Author Topic: Can't figure out 7 month old's second nap  (Read 1498 times)

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Offline pumpkinpie1

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Can't figure out 7 month old's second nap
« on: August 06, 2016, 06:44:37 am »
My LO has never been a good sleeper. We've just dropped her third nap and now her second one has been a fight. It's always 30 - 40 minutes and she sometimes fights a lot going down. She's also been waking early for months. Yesterday's schedule -

4:00 Night feed
6:00 Wake and won't settle, nurse and cuddle in bed until she goes back to sleep
7:00 Wake and E
10:00 - 11:30 S
2:30 - 3:00 S
6:30 S (early bedtime, aiming for 7 or 7:30)

When she takes a nap we do a 10 minute wind down and she settles herself to sleep with me shushing out of view. When she wakes up I try to stick to the same - I sit and shush to her to get her to relax. (We're shush pat graduates working on the GW.) When she woke up after 30 minutes from her nap I tried to soothe her. She cried for 5 minutes, then relaxed for 10 minutes, then fussed for another 15 until I gave up.

A 30 minute nap is supposed to mean overtired but I can't imagine that's the case since she's doing 3 hours A time in the morning as well. When we were doing 3 naps a day her awake time would get slightly longer as the day went on.

Before I got some advice to AP a cat nap when she doesn't nap well but that's not possible. She's quite sensitive about sleep and won't nap easily while nursing, in the car or stroller. Help!
« Last Edit: August 06, 2016, 08:01:30 am by pumpkinpie1 »

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Can't figure out 7 month old's second nap
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2016, 13:38:14 pm »
Hi there,

That routine actually looks pretty typical for a 7mo. She's doing a total of 2hrs daysleep and around 11hr night sleep. It's normal to be on only 2 naps at this point and some split day sleep between one short and one longer nap.  That is a typical pattern for her age, so is a NF in early hours of the morning.  6am isn't counted as EW if she is going to bed around 6.30/7ish.

Does she seem content on this routine or are you getting tired signs. If she's happy, I'd stick with it.
It looks like she's right on track for her age  :)

"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD



Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Can't figure out 7 month old's second nap
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2016, 18:19:33 pm »
Just had another thought....Some LOs don't have consistent A times, so it might be worth experimenting with a second nap which starts 15-30 mins earlier or later and see whether she settles more easily and takes a longer nap.

You say she used to increase her A times as the day went on, so maybe she needs more A time before that second nap...you could try 3hr15 maybe to start with? She might still only do a short nap, or you might need to cap it to maintain BT, but at least it would give you a later BT and therefore a later wake up.

"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD



Offline pumpkinpie1

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Re: Can't figure out 7 month old's second nap
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2016, 04:42:20 am »
Thanks for your reply!

Do you think her night time sleep is normal? I was thinking she should sleep a little longer but she never makes it 7 to 7 without some extra nursing. We've also got some night wakings. She cries and settles herself back to sleep in about 5 minutes.

I'll try putting her down earlier and later for her second nap. Unfortunately this morning she woke up at 6 and wouldn't go back to sleep so I don't know if we're going to make it on two naps today. I'm hoping she just needs to settle into her new schedule!

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Can't figure out 7 month old's second nap
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2016, 12:19:30 pm »
I'm not the best person to ask about night sleep: my DS was almost 1yo before he slept through the night, my DD has only done it once for the first time at over 10 mo! This link is helpful though:
Typical Amounts of Day and Night Sleep
At 7mo a "normal" night could be 10-12hrs and a feed or 2 to get through to morning is also pretty typical, especially if you're breast feeding.

If it helps, around this age I think my DD was doing a routine which looked a bit like this:

Wu 6.30-7ish
Nap 1: around 9.30-11am
Nap 2: 2-3/3.15pm
BT: 7pm
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD