8 mo 4 hours awake time schedule?

[Gully]

Hi all,

Our lovely 8 month old is now staying awake 4 hours most days and this is causing a late bedtime. Just wondering what we should do. She is also learning to crawl and pull herself up so bedtimes have become unsettled with that also as she can't seem to switch off.

Our days go like this:
6:30 Wake up
7:00 E 8 oz bottle
9:00 E breakfast solids
10:00 S nap 1 (takes at least 15 min to settle, crawling and sitting up)
11:30 I wake her
11:35 E bottle 8oz
1:30 lunch solids
3:00 8oz bottle
3:30 Nap 2 (again trouble settling)
4:30 I wake her
6:00 Dinner
7:00 Bath
7:30 Bottle 8oz (she gets fussy looking for it)
8:30 Bed
9:00 asleep

We have quiet time before naps and bedtime and we put her in her cot 15 minutes early too to let her wind down (she's always needed this).

The past 2 bedtimes have been very difficult with crawling and sitting up, and she's actually been crying to sleep but can't seem to switch off.

Should I cap the first nap? 9 pm seems very late for her to be going to sleep, especially as she doesn't go longer in the morning when it happens.

Would love some advice on this one!

[Scottishmummy]

Hi! My DD is the same age and I found that she will do 4hrs A after a long first nap, but then a late pm nap was giving us EW, even when I cut it short.

Believe it or not, this is the very  start of the 2-1 already! (Although it's a slow process). So your options are either to cap the am nap to get an earlier, longer pm nap but still have longer to BT, or cap the pm nap to get an earlier BT, depending on what your DD prefers & what suits you too.

What has worked for us is capping the am nap. This gives her a shorter second A time too. It's taken a bit if trial and error but the sweet spot for us seems to be
Wu
A: 3hrs-3.5hrs
Nap 1 : 30 mins
A: 3.5hrs
Nap 2: 1.5hrs
BT 3.5-4hrs after waking.

I tried the other way round with a 1.5hr am nap and a 45 or 30 min pm nap, but as I said above, it gave us EW...it works for other people though & might be worth a try first as it's closer to what you're already doing.

As with any adjustment, shorten the nap you want to cap gradually (15 mins every 2-3 days) to avoid OT & remember that A time after a capped nap usually needs to be shorter too.

[Gully]

Hi Scottishmummy,

Thanks so much for your reply. We will try capping the naps and see which one works best for her.
Feels like we just finished the 3:2 transition!

Thanks again

Gully

[Scottishmummy]

Feels like we just finished the 3:2 transition!

Tell me about it! Just as we settle into 2 nice long naps, they change again!
Hope the nap capping helps xxx