How do I fit everything in???

[missyb]

Hi there,  I am just after a bit of help with my just turned 8mth old DS.

I think he is ready for an increase in A time, but I am not 100% in this and also I am a bit unsure on how to fit everything into our day or how long his naps “should” be and if I should wake him (if the opportunity ever occurs).

Prior to things going wonky he was doing

7.30am wake and bottle
8.30 solids
1030-1230 nap
1230 wake and bottle
130pm solids
3.30-4.30 nap
5pm dinner
6.30 bottle
7/7.30 bed

Over the past few weeks, his morning naps have become 20min and I generally am able to get 2 x 20min and 1 x 1.5hr into him during the day, but he has been difficult to get to sleep for the night and has been waking at the 40min mark.

When he dropped the cap nap at just over 5mths he did this 20min nap thing and I discovered it was power napping and he needed more A time.

So today, I increased his A times and this is what happened

6.30 wake
7am3hr bottle
8.30 solids
10-1045 am nap (3.5hr A time and 45min nap)
1100 bottle
1230 solids
1.30-2.45 nap (3hr A time and 1.15hr nap)
6.20 pm bed and NO 40 min wake up.

So do I increase the A time even more??  And if so how do I fit everything in??  His naps are getting so close to his bottle time so how do I get it all in?  Do I top him up before a nap or is it time I swap bottles and solids and do solids first?

As for other stuff, he still has 1 night feed anywhere between 1130pm and 3am.  I am pretty sure he doesn’t need this and it is more for comfort so I have just started reducing the amount he is getting,and so far he hasn’t ben too bothered.

Developmentally, he is crawling and although he isn’t able to get himself into a sitting position yet, he is pulling up to standing (apparently sitting isn’t worth it). 

He does get grizzly at about the 2hr mark but this is more because he wants a change of scene and wants to do something new.

He also has silent reflux but is well medicated and it is under control. 

He also uses a dummy but is able to re-plug  himself, and normally only needs help to find 1 of the 5 that he has in his cot.

So if anyone can cast their eyes over our routine and help me tweak it, or guide me to what it “should” be like it would be much appriecated.  Surely he can’t be starting the 2-1 transition already???

[ZacsMumme]

Mmmm I wonder if you are just going through a bit of a developmental hump. I agree re 2-1 he does seem a little, esp after napping so much a few months ago.

How is he when he wakes from that 45 min nap? 1hr 15 min naps for us were always UT

other than the 1 NF does he sleep well at night? Is the NF short ie feed back to sleep?

[missyb]

Thanks for your reply Sara.

I do think there is a rather large developmental component.  He is just trying to do so much, and in the past few days has mastered pulling up to stand.  So his little brain will be working overtime.

He generally always cries when he wakes, regardless of how long he has been asleep, more so I think because he has managed to wedge himself down the side of the cot and is hitting his head against the sides and is stuck.  So it is kind of hard to tell.  But when I go in, he normally perks up quickly and is happy as soon as we make it upstairs.  He copes with OT very well, and is honestly the happiest baby I have ever met, and he seems to be that way regardless of how much or how little sleep he has.

Our nights are great.  His night feed is always quick. I put hi back to bed wide awake with his dummy and he just goes back to sleep within 5-10min. No crying or fussing. He rarely does less than 11.5hrs at night but can be up to 14hrs if he had a bad day the day before.  I have noticed in the last week or so they becoming more consistently 12hrs, whereas before they were more like 13hrs.

I have also noticed that if he doesn’t have enough A time before bed, he will have an EW’ing at about 5.30 but I can usually resettle him quickly with his dummy.

We had rather a good day yesterday however.  I swapped his solids and milk and  as a result he only had 3 bottles during the day.  He did still have a night feed, but he woke at 11pm for that and then slept through till 6.30am. It went

6.30am wake
7am Solids
8.30am milk
10am-12.15 nap (I woke him from this and he was in such a deep sleep, who knows how much longer he would have slept)
1230 Lunch
2pm milk
3pm-3.25 Nap in the car.  I was hoping to do the daycare run before he fell asleep but he wasn’t so obliging.
4.30 Dinner
6pm milk
6.30 Bed
11pm milk  I tried to resettle him with PU/PD but he cried everytime I put him down and although he had eaten heaps during the day I was aware that he was a bottle short.
6.30am start for the day.

So I think the longer A times is working, but what do I do about the pm nap??  Should I wake him earlier from his Am nap, or just let him have as long as he likes and a catnap in the afternoon??   If  I had got a good nap into him in the pm, BT would have been really late.

So, yay for the great first nap, but what do I do with the rest of the day??

[ZacsMumme]

I remember the standing and pulling up. It wrecked havoc on our sleep for a bit. It does pass!

If he is okay once awake and copes wells with OT then it is hard to tell if he is waking still tired,ESP if he cries on waking no matter what. Some LOs just do.

It sounds like your LO likes a long AM nap, mine was the same. It's a pain in the 2-1 but it can work. I would cap that AM nap at 2hrs or even 1.5 if you have to, in order to presve a pm map. I do think he is too early for 1 nap so will need that pm nap to prevent OT.

With your EASY above iwould try something like
WU 6.30
Nap 10-12
Nap 3.30-4.30
BT 7

I understand this may not work with the daycare run...can you keep him awake in the car at all??? If you get a 20 min short car nap  you can go for EBT of 6pm

PS your nights are wonderful....