Need a longer wind down routine

[ballardlm]

Hello all, my LO is almost 7 months old. Ever since he started crawling it is difficult to wind him down for naps. He is extremely spirited and always into everything! I think that since he is so much more active than he used to be I need to give him a longer wind down routine. Before he started crawling (about 6 months) and this whole mess started this was our naptime routine. We would sit in the rocker with the lights off and read a book (the same book everytime) then I would rock him and sing 3 lullabies to him (the same 3 songs in the same order) and then I would lay him down in the crib and leave the room. We haven't swaddled since he was about 4 months old. Then he would talk to himself for 10 min or so and drift off to sleep. But now he is really fussy. It just feels like maybe I need a better transition from play to sleep because he plays so much harder than he used to. So, my question is.......what do you ladies with older babies do for a wind down routine? I need some ideas. My EASY is posted below. It's not really eat, awake, play exactly but its our routine. Thanks for the help!

6am - wake up and have a bottle, sometimes he will go back to sleep after this and sometimes not
7:30 or 8 - Breakfast
8 or 8:30 - Nap
10 - Bottle
11 - Lunch
12 - Nap
2 - Bottle
3 - Snack
4 - Catnap
5 - Dinner
6 or 7 - Bedtime routine, bottle, and bed

He sleeps through the night without a dreamfeed. These times are approximate of course, it varies from day to day. He usually sleeps 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours for the first 2 naps and 30 min to an hour for the catnap. Sometimes if he takes a really long afternoon nap we don't have time to fit a catnap in. We have a great routine and he is generally a great sleeper, I just can't take the crying at every nap anymore!

[ZacsMumme]

You may find he is not tired enough for his naps as 2-2.5 hours is a very short A time for a 7 month old. If you push out that first and second nap a touch - say 10 mins at a time every few days you may find he resists less as he is ready to settle down for a sleep.

What do you think? Do you think he could be not tired enough for his nap and wanting to play still?

[anna*]

Agree with Sara, I'd be trying to push his A times out to nearer 3 hrs - or until he's going to sleep easier!

[creations]

Hmmm...just to throw a spanner into the works...are you sure you need a LONGER wind down?  My LO is just under 7 months and would go crazy if I spent that amount of time in wind down with him.  It could be that your LO wants to spend as much time as possible playing and getting into everything and then just be taken up to bed two mins before he needs to nod off.  The crying before each nap could be because he is still in play mode and just doesn't want to be given the sleepy cues so early (ie UT).
With DS he plays until just a few mins before a nap (A is close to 3 hrs).  We go upstairs (change nappy if necessary) into bedroom, put him in sleeping bag, cuddle whilst I sing half a slow song (if he looks like he needs a bit more I give the full version) by which time he is usually kicking to be put down.  Into bed, say love you sleep well and walk out.  Couple of mins he's asleep.  I am in the room for like 3 mins with him and 2 of those are getting the sleep bag zipped up.

What do you think?

I'll be interested to read what mum's of older babies do for wind down and if it is longer as I realise my LO is slightly younger than yours and you were specifically asking for advice from mum's with older babies, which I'm not.

good luck with it x

PS I see you've had a couple of responses whilst I typed this but I'll post anyway

[ZacsMumme]

Yes...some babies do need a long WD but a lot just need less stimulation before their nap so maybe read a few books out in the lounge just to chill him out a bit. At this age they do sometimes just want to be taken in and plopped in the cot. Do you know what type of personality your baby has, this can sometimes help to determine what type of WD they may prefer.

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52283.0

[ballardlm]

I tried longer A times for a week or so but then went backwards. He would start getting fussy and I would put him in the sling and walk around with him doing housework for a while before putting him down to sleep. I figured if he was fussy like that he must be tired. Should I try again? Someone suggested 10 min increases, this would be doable but how long will it take before he gets used to it and stops getting fussy at his old S times? Oh, and ZacsMumme - he is a VERY spirited baby. Do you know what type of wind down they usually need? Thanks so much for everyone's input!

[ZacsMumme]

I think (but you would need to check it out) that spirited LOs like a short WD.
Here is the support thread for spirited babies, maybe see what other mums with spirited LOs think
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=210932.0

It is hard,but I would try 5-10 min increases every 3 days maybe if you think he will be slow to adjust. Quiet A time like a walk around the house sometimes helps.

fussiness at this age is not always because they are tired. It can be because they are U/OS, bored, want a change of scene etc etc...tough aye...I suspect the fussiness at this time is because his body is used to going to nap at this time. HTH