Long A time or am i getting it wrong?

[Florena49]

Hi! My LO is 8month today, he is a happy chap most of the time, in a little confused about his A time as its rather long.
He gets tired after 3 hours a time, but if u put him down he will cry and if he does settle it will be a short nap of maybe 20 mins and he will constantly jolt in his sleep. If we do 3.30 he falls asleep easily then, i usually pick him up and he is literally asleep within seconds on me and i put his into his cot. Sometimes he will have a long bap other times 35 mins which seems to be the length of his sleep cycle.
I was putting him to be now and as we were walking around the room he was falling asleep on my shoulder, but crying every couple of minutes as if he is t ready to go to sleep in the ed he finally settled after 4 hours A!
So our day today looked like this

7.05wu
10.53nap-12.18
4.05nap-4.40
8.40BT

He still has a dummy but i reckon he can fall asleep without it, he does mainly pass out when i pick him up, just because he is awake for such a long time to get a decent nap. I dont force him to sleep i just go by his natural sleep cycle when he falls asleep the easiest, im just worried that im keeping him up for too long and thats why be wakes in the night quiet a lot
 

[becj86]

Hi Can you right out your EAS including NWs for a day or two?

3.5-4hr A is not *that* unusual for a baby of 8 months, so try not to worry too much on that front though that falling asleep at 4hr A with the crying every couple of minutes sounds like he could have been OT.

I think maybe you have an overstimulation issue - those 20min naps after 3hr are pretty classic for OS or pain/discomfort.

WRT 35min naps - Hard to tell if these are UT or OT - has he ever slept 45min naps?

[Florena49]

Yes of course, nw are usually every 2.5 hours or so. But ill try and take note for the next couple of days and post later

U kniw what u mean about the crying in his sleep, it was more of a i put him to sleep by walking around but it was to early for him to sleep as soon as i put him down he would just open his eyes and start crawling. 

OS-easily he has an older brother who is 2.5 years i try to keep the last hour before bed as quiet as possible for the sake of everyone settling ok.

He has never slept for 45 minutes, my first LO had a 40 minute cycle, woke on the dot, this one wakes after 35 minutes or if he doesn't wake that the time he stirs.

[becj86]

How long have these NWs been happening? Just wondering if its developmental - new crawling?

[Florena49]

Well to be honest every night is different, he is a quick chap, crawling at 6months, pulling up at 7, so its difficult to say whether its developmental or not. But! U might have been right about OT, he is so happy generally its not that easy to gauge when he is ready for bed unless i pick him up and cuddle, if he is playing he will just continue doing so.

So i figured id cut down on his A time, nothing to lose really, so today was

E7.10
A
S10.20-11.18
E11.20
A
S2.20-3.32
E6.30
7.10BT

Naps havent been long enough but and he cried before first nap but he is still asleep after going to bed and he could have gone earlier to be honest.

[becj86]

Well, those are both UT naps today but better than the shorter ones... lets see how the night goes - could be he does well on two naps of 1hr-ish, my DS did for a while around this age.

[Florena49]

Bbbb terrible night. Wakings at 10, 2.30, 4,6 and up at 7.25 for the day.
Shall i go with the same A times and see how it goes today? Or give him a little longer to get a decent nap hopefully

[becj86]

Are you feeding at any of those? Is he breastfeeding?

It is possible he's OT from shorter nights like 8:40-7:05... has that been more normal through the last little while? He might need a few longer nights to sleep better nights?

[Florena49]

He is bf, if i can settle him with the dummy and patting i will if not then ill feed. We are visiting grandparents and we co sleep at the moment. But he sleeps in the cot for his naps.

Today has been strange

E7.25
A
S10.30nap-11.45
E11.50
A
S2.55nap-3.30


Not sure when to do BT would 6.30 mean a crazy early start tomorrow?

[becj86]

6:30 BT doesn't necessarily mean a really early start - though it would be unreasonable to expect him to sleep beyond 6:30am.

How many NFs is he having on average then? Have you introduced solids? If so, what solids is he having and when? Just wondering if he's got some gut discomfort with the solids?

[Florena49]

He passed out at 6.45 3 night wakings, i fed him twice and resettle him the other time. Thats an improvement by all means and he was less unsettled in the morning, and he slept until 7.10!!!

Ues we have introduced solids, we do a combination of finger foods and puree, although i dont puree food, he its mich better wheb its bits of food. I can see that milk isnt enough for him, unless i started feeding every 2 hours. He is generally a good eater, hacent had any reactions to food, nappies are all ok too. Im waiting for top teeth to come out though, he only has two bottom ones.
But it just feels like a lot of it is routine related. Im trying out no dummy for naps today and asleep in his own cot rather on me and then drowsy into the cot. I won so far....

[becj86]

Yes, its really important by this age for him to be going to sleep where he will be for the duration of his nap if possible - that way when he stirs, he's not wondering why his surroundings have changed. You can imagine if you fell asleep somewhere you felt safe and secure and stirred/woke somewhere else, you'd be confused and agitated at the very least - not conducive to going back to sleep!