekend so I am sure he will get off scheudle and so it may take some time next week to get him back on track.

[musicgal03]

Just wanted to say that at times I will hold DS until he falls asleep also. If it is just every once in a while I feel it won't hurt anything.

Also about the yeast/diaper rash. Ever since my doctor told me to give DS Probiotics on a daily basis he has not had a problem at all with diaper rash! And he never had to take any medication. Highly recommended!

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

So glad to hear things went well last night.  It feels good doesn't it?  And yes, he will probably be slightly off when you go away, but I think things will fall into place quickly when you return.  We went on a cruise at the end of Feb and ds had a horrid time sleeping (both naps and nightime) but within a day he was back on his routine and doing just fine

[Rugbys Mom]

Roman's Mom - Thanks for the encouragement. It is good to know that he went back to normal so quickly.
Musicgal - Where did you find probiotics for an infant. I haven't heard of using them before but would be interested in what you know in case we decide to try it.