8 month sleep regression?

[boopins]

Hi there, thanks in advance for any and all advice. My 8.5 month old has slept thru the night since he was 6 weeks old. I am very blessed, i know. His naps, on the other hand, leave much to be desired. We were just starting to lengthen his half hour naps to an hour or more when, what i believe is a regression, hit us. And hard.  Our schedule (and i use the term "schedule" very loosely) is sort of like this:

4:30 or 5:00 am wake up
7:00-9:00 am nap
12:00-1:30 nap
Around 4:00 pm will take a quick nap while nursing (refuses to nap otherwise)
6:15 bedtime
10:00pm night wake and nurse back to sleep

Our schedule used to be:
6:30 wake up
9:00-10:00 nap
1:00-1:30 nap
3:30-4:00 nap
6:30 or 7:00 bedtime

My problem now is not so much the night waking or early wake time since i hope this will resolve on it's own when his mental leap is over, but he refuses to nap at all.  Our nap routine is the same: diaper change, close curtains, song while rocking, in crib and he sleeps. Now, he wakes up as soon as his chubby cheeks hit the mattress. Every. Single. Time. I've tried some pu/pd, but it just makes him more alert and he gets playful.  Before, i could leave him in his crib and he would play or whine for a few minutes and go to sleep. But not anymore.

I know sleep begets sleep, so i am trying to do what i can to get this poor baby to sleep during the day. He would totally sleep on me, but i have a 2 year old who needs me too.  And also loves to love on his little brother, so he would come give big wet kisses and wake baby if i were holding him. 

I know our "schedule" is the pits right now. I just don't know what to do. i also don't want to create bad habits, like nursing him to sleep during a nw, but it's the only way he'll go back to sleep. pleasehelp my family get some sleep! Thanks!

[boopins]

Just wanted to add, that our schedule is completely random and the above is just what has happened a few times in the past few weeks. Like today, so far we are like this:

5:30 wake up
8:15-8:40 nap

I tried to get him down at 7:30am.  He was out and i put him in his crib but he woke up right away. I finally had to leave the room after trying pu/pd and getting frustrated. He whined a bit and finally fell asleep at 8:15. I will *try* to put him down around 11:15 for another nap. Is this too early? Too late?  I don't know what to do anymore. 

[nevinsmama]

Hi there! Have you tried pushing that 1st A right out to 3 hours? The  sudden wakefulness when IN the bed smacks of UT to me. Many 8 month olds are on a solid 3 hour routine, 1st A time and all. I would make the push towards 3 hour A times and 2 decent ( 1.5 hour or so) naps for this age. As he has been an independent sleeper before, perhaps he just needs a routine adjustment. Keep us posted!