I have a 4.5 month old son and we struggle with sleep issues. He is an inconsistent napper during the day and only gets about 2.5-3.5 total daily sleep (usually in 3 naps). He is in day care so I can't control his day sleep much, but even on weekends when I spend a lot of time trying to get him to extend his naps, he doesn't do much better.
For awhile we were putting him down for night sleep at 7:00-7:30 and he was sleeping until around 6:00 am (with some wake ups during the night). He was getting about 9.5-10 hours of sleep each night. Then he started waking up at 5:15 or 5:30 in the morning. So I tried moving his bedtime up (6:45, then 6:30 and last night 6:15). But he doesn't really get any more cumulative sleep, still only about 10 hours of sleep, he just wakes up for longer periods at night. And he has woken up at 5:00 or 5:30 but fallen back asleep after crying for a bit. I get the sense that the sleep after 5:00 is restless.
Last night I put him in bed at 6:15 and he slept for 2 hours but then woke up really upset and crying. It took 2 hours to get him back to sleep.
So my questions are, how do you know when is a good bedtime? He tends to take his last nap of the day too early (ending at 2:30-3:30) so by the time I pick him up at daycare at 5:30 and put him down for bed, he is exhausted and has been up for too long.
It seems that although he definitely gets tired after 2 hours and needs to nap, he doesn't always get the nap in that timeframe and stays awake for too long.
Should I try getting him a short nap at home from 5:30-6:00 and then putting him down in bed a little bit later (7:30)?
It is hard putting him down so early because I only pick him up at 5:30 and daddy gets home at 6:30 but I don't want him to suffer if he really needs to go down earlier. I just can't tell what is the best thing to do.
He does fall asleep while nursing right before bed because he is so exhausted and I would rather that he be put in the crib while somewhat awake to put himself to sleep.
Any advice? Thanks.
