Need help for 6 1/2 Mo Old Scheduling

[smo71]

My 6 1/2 month old hasn't been on a consistent schedule for a couple of months now. I never know when he's going to wake up in the morning or how long his naps will be. He acts like he can hardly go 3 hours between bottles. He was very consistent as a little baby, but I think he may not be getting enough wake time. He starts fussing like he wants to go to sleep, so I put him down. Also, he has gotten into the habit of waking at 530am regardless of when he goes to bed. Here is a sample day, although every day is different:

6:20am - 8 oz bottle, Nap 7:30-8:30a
9:00am - 7 oz bottle, Nap 10-11a
11:45am - 6 oz bottle + vegetables, Nap 12:15-2:30p
3:10pm - 6 oz bottle, Nap 4:20 - 5:00p
5:10pm - 2 oz bottle + vegetables
6:40pm - 8 oz bottle, bath, nighttime sleep 7:20pm - 5:00am

I would love to get back to a 4-hour consistent schedule. Any thoughts?

[stagemanager2]

Hello and welcome!

I would say he is getting too little A time.  Does he really start the day at 5am or is he just hungry or has he woken and can't get back to sleep by himself?  Have you tried to feed him/soothe him back to sleep?

This is why I think he may be really tired the rest of the day and thus can't get enough good A time and good Nap time....

That first wake up... when he eats at 6:30am, has he been awake sinse 5?  He seems to be going down for his first nap at 2.5hrs?  Could this first A time be too long for him thus not being able to finish that first nap?  It looks like he might have been able to go back down with some food or soothing???

jsut some thoughts?

[OJ30]

Hi
My 6 1/2 mo lo is doing exactly the same so huge sympathy.  Ours has always been a short napper so never really managed to stay awake for as long as other babies of his age.  I have been working really hard to extend his naps over the last 2 weeks and have had some success in doing so.  It seems the key is in his A times.  Mine can only manage 1 h 45 mins first thing in the morning regardless of when he wakes.  If this is a success then he can usually manage 2 h 15 mins at the next A time, but only 2 hrs at the end of the day before his catnap or bed (won't always go down for a catnap).
Our lo has also decided that 4.30-5.30am is a suitable wake up time regardless of when bedtime is so we have been trying to stick to a 12 hr day.  This does mean that some nights he has been in bed at 5.15pm!  I wonder if it is a developmental phase?  My lo is trying so desperately to crawl and now flips himself over in the cot as he tries to settle himself.  This would certainly wake me up at 5am!  It seems no amount of soothing or feeding puts him back to sleep.

Sorry I can't be any more help, but it is always nice to know that someone else is in the same boat!

Jo x

[smo71]

Thanks so much for the input and sympathy! He is wide awake at 5:30am and definitely seems hungry. There have been mornings when I've tried to soothe him back to sleep, but he won't have it. By that time he's usually already slept about 10 1/2 hours. Today I was really successful in extending his awake time. I have to take him out to keep him alert and distracted in order to keep him up 1 hr 45 mins to 2 hours. But it worked today! He took consistent 2 hour naps. He was awake at 530a and so by 7p he was really tired and went straight to sleep. We'll see how long he sleeps tonight!

We have had a hard time keeping up with his appetite-- he's in the 90th percentile for height and 75th for weight. So now that he's eating baby food and a bottle, I think it will hopefully get better. I'll see what happens tomorrow morning. Extending the awake time might have been the magic answer!  :-)

[brenda2]

hi
i agree with needing to extend his A times, and drop one of those naps.  most 6 mo are taking 2 long naps and a catnap.  the key like you said is in knowing what A times he can handle and they may be different at different times of day.  typical A time at this age is 2 to 2.5 hours

[smo71]

Now that I've extended his A time (with some resistance!)... his naps are longer and more consistent. He gets really fussy after being awake one hour, but I am working hard to distract him and get him to stay up at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

However, now there are a few times when his naps were 2 1/2 hours. Should I wake him after he sleeps 2 hours? I'm trying to get him to sleep a bit longer at night so he's not waking at 515-530a. He has been sleeping about 10 - 10 1/2 hours, but he has slept up to 11+ hours in the past. Any thoughts?  Thanks so much for your insight!

[brenda2]

the long naps may be robbing his night time sleep, especially if it the morning nap that's too long.  i would wake him after 2 hours for sure.