7 MONTH OLD -exhausted please helpp

[otm]

HI

My 7 months ds is suddenly waking earlier in the morning and having tiny naps which he is fighting.  This is totally out of character.

He's always put himself to sleep - no props ever used - not even patting.  He used to go to bed for naps very happily.

 At 6months he started sleeping through (7-7) but recently its been more like 6am, this morning 5.30 - fear it'll keep getting earlier - what should i do? feed? resettle? leave to cry?

Naps are more worrying though. he used to have two 1.5 hours or one 1 hour, and the other for two hours.  So these 30mins naps are really worrying me. He's waking after 20-30 mins and its impossible to get back to sleep. Tried comforting, leaving cry for a little more each time. After 30 mins i give up coz crying so bad and don't understand how he can suddenly change. (this has been going on for 4 days now) He's exhausted and miserable in the afternoons now - have to give him short nap at 4.30-5pm. maybe this explains earlier mornings?

His routine is;
6/6.30am bf feed
8am fruit and porridge
9am sleep

10.30/11am BF
12ish Solids
1pm sleep

2.30/3pm BF
5pm Solids
6pm Bath
7pm bed

he goes to bed no fuss at night. i have always put him to bed awake but now he's so tired he falls asleep during bf.

please help. i am desperate to have my happy baby back. i hate leaving him to cry during the day but don't know what to do because i know he needs those longer naps.

Any advice would be sooo appreciated. why do you think he's going through this? not waking at night so don't think he's teething or anything like that.
 

[HeatherC]

Sorry, I don't have much to offer but a few points.
 :arrow: It actually could be teething.  My dd didn't wake at night either, just miserable all day, but then again it went on "forever" and still no teeth.  You could try some pain reliever and see if it helps.
 :arrow: I have a feeling that the sleep problems are a vicious cycle of overtiredness.  He's waking too early, then overtired from nap to nap and unable to settle for a good sleep.  That being said, what do you do?  Well, I'm no expert, but I've read from others that extending the morning wake time is hard, so maybe you could try working on the naps.  How does he wake from a nap?  Crying?  If someone could give you advice on extending the nap, something I was never successful at so I can't help there, then I think he'll sleep better and longer at night. 
 :arrow: I noticed he's bfing 3 times a day.  Is he more active these days?  It could be hunger.
HTH

[otm]

hi thanks for your help.. i made a mistake in routine - i am actually bf four times a day still.  Roughly 6.30am, 10.30am, 2.30pm & 6.30pm

i am going to keep trying to extend his naps. but is he learning anything if i keep him in bed till his next feed if he doesn't go back to sleep?  Surely it'll only make an impact on them if they fall back to sleep??

thanks

[HeatherC]

Well, what I do is this...if Kelsey is not crying, but only babbling or cooing or kicking around, I leave her until nap time is "supposed" to be over.  For us, that's a minimum of 1.25 hours.  Usually she sleeps one hour, so I consider that last 15 minutes as quiet time.  Otherwise, she really fusses and whines until lunch time if she's out of her nursery.  I don't usually feed before "usuall" feeding times b/c I know she's not really hungry and she won't eat well.  This works for us, but I'm sure some people would disagree with me.  I can't answer as to whether CIO would work at this age, I honestly don't know, but I doubt you'll get advice on that on this site.

[thitz]

Otm,  it sounds like you're going thru a tough time.  Hang in there:)

It's hard to suggest things when you don't know all the details but my guess is that teething or hunger is the cause of you're napping problems.  To eliminate hunger as a possibility why don't you give your lo some extra solids.  To eliminate teething try to give some advil with the solids and see if that makes a difference.

Also, I would try to increase A time between the morning and afternoon nap.

And I wouldn't leave your lo to CIO cause he/she will lose trust in you and you'll add to your problems.  If your lo won't settle maybe take him out of the room for 1/2 an hour and try again.

Hope things get better for you, Tarri