Need help with 6 mo routine

[becky1969]

My LO is almost 25 weeks. For the last 3 weeks he has been fighting bedtime like no one's business. Before that, he was so easy to go down for bed and naps and slept thru the night from 12 weeks on. The last 3 weeks I can get him to sleep OK, but then he's awake 5-30 minutes later.

We dropped the cat nap last week, and for 3 days he actually went to bed and STAYED down! He even slept thru the night undisturbed. I was thrilled! Then, all hell broke loose again. It may ahve been due to me feeding him more oatmeal than usual, at which time we figured out he was having a really hard time digesting it. So I don't know how much gas, reflux (he has silent reflux) and teething (already has 2, and is working on 2 more) are playing into this scenerio.

If someone could please look at our routine and let me know if they think it's OK. My main question is how much awake time before bed. Now he's having 2.5-3 hours, which is pretty long for him. I always see sleepy signs around bathtime, so I can't tell if I'm missing his sleep window which is why he's fighting me, making him overtired which would be why he keeps waking up.


Today's schedule went like this:

Awake at 6:40
E 7:15
A 7:45-8:35
S 8:40-10:40 (actually woke him from this nap because we had to go to a doctor's appt)

E 12:30 (came home late from doc appt, so late bottle)
S 13:30-15:15

E 16:00
A 16:30-17:00
Wind down for bed
Bottle 17:30, books, singing, bed at 18:20.  Fussed 20 minutes later, but didn't come fully awake.

10:30 Dream feed

[corrina01]

Was he refusing the catnap, or did you just drop it?

3hrs is a long A time for a 6 month old.  Try 2.5hrs.

This is a difficult time when they drop the catnap.  Some days he will want the catnap and other days he doesn't. Offer him the catnap, if he refuse the catnap, put to bed earlier.

HTH

[Mom to M&M]

Totally agree with Corinna - 3 hours is long at that age - most 6 months old can only comfortably stay awake 2.5 hours. Additionally, your LO may be packing in too much sleep earlier in the day but without a catnap be overtired come bedtime. I'd try the following:

- Wake 6:40
- Nap 9-10:00 or 10:30 (I'd wake him if not up)
- Nap 12:30 or 1 nap for 1.5 hours
- Catnap 4:30 or 5pm catnap - wake after 30-40 minutes
- Bedtime 7-7:30, depending on when catnap ended

Also, as Corinna said, he may be in a transition phase right now with the catnap. What we usually did at this age, weather permitting, was take DD out in her stroller at this time and run errands. She'd almost always knock off but if not at least she'd relax!

[becky1969]

THank you!

He would nap, but bedtime became a battle afterwards. When I first dropped the catnap, he went to bed easily again!

He started limiting the morning nap to 1.5 hours all on his own (sometimes only 1hr20), but the last couple of days he's gone back to 2 hour morning naps, and I think it's because his night sleep is so bad. How do I let him catch up on sleep? Do I start right away keeping that morning nap short, or do I let him get back to sleeping better at night?

 Last night definitely went better - he did somewhat rouse after he was put down at 6 pm, but he never fully came awake. He did wake up after the dream feed, but it seems it was because he cried when the bottle was gone, so my DH warmed another one which he then refused. All that activity woke him up. It only took me 10 minutes to get him back to sleep, though, not 3 hours like earlier this weeek! He woke up for the day at 6:30. I think maybe the night went better because he was only up for 2.5 hours before bed.

Thank you SO much! This is EXACTLY the input I was looking for!!!! We are at such an awkward stage right now, with the catnap on it's way out. Plus with teething, I'm having a really really hard time reading his sleep cues. Any advice on sleep cues at this age would be GREATLY appreciated.

[HeatherC]

I would try to change the day sleep (limit the morning nap) to see if that helps to improve the night sleep.  I think trying to improve the night sleep by letting him make it up during the day will continue in the same cycle you're in.

[corrina01]

My DD has never really shown sleep cues, as she always yawns after I get up from her nap, during the A time. I think at 6 months she went red round the eyebrows.  Now she goes all quiet, just sits/lays not up to the mischief she usually gets into.

[becky1969]

So do you basically have to become a clock watcher and just monkey around with A time until you find the right combo?

[corrina01]

I had too, as she was showing no tired signs.  I'm must admit, I am always a clock watcher.  If she didn't go down for naps easily I would tweak the A time.

[becky1969]

Thank you! I've been feeling like a moron lately because I just can't read his sleep cues anymore! So I've been a bit of a clock watcher lately too.  You've made me feel LOTS better. I guess some LOs don't have really distinct sleep cues! I do know that if I miss his sleep window it is harder to put him down and then he tends to wake at 30-45 minutes, and is a bit tough to get back to sleep.

[becky1969]

OK. How does this sound?

