It's all a bit all over the place....does it matter?

[rachaelcole]

Hey-

Lexi is 7.5 months old now and we have been BWing from the day we bought her home. As a younger baby she was 'textbook' but now is a combination of 'textbook' and 'angel' - we are very lucky and she is such a good, gorgeous girl. She is bottle fed (& solids) and has STTN mostly from around 8 weeks - only with occasional blips thanks to teeth/developmental leaps etc.

Since she was around 6-8 weeks old her naps have only lasted 30 minutes. On the very odd occasion I'll get an hour and a half with a resettle at 30 minutes (by odd occasion I mean maybe once a month at the most!) and this usually only happens if she has missed a nap then we have been really active, like swimming. 

My concern is that recently (since she started rolling & sitting - now she is trying to get her knees under when on her tummy etc) she has seemed tired (yawning) throughout her 'awake' time - she is rarely grumpy with it, just frustrated at not being able to move around and yawns. She fluctuates between 3 & 4 30 minute naps a day and only can manage around 2.5 hours awake time before she gets a bit stroppy with tiredness/starts rubbing her eyes.

Her day (roughly) looks like this:

06:30 get up (not sure when she wakes up as she just lays quietly playing in her cot until we go in)
06:45 E (formula)
08:00 E (breakfast - cereal & water)
08:30/09:00 S (30 minutes - if she misses one this is it...if she does miss it it bumps the others off the times listed)
10:30 E (formula)
11:30 S (30 minutes)
12:00 E (lunch - varies)
14:00 S (30 minutes)
14:30 E (formula)
16:00 E (tea - varies)
17:00 S (30 minutes)
18:00 Bath & Story
18:45 E (formula)
18:45/19:00 put into cot awake - falls asleep on own with dummy.
That's usually it until morning - doesn't DF anymore & hasn't had an NF since she was about 4 months old.

The nap times vary and we just go off when she seems tired now as it is getting more and more difficult to predict when she will be tired - I guess this is due to all of the developmental changes at this age.

I feel like we need a routine overhaul - she seems to me like she needs fewer, longer naps but she doesn't resettle & wakes up happy (as I write this she is yawning but has only been awake 1 hour & 20 minutes from her first nap!). Have tried W2s, the 'how Tracey conquered 45 minute naps' etc etc. She also seems much less interested in formula these days - she is offered 7oz every time & will usually take anywhere from 4-7oz...she has become very disinterested in her bedtime feed, as if she just wants to be put in her cot & to go to sleep. This morning I gave her breakfast when she got up & waited until 0900 (straight after her first nap) to give her her bottle & she took 7.5oz.

I'm also very conscious that I try & 'fix' things that don't need fixing. She is a very happy little girl & she is progressing well. Her weight & height are both 90th (ish) percentile (UK) so she's a big girl. Do we need a tweak? Do we stay as we are? Am I over-thinking it? Does she need  drop a bottle to get her interest back? I also go back to work in a few weeks & she will be with a childminder/family for 3 days per week - I feel it would be easier if her daytime sleep routine were a bit more predictable.

I guess just another set of eyes on this would be helpful.

Sorry for the long post - feel like I've lost a bit of 'control' and am winging it!

Thanks :-)

[3littlemen]

Hi Rachael!
Must say, it sounds a lot like me... blessed with a very happy healthy child who puts up graciously with a  loving and wanna-fix-it type Mumma. Lexi is a lucky girl.

My youngest is 8mo, and our a times are closer to 3hr-3h30. Don't get me wrong, we certainly haven't got it nailed by any means - in fact, we need help too, but just working on A times in the Average a time link, I think yours might be a bit on the short side.

I don't know for hundred percent, but that's where I'd look at for the first nap anyway. Perhaps she's just really used to 2h30 and might really resist pushing out your first a time, and you might need to stick with the first one at say 2h45 for a week, I don't know.

Someone with more know-how will post soon though!

[jessmum46]

^^^i think this is good advice.  I would push her to 2h45 first A time for a few days, then 3h.  Even if she still wakes at 30 mins you'll have a better chance of resettling if she's more tired.  Sleep cues get more unreliable as LOs get older so you may have to watch the clock a little more now. 

Does she go to sleep independently at naptime?

[rachaelcole]

Hi-thanks for your replies and for the advice. I will try pushing the first morning A. She goes to sleep independently at all sleep times-she uses a dummy for sleep time only and finds this herself in her cot. When she wakes up I often will leave her for 10 minutes or so to see if she will fall back to sleep but she just plays happily - but it makes sense that she may be easier to resettle if she's more tired!

Any thoughts on the lack of interest in formula? The HV said she has to have a minimum of 21oz - their advice & that on the box says 3 x 7 oz bottles but I can't find a 3 bottle recommendation in any of Tracey's books so have presumed formula remains on a 4hr routine?

[jessmum46]

It becomes more of a 4h+ routine.  I breastfed so not much use on bottles per se, or when to drop them, but know we used to have a feed at WU, after each nap (two naps) and at BT.  So roughly at 6.30/7, 11ish, 3.30ish and 6.30ish x

[rachaelcole]

Today I thought we would try & push this A. Again I don't know what time Lexi woke up because she plays quietly until we go in (I think I'm going to have to set my alarm for 0600 for a few mornings & watch her?), but 08:50 & it seemed she was pleading for a sleep. Put her down & straight off-she's asleep now. Should I try & aim for 09:00 nap for a few days then push to 09:15 etc and not worry about what time she woke up? She's had a few nights of waking a couple if times (just needs a bit if reassurance & goes straight back to sleep) so I think it's probably teeth but I guess it could be OT?

[Shdef]

That was Scottyas a baby! 3, sometimes 5 20 min naps and happy as Larry.

It changed at 9 months where he went to two naps.

[jessmum46]

If you're not sure when she wakes then yes, aiming for a 'set' first nap could be a good plan