Are we ruining her night time sleep

[elifsmum]

After a long training at last we managed get my DD (6.5 months) have her naps more than 40 min. However now she seems to have really long (which I am not used to) naps. She usually goes down at 9.30 and sleep 1.30-2 hr and around 2-2.30PM another 1.5-2 hr sleep. So basically on a good day she may take 3.5-4 hr nap. However when she wakes up middle of the night she cant seem to go back to sleep 1-2 hr. This usually happens around 2-3AM. She never slept through and quite recently managed to soothe herself to sleep. (Mainly for her naps though) Anyway my question is , is she sleeping too much during the day. (When she wakes up middle of the night she doesnt seem happy or playful she wants to go back to sleep but she can't) Or is night time sleep something comes after learning to sleep during the day ? I know if she sleeps 7-7 she would need less sleep during the day but I just don't want to ruin her night time sleep by letting her sleep too much during the day. Any tips?

Many thanks

Osen & 6.5 month old Elif

[jenni]

maybe she is thirsty?

you could try giving her a dream feed of water just before you go to bed and see if it works.  my lo went through a similar stage. since i was still dream feeding her properly, I just watered down her formula in order to get a bit more liquid in her.  seems to have worked and she now goes through until about 8-9!

I've even found that if I am going out in the morning and will ruin her morning nap, i can dream feed just before 8 and she will sleep until about 10!  Fantastic method Tracey has there - I don't know how we would hav coped without it.

anyway, don't know if this will help, but give it a shot if you want
Jenni

[Deb_in_oz]

i think the amopunt of daytime sleep seems ok if she is not waking up and wanting to stay up (ie NOT tired)

did she have her 6 mo growth spurt or could this be it?  have you offered food or increases her day feeds?? if you have not been offering food i woudl seriously consider GS as an option.

if you want to limit her day sleep a bit make sure you reduc that first nap as that is the one that will eventually go (you could limt her to 1 1/2 hrs if you think it will makea difference) or make sure her 2nd nap finishes by 4pm so she is just tired enough for bedtime.

[elifsmum]

Yes I have been trying water for quite some time but doesnt seem to make much difference. However her awake period soehow got shorten last night and she only woke up twicw although she had 3.5 hr total sleep yesterday. So I guess I shouldnt disturb her naps at least for awhile....
After wakes up her afternoon nap around 4PM what is the ideal time for bedtime?

[notenoughshelfspace]

I really feel that sleep begets sleep. Mine has a total of 4 hours of nap during that day ( till recently it was 5) and still slept through the night. Try seeing if there are any other explanations for the wake-up. I am dealaing with the same problems due to teething but I know it is not the naps, she would not sleep unless she needed to.