9 month old stopped sleeping

[kendallnangie]

I have had so many poat the last couple of days about what to do with my DD she is 9 months old and will not sleep...she was doing great and did great until she was 7.5 months old but things have taken a turn. I can't even begin to say what might have happened, I am totally clueless. long story short, she was sleeping all night and taking great naps all day. a week agao a few ladies said that I should drop the 3rd catnap and see if that would help her to start sleeping again at night...i tried that but to no avail... today has just been terrible. it is 5:30 and she has slept a total of 2 hours all day. extremely fussy right now and I just don't know what to do :cry: :cry:  :cry:   I am seriously stressed out over  all this I feel like it is my fault and I am still doing something wrong.
she eats her solids 3x's a day and then gets BF before bedtime.
she is awake for at least 2.5 hours after her awake time and that is something I am still playing around with...I am trying to find her window, B4 the problems began, she was staying up for 1 hour and 45 minutes so I thought that lengthening that time would help but everything I am trying is failing.. I am soooo stressed and tired I am taking it out on my family including my other 2 small children, ages 2 and 5.
She is crying right now..I will try anything, has anyone out there gone through this. it wasn't but a month ago that she was taking 3 naps and still sleeping all night...I just don't see how she could be ready for ALL that sleep to go away this quickly. gotta get her, still crying, please help

[Maddy's Mum]

I think she sounds overtired and overstimulated, can you post what her day looks like now with naps/feeds and her bedtime sleep. I think perhaps moving back to her old routine and if you think she needs less sleep then perhaps cut her last nap back a little rather than get rid of it completely. Mads used to need a catnap at 4ish to see her through till bedtime and wen I though it had started becoming a problem for us, then I just used to let her have a quick 25-30 minute powernap to keep us on track.

Dee
x

[LindseysMom]

Hello, how long has this been going on?  Sounds like to me she is overtired and needs to get back into her old routine.  Can you try that and see what happens?  If you want to try and stick with just 2 naps then aim for 2-2.5 hours of awake time between am wake up and first nap and then about 3 hours between am nap end and pm nap beginning.  Is she falling asleep independantly?  At her age it is best to do a quick windown to let her know it is nap time and then put her down awake and let her fall asleep on her own.   Sleep begets sleep so definitely try to get her back on either her old routine or a new one but stick to it  and hopefully she will get back into it.  Is she sick or teething?  If so sometimes that can throw a wrench into things.  Was she having night wakings before you dropped the catnap?  I would think she needs 11-12 hours at night and 2-3 hours sleep during the day.  Can you post what you are trying to do with her routine so we can see if maybe an adjustment needs to be made somewhere.  Hang in there.

[kendallnangie]

OH thanks so much!!
here is what our day LOOKED like
E 8:30    BF and solids
A 8:30-10:20  (winddown 10 minutes b4 nap)
S 10:30-12:30

E 12:30 Bf and solids
A 12:30-2:20 windown
S 2:30-4:30

E 4:30 BF only
A 4:30-6:20 windown
S catnap about 30 minutes or so but always up by 7

E 7 Bf and solids
A 7-8:30
E 9 Bf at bedtime

with this routine she was kinda starting to wake up a little at night but not near like she is now and with that routine she was still taking decent naps.

I changed the routine last week based on some advice that some of the ladies had given, so now we look like this

HMM really it is hard to write out because she is now waking up  at night and I am having to feed her, sometime in between 4:30 and 5:30 am :x  If that happens then it has been hard starting her day out at the same time, as it should. so I will give you what today looked like

E 9
A 9-12
S 12-1

E 1:30  i tried to get her back to sleep
A 1:30-4:15
S 4:15-5:15

E 5:30, *BF would hardly take solids so E again at 6:30
A 5:30- 9:30 :shock:
E 9:15 Bf only
S 9:30

*At all the feedings she has solids and BF, unless I say BF only

She does go to sleep on her own, I don't think I have ever laid her down asleep...she WAS an angel/textbook. I would lay her in bed and she
would play a little bit and drift off to dreamland, now she cries, not very long at all, but she does fuss a little.
Believe it or not this isn't my first child on EASY  my son (2) was a babywhisperer baby and I sang baby whisperer prasies all over town, now I am kinda wondering if I just got lucky?!?
I hope that helps you guys help me. My poor kids :cry:  I feel like a horrible mommy.
oh to answer one of the questions, this all started about a month ago and we have been working on it ever since.
Thanks, Angie

[LindseysMom]

I would suggest to drop the catnap that late in the day and just put her to bed at 7:30 or no later than 8 pm if you are wanting a later wakeup in the am.  So that would mean 2 naps but the earlier bedtime will help make up for the lost catnap.  depending on what time she ends up waking for the day I would aim for her first nap at around 2 hours after wakeup and for the second nap around 3 hours  from am nap wakeup time.  Then that should leave you with about 3-4 hours of activity time between end of pm nap and bed.  Also the shorter periods of activity between naps will help keep her from getting overtired.  And you can vary  the A time a little each day depending on her sleepy signs but the goal is to have her 2 naps occuring around the same time everyday so that her body gets into a rhythm.

