7 month old - night wakings for past month - habitual or schedule problem?

[lolsyb1982]

Hi my DD is 7.5 months and for the past month we have had night wakings (once or twice)nearly every night.  She always used to sleep through for 11 hours but this has stopped 
I have moved her to 2 naps (started transition about 2/3 weeks ago) as we were getting short naps and the length of naps has definitely improved with roughly 1hr 10/20 in the am and then again 1hr 15/30 in the afternoon.

Since stretching her A times I have noticed that she can handle 3hr 15 in the morning and around 3hr 20 for second nap but her A time after this before bed needs to be more like 2hr 15/30 to stop the multiple night wakings. This seems to go against all books etc I have read where their longest A time is at the end of the day???

If she's had 2 decent naps and a 2.5 hr wake time before bed she is sleeping through until about 5am. Any longer than that and she wakes around 10/11 pm and then again around 3am (this wake up is always the worst and takes 60-90 mins to go back to sleep) I was feeding her when she woke as this sent her back to sleep immediately but for the past few days have only been offering water which she has been drinking.

Do you think there is a problem schedule wise or could it be habitual now, she had a cold/chest infection at around the time this started.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am due to return to work in around 6 weeks so want to crack this before then!!!!

Thanks

[Layla]

Hi there and welcome to the BW

Is she still unwell? After offering her water, does she go back to sleep? Does she eat well during the day?

Usually the A before bedtime is the longest but if you've noticed she'll sleep better if its shorter, then I wouldn't push it. It may just be that she's still unwell from the cold/chest infection - if her nose is blocked you could try a vaporiser in the room. After she's had water, does she go back to sleep? Could she be waking up out of hunger?

[lolsyb1982]

No she isn't unwell anymore. The first night I offered water she went straight back to sleep but 2nd night she didn't so hit and miss really.
She has never had a huge appetite but does have 3 small meals a day plus around 18/19 oz milk so she is getting enough in the daytime.

I have just woken this morning and she slept through which I didn't think she would as we were out and about yesterday so had an hrs sleep in the morning and then 2 half hour naps in the day!

The short A time before bed makes it hard sometimes to get her to bed at a reasonable hour if she has woken early so am wondering whether on those days to do a CN??? as today for eg she has woken at 6 so first nap will be about 9.15 - 10.30 and then say 2-3.15. She would then need to be asleep just gone 5.30pm which is too early really.

[Layla]

Hmm, I probably wouldn't do a catnap as that may mess things up . Have you tried extending her A before bedtime just a little at a time - maybe an extra 10mins every 3-4 days? It may be just habitual waking now, so being consistent in how you settle will help her get the message that its sleep time.