solved daytime routine but now nighttime trouble!

[Dorien]

Hello there,

Last week i got very useful advise on the nap board to help me get some more structure in the day. Before my DS (6months) would hardly sleep during the day and become very moody. Now it is going much better and we have a routine. However, he has now started waking 6-8 times at night........

Can you help...this is our routine:

During night waking / stir every two hours or so.

Around 5 a clock waking lots, seems ready for the day..manage to get hem down for a bit with some effort.

6:30 BF
8:30 Sleep
9:45 / 10:00 awake
10:30 BF and fruit
11:30/12:00 sleep
13:00/13:30 awake
14:30 BF and vegs
15:30-16:00 catnap
18:00 bath
18:30 BF
19:00 bed

Before he used to go to bed at 18:30 so maybe i am putting him to bed too late???

[teezee]

could your lo be getting ready to drop the catnap? at about 6-8 months lo's start showing signs of readiness and night wakings, not wanting to go down for the catnap are two main signs. if lo's get too much daysleep (i know such a delicate balancing act.. ) it will cause night wakings as lo is rested enough in the daytime and doesn't need those wakeful hrs at night.  you may want to try extending A times by 15 min (if possible w/o lo being overtired) or so and then see how lo's temperment is near the time of the catnap - if lo seems ok, skip it, it may mean a few earlier bedtimes (again, don't let lo get overtired) but it's a process that we all have to go through and is mainly reading your lo's cues.  some days you may need the catnap, others you may not..hopefully it will help curb the night wakings though.

[RachelC]

I was thinking along the same lines.  Also was thinking that perhaps slowly extending the awake time to closer to 2.5 hours.

[brightside]

If you lo is waking at 4pm from his catnap, maybe 7pm is a bit late for bedtime. Can you lo handle 3 hours of awake time? I noticed in the day, he seems to be having a nap every 2 hours suggesting that he can't stay awake for longer than that. Just a thought.