Please take a look at my 9.5 month's feeding routines

[hanna]

I can't move the pm nap any later because of daycare pick up at 3.00 pm. She just seems so sleepy yet she fights so hard. I put her down at A time 3 hrs today, picked her up and rocked her a few times. She is still awake half an hour later. Shall i allow her more time to fall asleep and put her down earlier at A time 2.75? I know she'll only have a 35 minute nap if she becomes OT. Today is Sunday so she can stay asleep if she goes down now, but mon-fri, I have to wake her up at 3.00 pm. Got her up--I had to AP in the car to get her to sleep today. A time 4.5.

[*Kara*]

hmmm... alright, let's see if we can get a routine that allows her the sleep she needs and gives you the school runs without worry of her cat napping in the car... she is still waking by 6am most days, right?  And preschool runs are at 930 and 3pm?

[hanna]

I woke her up at 4.45 pm so she slept for 75 mins. Will put her to bed at 6.45 pm.

 Yes, she woke up around 6 am this weekend, at least. I leave at 9.00 am for daycare and get back at 9.30.

[*Kara*]

How did BT go?  I know I couldn't have put DD down after a nap that long and only 2 hrs of A time at this age...

what time is the PM school run?

[hanna]

I put her down at 6.55 pm, a little later than planned, but she fell asleep at 7.05 pm. Since her previous A time was 4.5 hrs, she was tired. She is also used to going to sleep at 6.30 pm. She did, however, wake at 5.30 am again this morning. PM school run starts at 3 pm, get back at 3.30.

[*Kara*]

well, I am gonna join you in the land of 530am wakeups Hanna... three days in a row here!  I think my LO is getting a touch of a cold though...


Alright, so up at 530, school runs 9-930 and 3-330pm...

So, her A time should be right around 4 hrs.. is it feasible to keep her awake on the school run?

If so,

530am up and start the day with a BF (since she seems to still take this one)
breakfast solids around 730am
930-1030am nap #1  (with any luck it will lengthen!) - attempt a BF as soon as she wakes before leaving her room
If no BF, snack at wake up with EBM
Lunch solids around 12/1230pm
1/130pm nap #2 (she should go down fairly easy with the AM nap at an hour in length), wake if needed for school run at 3pm.
345pm Attempt BF when back from school run (if you don't give her a snack in the car, she should take the BF).  If she refuses, offer a snack and EBM
5pm dinner solids
BF at 6/615pm if she will take it (you may have to limit her dinner solids)
BT 630pm

Think this could work?

[hanna]

Thanks, that looks good. This morning she slept 90 minutes! But in the afternoon her max is usually 60 minutes (2-3 pm). Do you think she can do 4 hrs after that if I tried to move her bt to 7 pm? And how long does is normally take for a baby to adjust and add those 30 minutes in the morning instead, ie wake up at 6 or 6.30 am? She seems to like her bt at 6.30 pm, though .

This morning I had to offer the breast a few times before she decided to take it. She'll be 10 months this week btw.

Thanks!

[*Kara*]

WOOHOO! Awesome that she had a good AM sleep!  In all honesty, she could be starting that first bit of the 2-1 where they still very much need two naps a day but there just are not enough hours in the day... many LO's have to sacrifice a bit of night sleep in favour of two decent naps to keep OT in check.  I think we got to this right before it got really rough and I had to start capping the PM nap to preserve BT:

Wake 6am
Nap 930-11am (and she started to wake earlier and earlier from this nap)
Nap 230-4pm
BT 8pm and STTN

Since she is almost 10 months, we could try moving from 4 BF's down to 3 and see if that does the trick!  Stick with wakeup and BT and do the middle one shortly before the PM nap (like 15-20 mins before)... do her breakfast solids at the normal time, offer a small snack around 930ish and pull lunch forward to 11/1130am?? 

[hanna]

Of course she only slept 45 mins this afternoon, so I will do A time 3.5 hrs, bt at 6.15 pm. I'd rather she sleep 11 hrs or more at night. But I guess it's hard to fit in a long pm nap.

[*Kara*]

It's tough for sure at this age... that start of the 2-1 is a real bugger for naps.. they still need two, but time is tricky!  Don't worry too much about EBT - night sleep is more restorative anyways

[hanna]

She slept only 35 mins this afternoon, waking up at 3.25 pm on the school run, so I was shooting for a 3 hr A time, normal bt for her, but she didn't fall asleep until 6.45 pm. Can she handle that long on a short nap do you think? She was tired but not fussy when I put her to bed. She had a good morning nap from 10.00-11.20 am, so wouldn't nap at 2 pm, or 2.20 pm. She was just sitting in her bed talking to herself.

[*Kara*]

It does seem like a touch long for a short nap but some kids can surprise you at this age!  Mine did.  Let's see how her night is - if she is unsettled before midnight, we know she was OT.

[hanna]

She slept until 6 or 6.15 am, she was happy waking up, she got quiet again until 6.40 when I got her.
She wouldn't bf this morning! Only for a minute. I gave her a bottle but I will try again tomorrow morning.

She always wakes up, though, at night, because she loses her paci and we have to find it for her. I know I should probably get rid of it. I'm just worried she'll cry so much for it. What do you think? I leave 3-4 pacifiers with her every night and they end up on the floor or in a corner of the bed.

[*Kara*]

My DD still has her paci at night at 22 months... I tried to take it away and quite frankly, it was pure torture for all involved.    I used to put about 7-10 in the crib as well, but realized that they were becoming a distraction as she went to sleep at night - she kept one in her mouth but tossed the others out in play!  Once I decided to sneak in when I went to bed and toss a few in with her as extras, things were much smoother! 

Around 18 months, I stopped giving her extras at all and she has been even better now.

If she isn't into the first AM BF, you could always let her get up and start the day without it... does she have cereal for breakkie?  Use EBM for that or offer some as a drink in her sippy with breakkie

[hanna]

I will try that, and let her have only one extra in her hand. If that doesn't work, we'll try next weekend to get rid of it. How long did you try for?

Is 5.45 pm a too early bt if she needs it?