9 month old routine review and EWs

[Sallapanda]

Hi,

I have a 9 month old son and he has just started to wake at 4:30 am. He was waking at 5:30am which was bad enough but has gradually been waking earlier and earlier. I cut out all night feedings through PU/PD method and it worked so was really pleased and didn't really mind the early wake up if it meant him sleeping through from 7:15pm-5:30am but now its earlier its becoming a real issue.

He has been waking up screaming at 4:30am (sometimes slightly earlier) and I try PU/PD but it doesn't work now. I eventually get him back to sleep or stop crying 50 mins later of PU/PD, teething granules and whispering in his ear to Twinkle twinkle little star which seems to calm him abit (or maybe its because hes tired himself out crying for so long) but he wakes up about 20mins later screaming again or he doesn't go back to sleep but at least is a bit calmer. So from 4am to 5:30 he's awake crying or restlessly sleeping and by 5:45 I give in a get him up and feed him ready for the day.

His normal routine is as follows

Get up 5:30am
BF straight away - half an hour.
8:00 - breakfast (Weetabix)
8:45 - nap 1 (normally settles himself easily, however has been SCREAMING lately and takes about 20mins to settle shhhing and patting.)
9:45 wake him although he does wake up naturally around 1 hour anyway..
9:45 BF - 10 mins
12:15 lunch - solids
12:45/1:00ish Nap 2 - (again, normally settles himself easily, however has been SCREAMING lately and takes about 20mins to settle shhhing and patting.) - this was at one point 2 hours however has recently ben anywhere between 45 mins to 1.5 hours.
2:30 (or whenever he wakes) BF - 15 mins roughly. (trying to introduce milk formula here)
4:30 - if his nap was short then he has another nap here and I wake him after half an hour but recently as his nap has been slightly later than a few weeks ago he hasn't really had his 3rd nap lately.
4:30/5:00ish BF - 10 mins
6:00 - Dinner - solids
6:45 bath
7:00 BF
7:20 Bed, self settled. Goes down straight away. Never a problem there..

He's just stared crawling and has his first tooth coming, its not through yet but I can see a little white point.

He has a soft toy rabbit in his cot for all sleep times..

So my questions are:
How do I get him to sleep longer?
When he wakes screaming at 4:00ish do I feed him milk and settle him back down to sleep if that's whats he crying for? (I've cut out all night feeds so feel it maybe going backwards, but if its definitely milk he needs do I feed him?)
Is his routine alright for his age or can I drop milk feeds?
Also, how do I get him to sleep longer naps or is 1 hour nap 1 and 45 mins nap 2 (min) alright?

Thank you!

Sally

[Layla]

Hi there,

At 9 months, it would be better not to do the 3rd nap and concentrate on 2 naps and an earlier bedtime. One short (1hr) and one longer nap is ok for this age; he is at an age where he probably won't be able to have 2 long naps as he starts to head towards 1 nap, which is a transition that can begin around 10-12months. His day is quiet long and the screaming before a nap could be an indication of needing a little more A before nap. The A time could be anywhere from 3-4hrs. If he's already doing 3hrs, you could try adding 15mins to see if he will fall asleep easier. If he has a short afternoon nap, you would be better off doing an earlier bedtime rather than offering 3rd nap and later bedtime, which in itself could be the cause of early wakings. So if it were me, I would try for a morning nap around 9am and let him sleep up to 1hr and offer afternoon nap between 3.15-3.5hrs later and hopefully he will take a longer 1.5-2hr nap and then do bedtime around 3.5hrs later. If he skips the 3rd nap, what time are you putting him to bed?

With regards to the night feeds - if you believe he is genuinely hungry, I would go ahead and feed and then you can look at slowly weaning him by offering him less and less. Dd1 dropped her last feed on her own at around 9 months but dd2 kept onto hers until 12months. Did the early wakings start when you dropped the night feed?

[Sallapanda]

Hi,

Thanks for replying, that's really useful. I'll give it a go for the next 3 days and see what happens. If he misses his 3rd nap he still has his dinner at 6:00, bath at 6:45 and bed at 7:15ish.. I don't think I can do an earlier bedtime otherwise my husband doesn't get to see him much and at the moment settling at bedtime seems to be fine.

Maybe the night wakings have begun since dropping the night feeds. I can't really remember as it seems to have been getting worse and worse and earlier and earlier!

I'll report back in a couple of days....

[Layla]

I understand it is important for DH to spend time with the baby - there were/are some nights DH doesn't see DD at all (if she's not slept well in the afternoon or when we dropped the 3rd nap, I would put her down between 5.30-6 and he only gets home at 6pm). Mine wakes between 6-6.30am and I bring her to our bed right away and DH gets to play with her in the morning instead before he gets ready for work. Earlier bedtime might only be temporary until your LO has caught up on some sleep and then you can look at pushing the day forward. If you can try it on the weekend, I would suggest that just to see if it helps with the NWs and EWs

HTH