Nearly 7 month old - suddenly short A time - Help!

[sonalim]

Hi

My nearly 7 month old used to be able to do 2.5-2.75 hrs activity but in the last week has dropped to just 2hrs by which time she's rubbing her eyes and getting cranky and desperately wants to sleep -I would really appreciate some help as don't know what to do.

She's on a 4 hr EASY and is bottle fed and has solids twice a day. Also to note she was going to sleep well and STTN since 4 months, she started fighting the catnap and barely took 30ml during the df so we dropped both but in the last 3 weeks she has been refusing to go to sleep  - she's either really awake and wants to play or she's really tiRed but can't seem to get herself to sleep - I have also posted on the sleep board.

Her EASY is:

E   7:30am-milk
A   7.45am (9.00am –solids)
S   9:30am - nap for 2 hrs
E   11.30am-milk
A   11.45am
S   13.30pm - nap for 1.5-2hrs
E   3.30pm - milk
A   3.45pm (5.00pm - solids )
   6:30pm - bath
E   7:00-7:15pm - milk
S           7.15-7.30pm

I've tried moving bedtime earlier as I know her last activity is long but that doesn't seem to help

[empowered mama]

Is she teething by chance?  Any illness or cold coming on?  These are the only 2 reasons why I would think her A times would drop so dramatically. 

Only other thing I can think of is that she is used to going to bed at these times of the day and so her body automatically is ready for sleep.  Does that make sense?

[sonalim]

Hi - yes she is teething but she has been for a while so don't think that would lead to a sudden drop - but you may be right about the previous timings. How do I break her out of that? She can barely seem to do 1.5 hours before she starts rubbing her eyes and getting cranky.

[sarahjoy]

OMG I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one experiencing this.  My 7.5 month LO has been on a good 4 hr EASY for a while and we're mostly there with dropping the cat nap but for some reason he's been having these days where his A time is only 2 hours all of the sudden.  What I'm experiencing now is that after he goes to bed around 7:30 that he wakes up 2-4 times between 8-9:30, almost like he can't get into a deep sleep. 

My only other question would be, do you have others helping with your lo?  Maybe they are misreading the sleep cues?

[empowered mama]

Oftentimes LOs this age can send some unreliable sleepy cues, when in fact they need an increase in A time.  You could try to distract her for as long as possible and try to add 10-15 minutes onto the A time to see if that helps things. 

Just to clarify - is your LO fighting bedtime, or just the catnap?  I definitely think she is OT by bedtime if she is used to 2 hrs A time and she does 4 hrs before bed.  Are you having any NWs by chance?

[sonalim]

Thanks for your help

I have managed to increase activity time by 30 mins each time so now she does 2.5 hours and sleeps well through the night...well she did until 2 days ago! Suddenly she'd refusing her afternoon nap at 1.30pm and won't sleep until 3.30/4pm!

[empowered mama]

What is her A time before the 2nd nap?  You think maybe she is going down UT?

[sonalim]

 Hi-her activity time is 2.5 hours before the 2nd nap but no matter when I put her down she refuses the nap altogether so she wakes at 11.30am and won't nap until 3.30/4pm which is too late and also not fun as she's quite cranky/attention seeking in between.