8month old who used to put herself to sleep suddenly won't

[markat7]

Hello,

My nearly 8 month old daughter used to be a dream sleeper -- I started EASY at 3 months, she found her thumb at 3.5, and by the time she stopped using her fingers to soothe herself she was already able to be put down wide awake for all of her naps and night time.  However, within the last couple of weeks, naps and night have gradually gotten harder and harder and she's nearly impossible to soothe - she wails in my arms, wails in the crib, and I can't do a shush-pat because she moves away so much.  She can sit up, crawl, and is starting to pull herself up, which is making it even harder.  At night, I almost always have to breastfeed her to sleep to get her back down -- my husband has about an 40% success rate, if that.  We've been trying to space out her night feedings to be at least 4 hours.  She'll often have a 4 hour stretch or more, but if she wakes up earlier, it's a disaster. 

Here's an average day:

E/Wake: 6:45
A: 6:45-8:45
S: Failed nap at 8:45, despite showing signs of tiredness (rubbing eyes, etc).  Needs to be reset because she gets so worked up, and maybe naps by 9:30/10 for about an hour.
E: 10:30
A: 10:30-12:30
S: Same story -- failed nap despite seeming tired, finally asleep around 1:30/2 for an hour or so.
E: 3:00
A: 3-15-6:30 -- she's tired by 4:30, won't catnap.
S: 6:30

She's eating a ton of solids and has teeth.  We've pretty much ruled out teething -- medicine makes no difference. 

Heeeelp!

[LaraAndrea]

The 845 attempt for nap is likely too soon regardless of the sleepy cues. Avg awake time for 8 month old is 3-4h some have more or less.

I also found by that age the sleepy cues are far less reliable. They sometimes come out of boredom or of habit. You may discover some new cues.

With the pulling up and standing I found it was even more imperative to put baby down good and tired.

Maybe try skipping the 845 PD (regardless if cues) try the 930 directly. Make sure LO get lots of pulling up and standing practice prior to nap. Then see how it goes. You may find that you have to push AT again every few days until you find the magic number (which will change again in no time)

[markat7]

If I were to let her go 3-4 hours, she would be an absolute disaster.  She only made it 1.5 hours awake at one point this week (1.5 hour naps on both sides of that wake period), and averaged 2.5 hrs otherwise. 

[creations]

Hello and welcome to BW forums

I agree with pp that the A time is too short for your Lo and the protests and nap refusal you see are her trying to communicate with you that she is just not yet ready for a nap.
Whilst you might have seen one instance where she napped well with a short A time this can be due to a build up of tiredness over a number of days caused by repeatedly short napping until eventually she does a catch up and shows a 1.5hr nap after a shorter A time.

In your EASY there is already 3hrs A time because she is going through the nap refusal - she was up at 10.30 after a short nap and you tried to put down at 12.30 (2hr) which she refused, then she eventually sleep at 1.30/2pm which is 3 or 3.5hr A time.  Honestly I think you are giving yourself and your LO a good dose of frustration by trying to put her down sooner than 3hrs.

When you see those tired cues you can offer a different activity, different toy or sing a song, walk around the house together or look out of the window and chat about what you see.  Anything to avoid putting down too early. When the frustration is removed she is likely to start going down more easily and sleep better like she used to.

It's unusual for a LO this age to be taking 3 naps - I would aim for 2 naps, either both 1.5hrs or one long (1.5 - 2hr) and one shorter (1hr).

[deb]

Agree with PP's about shifting timing & number of naps. I'd also look for teeth. Ouchy mouths can interfere w/self-settling.