question re naps (9 months old)

[riab]

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to the forum and to the BW so forgive me if this has a really obviuos naswer.

For the last 9 months we've been using the GF routines which worked fine until he was about 7 months. (I'm not about to start a debate about the pro's and cons of GF versus TH here btw)

We've been suffering with unexpected night waking for about 2 months now, we rule dout hugner etc and in desperationwere just about to try CC with some misgivings! It was only by glancing through the 'solves all your problems' TH book that I realised that what my husband was doing (which seemed to work best) was a version of PU/PD.

things seem to be better already in that instead of the awful 2-3 hr marahtons at 3am he is going to sleep within 20-30 mins.

My question is about daytime naps:

his current routine has a short nap in the morning (9.30-10am) and a longer nap at lunchtime. (12.30-2.30) I'd love him to take a catnap at about 4pm but he refuses to go to sleep even when tired. He has to be woken from his morning nap and we struggle sometimes with the lunchtime one.
I thought that if he had a longer morning nap we'd end up with him cutting hsort his lunchtime nap and messing up his afternoon and bedtime.
Also how do you do playgroups etc?
I was pleased when his morning nap went to 30 mins as it made it easier to get to playgroup (10-12 and we arrive at 10.20). We can also sometime cut short his lunchtime nap and go to afternoon activities instead.

his daily scheudle is as follows:
7/7.30am wake up - offer milk
8am breakfast, cereal and milk + toast to chew on
activity - play with toys gently
9.30am - 10am NAP
activity - playgroup/walk in park/play games etc
11.30am LUNCH- homemade meat stew etc + yogurt if hungry
bath (he gets very very messy at lunchtime!), this helps work off energy and also then we do a nice massage to calm down etc
12.15 milk feed (usually 6-8oz)
12.30 - 2.30am NAP (this often goes a bit wrong - the 45 mins thing)
activity, out and about again, lots of crawling practice etc
4.30pm TEA homemade pasta or similar + rusk if hungry
gets very very tired between 5 and 6pm
5.45/6pm bath
6.15 milk feed 6-9oz
6.30 bedtime

the time between 4 and 6pm can be very difficult, plus he wakes up so often during his lunchtime nap and we spend ages trying to get him back to sleep. I was wondering if its worth trying to shift his naps around?

9.30-10.30   and    1-3pm?

(btw i will be posting about his night wakings but thats a whole other topic!)

[Colesmom]

Hi there,

Sorry you're having trouble in the night.  I have been there and am still there sometimes so I know how hard it is!

I suspect that your DS is waking in the night because he is overtired.  You should be looking to have at least two long naps, and possibly a short catnap at the end of the day if needed. 

He has to be woken from his morning nap and we struggle sometimes with the lunchtime one

Did I read this correctly?  Do you wake your DS after 30 min. of sleep in the morning?  If so, I strongly recommend you let him sleep.  Once his routine is established then you can stray from it once in a while let's say for playgroups etc. If you just typed something incorrectly and he's simply waking after 30 minutes, I suggest doing pupd to get him back to sleep.  30 minutes is not restorative and this starts the day on the wrong foot.  Awake time is very important at this age as well.  If your DS isn't awake long enough he may not be tired enough to sleep for long, and if he's up too long he might be too overtired to stay asleep.  Have you tried awake time of 2:15?  That worked well for my DS at this age.  Also, babies usually like a shorter A time before first nap. 

If you can get that first nap to go longer, preferably to 11am, then the rest of the day would go much better.  Then second nap could run 1:30-3:00/3:30 with bedtime no later than 6:30.  At his age awake time shouldn't be much longer than 2.5-2.75 hours. 

You may also want to look at the pupd board to make sure you're doing it correctly.  At your sons age, if he's able to stand in the crib, then you are supposed to wait for him to stand and just do the PD part.  Babies over 6 months settle faster out of your arms.

okay, dinner time here.  HTH

[riab]

I do wake him after 30 mins. As I mentioned up until now we have been using the structured GF routine which says that you should restrict the morning nap to 30 mins max and then a 2 hr nap at lunchtime.

Today for the first time I put him down for a catnap at 4.45, it took 10 mins of PU/PD but he has slept for the past 35 mins!

I am going to try extending his am nap but I am worried about making too much of a big change all at once. So I was aplning to extend it to 10.30am (1hr) then lunchtime nap at 1-3pm.

I checked the PU/PD board and the book, we are doing it right for his age  - he doens't stand yet but he sits up or crawls so we wait til he does that before picking him up, if he is sitll lying down we just do the PD part. tbh I usually get him into his cot asap as he settles much better with me just stroking/patting him than if I hold him.

ria

[notenoughshelfspace]

I also think 30min is not a long enough nap in the morning. Mine is nearly 10 months old and she sleeps 1:30 in the morning and the same in the afternoon. She also sleeps through the night without a dreamfeed.7:15- 7:15. If you let him sleep a little longer in the morning you will eliminate the need for the cat Nap in the afternoon.

[riab]

so should I just go straight over to the new routine or gradually adapt things?

[Colesmom]

hi-i would certainly go for at least a 1 hour morning nap.  30 min. isn't restorative.  I would get the good first nap in place and go from there.  your new nap times look like they could work.

[riab]

Okay this morning he was up half the night and then up again at 6am so very very tired by 8am. I managed to stretch him to 8.35 when he feel asleep on his rug and cried his eyes out when I woke him up to move him.
So we did 8.35-9.50 (1hr 15) then 12.35-2.30pm.
Planning on a late afternoon catnap soon as he is crying and tired again.