So hopefully with an earlier bedtime your day will look like this:


Awake at ?
eat
activity
2 hours from wake up nap

wake from nap
eat
activity
nap 3 hours from when last one ended

wake
supper around 5:30 or 6 pm
activity, bath
milk
bed no later than 8 pm

I really think the earlier bedtime will help her.    Also, as they get older they can tolerate longer awake time so you may have to play with the awake times a bit but I would not let her go any longer than 3 hours in the day time without sleep, preferably less time between am wake up and first nap.  Also, I don't always feed Llindsey right upon awakening except for in the am of course.  It depends on how long she sleeps and how hungry she is.  I also structure her day around meals.  Anyway, I hope you can find something that works for you.  But I would definitely aim for an earlier bedtime.

[Aarismom]

Hi Angie

Not working, huh? Then in your case, I would agree with the other ladies here...go back to your old routine. I know you're protective of that bedtime, I can't say I blame you, I certainly would be in your case. I would agree with Lindsey's mom, but I know your situation If things get worse on the old routine (it sounds like they really can't get much worse), than you might consider Lindsey's mom's idea

I really hope things get better for you!!

*HUGS*
Sonya =P

[LindseysMom]

If you can't go with an earlier bedtime then definitley go back to your old routine.  I can see where someone might suggest dropping the catnap to try and extend or help them get better sleep at night but for babies it just does not work that way.  With them sleep begets sleep so the more they get the better they sleep.  And hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. :wink:  You know your baby better than anyone so if she does better with the catnap that late in the day with a later bedtime and if that is what works for your family then go with it.  Best of luck getting her back on track.

[kendallnangie]

Ok for those that don't know... My husband in a minister and a job like that requires us to be out doing church functions late in the day so rather than trying to flip flop bedtimes...we figured that it would be better to just have a single time set. That is why the time is later than most.
 however my kids have the advantage of getting up later and so that means that they are functioning on the same time frame as others going to bed at 7:30    does that make sense? I hope so
We live like 7th heaven     well a little bit anyway our lives are SO MUCH more real but what I mean is that we are an open house to people.

I am going to try to go back to the old routine and see if that helps. Thanks SO much to all of you trying to help be figure this out.
she is getting teeth so I guess that could be the problem...it is just one right after another

everyone cross you fingers for me its almost naptime, based on old routine :?
thanks again, Angie

[Jaime]

hey Angie,

also wanted to mention that in your newer routine - you have your lo up for 3 hours before a nap?!  that seems like a really long time to me; she's probably overtired by that point and it's throwing off the rest of your day.

if you want to cut out the catnap (and even if you decide not to!), i would still only keep her up 2-2.5 hrs before the first nap

just an idea.   

[kendallnangie]

I thought three hours was way too long as well, I am going to try to go back to what the older routine looked like. 
Does the first yawn thing still work at her age? If so then I probably should never have changed the time, she yawns after about 2 hours, give or take a few minutes.
the only reason I was keeping her up for 3 hours is because that is the time frame that fit with taking only 2 naps, or am I wrong...I am still so confused but hopefully I can get back on track.
Angie

jaime, if I were to keep her up for no more than 2-2.5 hours then how would I work out the evenings without a catnap?    Honestly I don't have a problem letting her have one, if it means that the house will function normally again.

[Jaime]

some babies do keep catnapping longer; your lo just may be one of them.

luke is usually up 2 hours before his first nap at 9am; sleeps 1-1.5 hours, and goes down for an afternoon nap around 2pm, for about 2 hrs.  he goes to bed at 8pm.

they can stay up for increasingly long periods of time after sleep times during the day if that makes sense.

HTH give you a better idea of how to plan! 

[kendallnangie]

I don't think I ever knew that. I thought that if there awake time was only 2 hours, like Luke's in the morning then it was the same all day?  that does help. She has done better today, going back to the old routine...I did have to let her catnap she was soooo tired,although she only sleeps about 20-30 minutes so it is for sure getting to be a shorter amount  of time. Maybe in a few weeks I will be able to do without it all together.
I hope tonight goes well
Thank you again for your help, Angie

[jchang]

With dd, if I watched for tired cues, I'd be waiting for longer than 2 hours.  So I watch the clock - for her, 2 hours of awake time is her max.

[branwen]

Hi Angie-

I did respond to your PM but have seen that you have not picked it up yet- it is still in my outbox.  I do have some ideas/thoughts for you. If you check your messages and it is not there do let me know and I will resend.

Jaime is right- the awake time varies for my dd too.  In the morning A time is 1.5, then 2.5 to 4 (really vaires) then 2.5 in the evening.  Our schedule places the cat nap at mid day usually so she can handle that 4 hr stretch.

About the whole first yawn thing...I believe it does work at her age, but it still means the same thing- her window as already opened so you need to get her down sooner.  Also at this age I believe they will fight the sleep because they are so much more active, mobile, exploring, so you kind of have to intervene.

A few weeks ago I was desperately trying to get my dd on 2 naps a day-because that is where "she should be", but it wasn't working for us...so I went back to offering a nap every two hrs.  Everyone kept telling me to stretch her awake time but after trusting my insiticts I found the opposite to be true.  At some of those times it was like she wasn't even tired, but I offered anyway, and she went down SO EASY.  It's like she just needed me to remind her she was tired.  Like you we went back to our old rountine- which for naps was 2, 1, 2.

Please let me know if you get my PM!  You are NOT a horrible mommy!

(((HUGS)))

[kendallnangie]

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!
she has started sleeping again, although I am still keeping my fingers crossed   I have gone back to the old routine and, she has done so much better...Just like branwen, I guess my LO needed to be reminded that she was tired as well, she fussed a little bit the first day but has gone back to going down happy and waking up happy. 
I am a rollercoaster ..meaning, I am back to loving the baby whisperer :lol:
thanks a bunch, Angie