advice with a 7 month old EASY routine

[anjabibby]

Hi there,

I just wanted some opinions on whether I should tweak my routine or not..
My LO is 7 months, been on a version of EASY for about 3 months. We had terrible NW for a long time and now we are dealing with EW - but sometimes she will sleep til 6.30.

If I post my routine the ask a couple of questions just to see what people think..

Typical day
W 5.45 (although we are working on this ideal is 6.30)
E 6.30 (3-4oz) solids 7.30 (small amounts of cereal and fruit)
A
S 8.30 - 8.45 ( am aiming for 9 really but don't usually get there)
    90min nap
E 10.30 (6-7 oz)
A
    lunch 12 - veggies
S 1.00-1.30 will sleep for 90 mins
E 2.30 (6-8oz)
A
S - now here's the questions below.....

E solids 6pm
A bath
S 7pm with bottle of Formula prior to bed 6-7oz)

DF 10.15

OK we have an issue with the third nap - or lack of it. I put my LO down around the 2.75 hour mark - not having any of it. Will not go to sleep in her cot. I have left her there until 6.00 before ( with an A time of 3.5 hours ) and she has just played happily with her teddy. In this situation she gets really tired (obviously) after her solids - so I end up with feeding, quick bath and bed around 6.30 - when she will go straight to sleep.  The only way she will sleep in this third nap - is out in the sling with me - the pushchair will not do - she cries, the car won't do, she just cries.. And then in the sling she will only sleep for a max of 30 mins - often it is only 20 mins.
I find it difficult to know what to do as she is an independent sleeper, goes to sleep without any trouble at all other naps and bedtime. As I say we have the problem with the EW so I feel I can't push the first nap any later.
I am really torn with what to do as she seems she can stay up for 4 hours in the afternoon on the odd occasion she has completely refused to nap or we have been out - expecting her to sleep in the car.
When we have achieved a 7 am wake up, she still needs that first nap at about 9 - I just can't seem to get her to have an A time over 2 hours in the morning, which means she has a first A  of 2 hours, second A 2.75-3 hour, and third 3 hours - only if I put her in the sling and walk (for an HOUR! to get her to sleep), then last A 1 hour.
Should I abandon the 3rd nap and just put her to bed early (the earliest that I could manage is 6.30)? OR keep going with the 20-30min in the sling?
Ideas are welcomed!!
Anja x

[*Nicola*]

Hi Anja

Babies typically start to drop the catnap around this age, looks like your DD is heading that way too.  If you find she is refusing the catnap then I would just go for an earlier bedtime to prevent her getting OT. 

At 7 months babies are doing around 3 hours of A time so I would definately try and stretch that first A time.  If she is having real issues with staying up a bit longer then you will need to increase in small increments maybe 5/10 mins every few days.  Keep those extra mins low key and even as part of an extended wind down to keep her from getting cranky and OS.  If you push those naps later, the day will space out a bit better and you should end up with 2 good 1.5 - 2 hour naps So you would end up with something like this:

7 awake
10-12 sleep
3-4:30 sleep
7 to 7:30 bedtime
10 df

Not sure if you are still having the NW's - but it is usually weaned around 7/8 months otherwise it can begin to interupt night sleep and cause NW's.

[anjabibby]

Hi Nicola,

Thanks very much for the reply. Pushing that first nap to 10 - goodness that is going to take us a long time - but we shall get there!! I have been thinking about stopping the DF - I do think it is a bit disruptive to her, last night she unfortunately wake just as I was putting her back down in the cot and it took her 30 mins to go back to sleep.. and she only takes 3-4 oz anyway. So start the weaning tonight i think!
Shall be pushing the first nap then, we will be doing lots of walking round the house - the only thing she finds calming!!
Thanks again
Anja

[*Nicola*]

Anja,

Walking for that extra 5/10 mins of A time was exactly how we extended A times too

Keep us posted x

[*Nicola*]

Also meant to add ... the 10am nap is where the average baby is at around this age.  You don't have to stretch her all the way if you find a middle ground that works

[anjabibby]

going to aim for 9 tomorrow - and take it from there. Amazingly today had her normal nap at 8.45 - 10.15, then her second nap from 1.10 to 3.30! She never sleeps this long.... but I was very happy. So managed just to put her to bed at 6.30 without a third nap, which worked well. Never to be repeated I guess!
Thanks Anja

[*Nicola*]

Good luck x

[shawna11]

I am so glad you posted this we have started having trouble with naps. My 7.5 month old son Peyton will not go down for a nap after 2 hours of A time. I am going to try to extend his A time also to 3 hours we did 2.5 today and he was still hard to get down. I have found if I put him down too early he will sit in his crib and play/talk to himseld for 30-40 min.

[anjabibby]

Naps have got a bit better for us since I dropped her pm catnap. My LO does 2.75-3 hrs of A time, and when she manages the morning we have the day sussed. Maybe you could try lengthening your LO A time - mine would definitely find it difficult to go to sleep after 2hours A time - except in the morning!
We have this weird situation where she wakes (usually around 6 -7 though we had a period of EW and not sure whether this is an extension of it!) she is REALLY tired at about 8.30 - even if she got up at 7. I put her down yesterday at 8.45 and she was knackered. Have been trying to lengthen this first A time as otherwise it makes the day a bit lopsided, as she is quite happy with 3 hours A every time apart from the first.. Sometimes it leaves us in the annoying position of having her 2nd nap at 1.30 waking at 3.. and betime is 6.30/7. It means a couple of times she has gone to bed very tired. As she would fight and fight and fight having a catnap at 5 or even 5.30.
See what happens if you lengthen the A time!
Ax

[*Nicola*]

How are things now Anja?

[anjabibby]

how lovely of you to ask!!
Well EW seem to be a thing of the past which is fantastic - so wake up is around 6.30- 6.45, however she still takes her first nap at 9am. I haven't been able to extend this any further, she gets upset and grumpy if I try for any longer. She usually sleeps for about 1.30 - 2 hours, so wake up is around 10.30/11. I have then managed to get her to go for a nap at 1.30-2.00, where hopefully we get a full 2 hours (sometimes is 90mins), then I try to get a "rest time" between 5-6pm, when sometimes she will have a quick doze - sometimes not - I just try to make it very calm during this time. Then we aim for bed between 6.30-7pm. It does mean her last A time can be 3.5hours - but she seems to cope with this as bedtime routine firmly fixed so even though she is tired she seems to manage. We do get a few NW still but they are much better and this week the poor kid has had a cold and I think teething, very miserable, crying a lot, not wanting any solid food, and not really interested in milk - though I try to get at least 20 oz in during the day.
hopefully when she gets a bit better we can keep extending that first A time - it seems like she really isn't a morning person despite waking up - doesn't ever want breakfast, and never has more than 5 oz of milk despite not having had any since 7pm the night before.... hopefully we will get over this cold/illness and she will find some more enthusiasm for solids!
Thanks again
Anja xx

[melalyse]

When DS was 7.5 months his schedule was like this -
6:30 - wake
9:00-10:30 nap
1:00-2:30 nap
6:45 sleep
He couldn't go more than 2.5 in the morning but was able to do 4 before bed.  He stayed with this schedule until he switched to 1 nap @14-15 months.
DD on the other hand who is 7 months still does 4 45 min naps.

[anjabibby]

thanks - at least i know it isn't only my DD who doesn't do mornings!!

[*Nicola*]

Great news!

Although most babies do best with a short last A time it's obviously not for everyone.  Sounds like things have really improved for, well done

x