Please adivse on 7 month olds schedule

[sunnysideup850]

I accidentally posted this on general sleep issues.  It really is a nap question so I'm moving it over here.

My 7 mo old DS is not sleeping as indicated by Tracy's guidelines. Here is his schedule:

5:45-6:00 wake and bf
6:00-7:30/8:00 play
7:30/8:00-9:30/9:45 nap #1
9:30/9:45 wake
10:00 bf
9:45-11:00 play
11:00 solid food meal
11:00-12:15/12:30 play
12:30-2:00/2:15 nap #2
2:00/2:15 wake and bf
2:15-4:00/4:30 play
4:00/4:30-5:00 nap #3
5:00-5:45 play
5:45 solid food meal
5:45-7:00 play and wind down
7:00-start bedtime routine, in bed by 7:30 or so

According to the guidelines he should be having 2 naps now and 12 hrs of night sleep. Instead he is sleeping 9.5/20 hrs at night with three naps. The naps are pretty consistently 1.5 hrs, 1.5 hrs and 35-45 min. Should I be pushing him to get to 2 naps? If I follow his lead then I would not do this. The big thing is that he cannot seem ot stay awake for more than 1.5 hrs during his first wake time. He gets cranky. He's also lost all of his tired signs so I have to watch really, really carefully and pick him up often as it seems that his only sign now is burrowing his head in my shirt. If I miss his one subtle cue there is lots of crying before a nap and then it tends to only last 35 min.

So should I really be doing 2 naps only? What are others doing w/ 7 month olds?

[frankiesmom]

I say if it's not broken, don't fix it!  Your schedule looks great, he will give you signs when his awake time gets longer.  He will start fighting the naps of not sleep for as long.  My ds switched to 2 naps around 6 months, but there are plenty of babies who do it later.  I wouldn't change a thing, Tracy's charts are only a guideline.

Good luck and be happy he is sleeping

Kim

[NKmommy]

I agree with Kim.  If the 3 naps are working, that's great.  My ds switched from 3 to 2 naps at around 7 mos, but every baby is different.