Awake times for 7 month old?

[mom2william]

I am about to go crazy with the 45 min. nap problem!!  I have a feeling it is due to my DS not getting enough awake time but I'm not sure what is a good amount at this age.  His first morning nap is usually good, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  However, his second nap has been 30-45 min. for such a long time now and I can't seem to break him of it!   He consistently wakes up crying and so I know it's not enough.  He's probably old enough to drop the third nap but he's so overtired from his second nap, that I put him down for a third nap.  I also put him to bed early around 6:30-6:45.  Between his morning nap and his afternoon nap, I keep him up about 2 1/2 hours.  Is this long enough or not?  How long should the morning and afternoon naps be at this age?  He consistently gets 11-12 hours of sleep at night so I'm wondering if his night sleep is so good that's why he doesn't sleep well during the day?  Also, at this age do you get them to their bed as soon as they start to show tired signs or try to stretch them out a bit??  ANY help would greatly appreciated.  Also, I have tried to do PU/PD but since he's 20 lbs., it is just too back breaking!  When he wakes up crying, he sometimes cries for a few minutes and can go back to sleep but that's probably about once a week.  This has been going on off and on since he was about 3 mos. old.  I am to the point of desperation and wanting to contact a sleep consultant.  I want to avoid that, though, b/c it's soooo expensive 
Thanks for any and all suggestions! 
Suzanne
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William born 3/23/05

[Carter'sMama]

My 7 mos old generally is up for 2.5 hours between naps.  I just started that last week.  He was on a great routine of 1.5 hour long naps (morning and afternoon) and 2 hr long awake periods.  He suddenly started having short afternoon naps and fighting me when it was time to go down for his nap. 

We did have problems with 45 min naps around 3-4 months old but they disappeared only to reappear now!!!  So, currently his a.m nap is 1hr long then he is up for 2.5 hrs and then his afternoon nap is anywhere from 20mins to 1.5 hrs long.  Usually it is 1.5 hours.  He still has a catnap around 5:30-6:00 but he doesn't go to bed until 8:30.  He will then sleep about 10.5 hours at night.

When DS wakes early from a nap I try to put him back to sleep.  The last few days I have given him a soother (which he has never used before so I am not sure if it is good or not ... he does have a cold though  )  and he will go back to sleep for another hour.  When he is awake and showing tired signs I try and keep him up for the full 2.5 hours and it doesn't seem to mess with his nap time.

Sounds like your DS is a great night sleeper.  He also has a good am nap so maybe all he needs is a short 45 min nap  in the afternoon ...  I found that when I tweak my lo's routine (usually awake time) his naps seem to fix themselves.

Hope this helps   

[Tru's Mommy]

Rowan (born 3/29/05) is up about 3 or 3.5 hours in between his a.m. and p.m. nap.  He's up 2 hours in the a.m. before his a.m. nap.  From his p.m. nap until bed is 3.5 or 4 hours depending on when he wakes up from his p.m. nap.  Wake up for the day is around 7 a.m., sometimes 7:30 a.m. and bedtime is typically 7 p.m.

It's REALLY hard to make that transition to longer awake time between the two naps.  It's like they need more awake time to sleep longer, but then they have a hard time staying awake and happy until the p.m. nap.  Taking my boys outside always helps, as the fresh air gets them revved back up.  And, I'll do a snack of Cheerios or graham crackers, if needed.

And, if he just doesn't have a good napping day, I'll still do that 3rd catnap around 5 p.m.  But, lately we've even been able to avoid that.

Tru & Rowan's Mommy

[Meg's Mom]

for a 6 yo 8 month old:

2.5 after am wake up – usually 1.5-2.0hr in length
2-3hr after end of am nap – same as above

So sample schedule:
7am wake
9.30 am nap – wake no later then 11am
1.00 or 2.00 pm nap – wake no later then 4pm
3.30 or 4.00 catnap (if needed) – 30/45min
7.00 – 7.30 bed

We have now been thru the 45min battle several times over, every time she is ready to increase her A time she starts the short naps.  So when that happens I know it is time to adjust her schedule or prepare to drop a nap.

Increase the A time slowly, 15min every 3 days until you get to the goal.  If needed use the extra A time as part of the nap wind down.

Hope that helps.