How to get my 8 1/2 mos old on a consistent EASY

[Linda74]

Hi

My lo is 8 1/2 months old and he is not on a consistent EASY and I'm not sure how to get him on one.  We've always done EASY in some form.   The things that I want to get consistent are:

- Consistent wake up time - right now, he sometimes wakes up at 4:30 am, 5:30am, or 6 am.  It varies from day to day.
- Consistent nap times - for example, today he woke up at 5:30am and I put him down for his first nap at 7:15am.  He slept for 2 hours and 15 minutes.  He would have slept longer if I didn't wake him up.  I'm always torn about whether I should wake a sleeping baby or not.  Should I have woken him up?  His nap time varies depending on when he gets up.  I usually try to keep him up for 2 hours but that is a stretch.  I have a sleepy baby...he gets tired within an 1 1/2 hour of waking up and I have to struggle to keep him up for 2 hours.  The duration of his naps are not consistent either.  His morning nap can range from 1 1/2 hours to over 2 hours.  And then for the rest of the day, he may have two more naps - 1 hour each.

His bedtime is usually consistent...somewhere between 6:30 and 7 pm.

Am I expecting too much from my lo?  Wanting a consistent wake up time and predictable nap times?  It's hard to plan my day when I don't know when he'll be napping or for how long.  Any advice or suggestions would be a great help.

Linda

[Noelle]

Hello 

Does he go to sleep indepently?  If so, and he is feeding around every 4 hrs then you are doing EASY    EASY helps promote independent sleep, avoid overfeeding and help read babies cues.   If he goes to sleep indepently, it is much easier to tweak EASY...meaning if he does sleep independently, it's OK to let him sleep in the morning without waking him up.  When he wakes at 5:30...what does he do?  Zoe wakes early ALOT...she doesn't cry but always goes back to sleep.  I think if you can help promote  a more consistent wake-up it would smooth things out. 

Some kids thrive on predictable naps.  I couldn't get Zoe on one where John was like clock work.  Is he happy when out and about?  Since Zoe wasn't on planned naps...but she did good when out and about..I always knew when she would eat and plan around that.