7 month old - 5:30am EW

[Erin M]

It does sound like you need some more A time if your naps are short, even if he is eventually settling.  You're saying that he's getting 3 hours of naps, but it doesn't sound like 3 very solid hours at all.  It could be that the broken naps are causing some OTness as well.  What are you up to for A time for that first nap?

[Lindsay27]

Last week we had great naps all week with 3hrs solid hours (or more) of daytime sleep, but every night his NW kept creeping earlier and earlier and we eventually got 2 NWs even though his days were great.  His naps this week have not been great, so I fully get that his so-so naps this week might have been contributing, but even on the good nap days we still have issues.

Monday was good - he had a 1.5hr nap in the morning and a 1.45hr nap in the afternoon and his day as a whole was fantastic - classic EASY and he was happy all day, but we still had a crummy night with 2 NWs and an EW.  We currently have an A time of 3hrs, sometimes a bit more (10 mins or so).

Yesterday I tried extending his A time in the morning a little because he seemed content, but I got a 30min nap (he settled and slept another 40mins), so in the afternoon I went back to a 3hr A time and he had a 1.5hr afternoon nap.  I assume the 30min nap was OT.

Tonight will not likely be great because  had a 1hr 10min nap this morning (which would have been longer but the dog woke him up barking at the mailman....grrrrr dog!!!), and this afternoon was a lot of running around Christmas shopping, so he only really slept in the car.  I put him to bed a little early, but I don't expect the night to be great.

[Erin M]

I assume the 30min nap was OT.

Sounds like it, especially if he settled. 

Let me know how your night went. 

[Lindsay27]

The night was horrendous, probably our worst night ever to be honest.  I had him asleep by about 6:50pm because I knew he was OT from our day out, and he woke every 45mins from BT until 11pm.  Then he slept a 2.5hr stretch from 11 - 1:30am where I fed, and then again woke every 45mins until 3:30am.  From 3:30 he slept until 7:20am.

I am exhausted, at 3:30am I'd only slept 2.5hrs so I woke DH up to help!  I know that this is a result of his lack of sleep yesterday, but holy cow...it was ridiculous.  We've had days out and OT wakings before, but nothing like this.  Today we are focusing on naps...obviously.  Going to stick around the 3hr - 3.15 A time I think because that seems to be where we get the best results.  FX for good naps today

[Lindsay27]

2 great naps today, so hopefully our night is better   1.5hrs this morning, and currently 2hrs this afternoon - both with a 3hr A time.  I am actually going to need to wake him up because it is almost 5pm and I don't want him napping later than that!

[becj86]

FX for a better night tonight!

[Lindsay27]

So after the good naps, the night wasn't exactly spectacular - he woke at 12:30am which I tried to feed, but he only took 2oz, so it wasn't a hunger waking, then again at 4am and I tried to settle him, but couldn't...so I gave him the rest of his bottle.  He eventually went back down but it took over an hour.

Last night however was good - 7:30pm BT, NF at 2am, up for the day at 6:20am.  But our naps yesterday weren't great - 1hr 20mins in the morning, and then DH and I had Christmas shopping to do, so he napped 30mins in the car on the way there, and 30mins home...so I wasn't hopeful for the night, but it turned out good

So, this makes me think...at what point do I start capping daytime sleep?  He always naps 1hr 20mins in the morning like clockwork, and his afternoon naps are always longer, 2+ hours.  He is 7.5 months now, so how much is too much?  On the days he takes long naps, it doesn't really seem to improve his nights, so I'm wondering if on those days he is sleeping too much during the day?

Also, on the NF - do I start weaning this or is it something he will drop on his own?  Sometimes I wonder if it is just habit for him to feed in the night, he doesn't seem starving or anything, and he eats lots during the day.

[Erin M]

So, this makes me think...at what point do I start capping daytime sleep?

Based on your days, he does seem to do better at night with a touch less sleep during the day.  A 2 hour long second nap could definitely be capped a bit.  Remind me, how long is his night (BT to WU)? 

Night feeds -- babies differ really widely on this one.  If your gut tells you that he doesn't need it, you can try it without for a few nights and see where if gets you.  If you're up for it and willing to stick it out, just try resettling him by any means necessary and see where it gets you.  If he truly doesn't need it, it should only be a few nights before he starts sleeping better at night -- if you get constant wakings every night, I'd call it hunger and say he's not ready to drop the night feed. 

[Lindsay27]

I am going to see how tonight goes, he napped 1hr 20 mins this morning and 2hr 20mins this afternoon.  He was still plenty tired when he went to bed.  I usually have him asleep between 7/7:30 dependant on what time he wakes from his PM nap. If he avoids the 5:30 EW, then a 'normal' WU time would be around 6:15am, so about 11ish hours of sleep. I have actually wondered if the 5:30am EW is because by that time he has already had 10ish hours of sleep and he just isn't tired any more? 

With regards to dropping the NF, I am going to leave it for this week because we are going on vacation Friday, but when we get back I think I might keep reducing his bottles and see what happens.  If he keeps waking like you said, I assume he's not ready.  Thanks for the info

[Erin M]

11 hour nights are a good aim at this age -- I haven't heard of babies doing much less without getting OT. 

Good luck with the NFs. 

[Lindsay27]

Last night was decent - asleep by 7:20pm, he woke up at 11:45pm and I tried to settle him back to sleep because I thought it was too early for a feed, and I did get him down, but as soon as I climbed back into bed he woke up    So, I fed despite me thinking it was too early.  He slept through until 5:45am where I heard him make a couple squeaks, but he settled himself back to sleep and woke up for the day at 6:40am.   So, I guess the good naps didn't impact his sleep...so I'll stick with not capping them for now.

Still that 5am hr wake up though.  I just don't know what that comes from    Developmentally, he is a day or two away from fully crawling, so maybe that has something to do with it?

[Erin M]

Developmentally, he is a day or two away from fully crawling, so maybe that has something to do with it?

Certainly could be.  EWs were generally teeth with us, but I've definitely heard other people say that developmental stuff causes EWs. 

[Lindsay27]

Well over the last few days his cheeks have gone quite red, so maybe it is teeth.  It doesn't seem like he has any bumps on his gums that indicate one is going to poke through, but I don't know what else the pink cheeks could be from.  Today they were really red - no fever or anything, so I guess teeth.

[Erin M]

Teeth always bothered my ds more before they broke through -- the shifting around under the gums was what really bothered him the most.