I've tried keeping him awake anywhere from 2 hr to 2 hr and 30 min and he's not having it lol. I've been trying this for about 2 weeks now. Its a stretch just to keep I'm awake for 2 hours. At about 1 hr 45 minutes he starts yawning, and rubbing his eyes and getting really fussy and demanding my attention in order to stay awake and not crying for another 15 minutes. Then I take him up to his room and change him and do our nap time routine thereby getting maybe an extra 5-6 minutes awake time out of him but that's it. There have been times where I've managed to keep him awake for 2.5 hours but it was usually because we were out and about and he almost always falls asleep in the car and wakes when we get home and refuses to go back to sleep.
I've also tried keeping him up longer in the afternoon and cutting out the cat nap, he isn't too keen on that either. he gets extremely fussy and needy and this is right around dinner time for us so its really bad timing. Yesterday he had his 6 month doctors appointment which means he got shots which means he was and is in a very foul mood needless to say lol. But when we got home from his appointment it was time for his 2nd nap, i let him sleep for 2 full hours instead of waking him after 1 hour to eat (it had been 4 hours since last feed by then) and even then I had to go in a wake him. He was cranky and clingy and generally not happy until I fed him and even then he wasn't 100% back to normal. But this time it was around 5 p.m. so I kept him awake and skipped the cat nap and we put him down for bed at 7-7:30 (fed again before bed). He has the absolute WORST night sleep that he's had in a long time last night. Up at 11 crying and fussy and tossing and turning but eventually put himself back to sleep after about 30 - 40 min, then up again at 1:30 tossing, turning, whining and fussing then he'd started playing and then put self back to sleep only to wake again at 2 doing the same thing. I eventually went in and fed him 5.5 oz bottle at 2:15 because I remember reading that when a baby wakes at random times then they are hungry. He instantly went back to sleep after he finished his bottle. Only to wake up AGAIN at 3:50 alternating between whining, playing and dozing off. he did this for a full hour -- didn't go back to sleep till 4:50 ish. Then slept till 6:30 tossed and turned and back to sleep then up for good at 7.
I am thinking the shots and teething are playing a major roll in his overall grumpiness but regarding the increased activity time, I just don't think he's ready for that. do I keep trying or will he eventually stay up longer on his own?
