7 mth old suddenly taking short naps, help!!

[lauraj79]

Hiya
Charlie was 7 months last week and since then i have had problems with naps. He self settles, always has, has a lovie, sleeps through night etc... his usual routine was-
6.15 am- wake
7 am- breakfast
8am- milk
9.15-10.45 nap (1 hr 30)
11.45 am- lunch, dessert, water
1.45-3.15 nap (1 hr 30)
4.30 supper, youghurt, water
5pm catnap (only if in car) for 20 mins
6.30 bath
7pm milk
7.30 bed

however, this last week he wakes after 30-40 mins in morning nap chatttering, tried leaving him to resettle but after 20 mins hes had enough! this is resulting in grumpiness, short naps throughout day, exhaustion in evening. Some night wakings too but he will go back to sleep with a bit of reasurrance or bonjela ifin teething pain. he is teething yes, but this isnt waking him. He is VERY close to crawling, i expect any day now, certainly in a week or so. gets on all fours rocking and attempting to pull himself up to standing too. so maybe this is all related? but im not sure if i need to intervene? is 3 hours A time not enough for a 7 month old? if he went back on his old routine im sure he would of dropped catnap as he was fighting it anyway. The other thing is like tonight, he catnapped from 3.40-4.15 then went to bed at 7 pm (awake) he woke 30 mins later really screaming so dp went in ( i was with dd) dp said he seemed in pain but went back to sleep in dps arms? im not really sure whats going on?
please help? many thanx, laura

[sazza]

hi Laura

we had a similar situation here around the same time, for a couple of months - ds cut down on his naptime a lot, sometimes having as little as 1hr a day all told, with usually 11-12hrs at night. at the time it was pretty confusing, as he didn't often seem all that tired, and when trying to convince him that he needed to go back to sleep - well, he just wasn't having any of it. i just left him to it in the end and eventually he started having longer naps of his own accord. in hindsight i think it had a lot to do with learning to crawl/walk (he's just started to walk a couple of weeks ago - he's always wanted to walk more than crawl) - i remember reading in one of the bw books that physical progress of this sort can often make their limbs feel so alive with movement that it can interfere with their sleep. can't really think of anything useful to add to stacy's suggestion but HTH.

sarah

[lauraj79]

Thanx for your suggestions, will try extending A time slightly to see if it helps.
wow, 9 months and walking! Thats amazing! what a clever boy! charlie seems quite physical too and likes walking hilding my hands. thinking i ought to get stair gates v.soon he is so close to crawling its frustrating to watch! not sure if i want him to yet! have a 3 year old who leaves tiy bits of lego/prtentend money on floor, v.dangerous for a 7 mth old! we had this nap prob thing a month ago when he needed to extend A time from 2 hr 30 to 3 hours, and he is showing same signs. my bw book went back to library, really ought to buy one i guess!
hanx again, Laura

[sazza]

yes our little busy boy certainly knows how to wear his mummy out!! takes after his father  and aunty - they walked at 10 and 9 months respectively. one of these days i'll find enough energy to keep up....

sounds like you're probably on to it with charlie - if he's doing the same thing then extending A time should definitely help. good luck!!