Yesterday we did a cat nap (30 minutes) and then he went to bed for the night 2 hours after waking from the catnap. The 2 times we've done the cat nap this week, he wouldn't go to sleep any earlier than 2 hours from waking. Does that seem about right?

The problem is that he is STILL waking about 5-30 minutes later! Last night he came fully awake, but it only took me about 10 minutes to get him back to sleep with shushing and a little walking (I know, AP, but I had just come home from an outpatient surgery and really didn't want to be at the pat/shush or PU/PD for very long as I was still exhausted from being under General Anesthesia!). anyway, I can't figure out why he's doing this wake-up thing! He never used to, before about 3 weeks ago. Someone on the naps board suggested maybe TOO much daytime sleep, but I know yesterday that wasn't the case as he only had 2.5 hours of daytime sleep (daddy was in charge, and had difficulty extending his PM nap from 30 minutes).

So, what could be the cause? I will say that after I got him to sleep again, he stayed asleep the rest of the night, took a great dream feed, and then slept fantastic until about 4:45 when he started squealing a bit. But that was it! It was one of the best night's we've seen in awhile. But I really would like to eliminate the waking within 30 minutes of putting him down for the night. He NEVER used to do that - in fact, right after bedtime used to be guaranteed quiet time for DH & I, and now we never know what to expect!

Thanks again for all your help. I feel like we are finally getting on the right track! Today he had  1.5 hour am nap and a 2 hour PM nap, and then we'll be doing a 30 minute cat nap. I'll see if his night sleep is significantly different, I guess, with more day time sleep.

[HeatherC]

It's hard to say why he's waking after going to bed.  However, I would try to not go to him unless he really needs you so that it doesn't become a habit for him.  My dd used to always stir at 9;30 pm, but we never went in to her room.  It was probably just her passing through a sleep phase.  Since he's going back to sleep easily, I don't think you should worry too much about it, but if it does become a bigger problem, then maybe you should drop the catnap.

[becky1969]

The problem is, those wake-ups usually have him SCREAMING crying. That's why I thought it was gas or reflux initially - it sounded like pain.

At any rate, last night went fantastic! He had 1.5 hour AM nap, 2 hour PM nap and 30 min catnap. Went to bed at 7:15 and stayed asleep! DH said he even slept thru dreamfeed, which we've had trouble with lately. Woke at 6:30, I think because making a poo. I think he may have slept later if that wasn't going on!

Today, though, he's been SUPER sleepy. He took a 2 hr morning nap, so I made sure his PM nap was only 1.5. But then his catnap stretched to 45 minutes, at which point I woke him up! I had to wake him from all 3 naps today! Not sure what THAT'S about, since he's been on his own making that AM nap 1.5 hours for a couple weeks now and he hasn't had more than a 30 minute catnap in probably 6 weeks! We'll see how tonight goes. I'm a little worried since he had that long catnap, but he was so tired! I put him to bed after only 1.5 hours awake time because he was showing sleepy signs.

[corrina01]

Just a thought Becky,

Is Owen teething? or showing signs of it?

[andrea21]

Hi!
Just reading you post,my DS is 6.5months old and hasnīt been a very good sleeper during the day which didn't bother me too much as he slept thru the night from 6weeks old.
I just changed his feeding routine around about 2 weeks ago,and he slept great during the day,but struggled getting him to bed at nighttime which he was great at,but he is getting better at it.It isn't such a problem as if we are going out for tea i let him sleep longer so he doesn't get cranky at teas time.

This is our routine now,and if I keep his pm not too long can get him down ok at night time.

7am bottle
8am cereal
9.30-10.30/11.30 sleep
12noon bottle
1pm lunch
1.30-3.00 sleep
4pm bottle
7.30pm bottle
7.45pm normally to bed all depends on his sleep during the day,can end been 8.30-9pm somedays

As soon as i put him onto this routine he dropped the 3 rd sleep himself.
I also found he has teeth cutting and he want more sleep during the day and goes to bed ok at night time.

Hope this offers some help.

Andrea...

[becky1969]

He IS definitely cutting teeth. Yesterday seemed to be a bad one, in terms of pain. I gave him some Hyland's tablets, and when that didn't work we had some Tylenol in the afternoon. Teething will make them sleepy? Didn't know that!

Last night went OK, though he did have a few minor moans in the night. He did seem to come all the way awake around 9, but put himself back to sleep on his own.  He was up at 6 am today, though (bedtime 7 pm), which I wasn't too thrilled about! I think more than 4 hours daytime sleep is too much, if I don't want that early morning wake-up!

This morning he feel asleep in my lap while finishing his bottle (when teething, it can take the whole awake period to finish the bottle sometimes). He's NEVER tdone that! I'm usually very careful to make sure he doesn't feed to sleep, so I was pretty shocked when I looked down and he was sleeping! He's still being swaddled, so this is his first UN-swaddled nap ever! I'm very nervous! But hopeful because we've been wanting to wean for sometime, but have had trouble with his arm control.