8 month old - LONG NWs

[AshBlack]

Hi all,

My 8 month old son has been sttn for a couple months (for most nights). For the past 2 weeks or so, he has been waking some time between 1 and 3 am for 2 hours!!!! When he wakes he is happy - rolling, crawling, sitting, clapping, talking....driving me crazy! He cries only if he can't find his pacifier.  I have tried leaving him and only going to replace the paci if he starts to cry. I have tried rocking him - he just wants to play - his eyes don't close! Last night I left him to it - went in maybe 4 times when he tossed the paci out of the crib.  At about the 1.5 mark he started to whine as he was tired, but didn't seem to be able to shut off.  He is super mobile during the day - crawling and exploring and I am wondering if these long NWs are him continuing that?  He is spirited, no teeth yet and is eating solids 3xs a day with 4 breast milk feelings a day:

Wakes and breast feed at 6 am (need to get out to daycare by 7)
Solids at 730
Nap at 9 (1.5 hours or so)
Breast milk bottle 11
Solids 1130
Nap at 130 (45 mins to 1.5 hours)
Breast milk bottle 3
Solids 545
Bath 615
Breast feed 645
Book nighty night 7

He can sometimes go straight to sleep at night - but sometimes will play like crazy until 8...

Any advice?? Thanks!

[PaulsMom]

Hi there!

Hugs for the crib party!  When they are up in the MOTN and just want to play, I usually suspect that a routine change is in order.  I see he's at day care so I don't know how flexible they are with nap times but if possible I'd increase his A so he's up for closer to 3.5 hrs.  You may find naps need adjusting also so that one is long (eg. The morning one) and the other is shorter to preserve bt.  Let me know if this sounds like a plan.

[AshBlack]

Thanks Paul's Mom!  Yes, that sounds like a plan. Daycare is really flexible - so we will work on this adjustment.  Thanks again!

[PaulsMom]

Great!  Keep us posted on how things go.