Early wakings and A times getting shorter

[Little Mo]

Hi everyone.

I have 2 problems with my 6 months old DS's routine.

We just got rid of the paci and, as a consequence, he started sleeping through the night. Our routine was 7 am-7.30 pm, But since he started to sleep through he is waking at 6 a.m. I know I should put him to bed at 6-6.30 pm to compensate for this early waking, but I am not very happy to change his routine like this. I'm due back to work in 3 weeks and there is no way I can be back home to put him to bed that early.

also, his A time got shorter. He used to go 2hours before his first nap and 2.5 hours foe the rest of the A times. Now he can only go 1.5 hours before the next nap.

I think the 2 problems might be related, but I am not sure what I am supposed to do.

Any ideas?

[* Paula *]

Hi Monica,

Congrats on weaning the pacci and your lo sleeping through the night.

Can you post a detailed routine of what your typical day looks like, so that we can see if we can try and help you.

Paula x

[Little Mo]

Hi Paula,

I will post below yesterdays routine, since no day was similar with the one before:

6 wake and eat 6 Oz of formula
7.30 nap for 1.5 hours
9 wake and play
10 eat 2 Oz of fruit and cereal and 6 Oz of formula (I know he should have them vice versa, but with my son this does not work)
11 nap for 2 hours
13.00 wake and play
14.00 eat 8 Oz of formula
15.30 cat nap for 40 mins in the stroller
16.10 wake
should have had another cat nap here, but no luck...
18.00 eat 8 Oz formula
18.45 start bedtime routine
19.10 final bottle 3 Oz
asleep by 19.00

Before all this, he used to be up 2 hours before his first nap and 2.5 for the next A times. He has 2 naps of 1.5 hours and 1 cat nap.

But since his early wakings started, when I tried to keep him up for 2 hours his naps went ballistic, 40 minutes max.

Last night he woke at 4.30, I fed him 3 Oz and he went back to sleep until 7.30 this morning when I woke him. So I reccon he might be getting up so early because he is hungry and then he can not get back to sleep since he already had 10.5 hours of solid sleep. Unfortunately the DF never worked for us.

It could also be that 10.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep is all he need...

Help!

Monica

[* Paula *]

Hi Monica,

Thanks for posting your routine.

First of all I can tell you that when my lo was that age, and even older, he could not handle a very long A time and he was usually back in bed after about 1.5 hours of A time first thing in the morning.

How long has it been since you introduced solids?  Does your lo take them well?  It could be that with your lo waking up hungry in the middle of the night, it might be time to introduce a second meal into your routine.

From what I can see your routine looks good.

Is your lo doing anything developmental at the moment that is affecting his sleep?

Paula x

[Little Mo]

Hi Paula, thanks for your reply and sorry for such a late answer.

He has been on solids for 1 months and really likes them. As a matter of fact we are introducing a second meal (vegies) today.

Last night he woke again at 3.30, but I don't stress too much over this. I think it is normal for a baby his age to wake once to eat and, compared to the 5-6 night wakings we had prior to the paci weaning, this does not bother me at all.

I am relieved that a 1.5 hours A time is not uncommon, maybe he is just going through a stage when he gets tired quickly.

I will also keep his bedtime 7.30 and try to catch another catnap if possible, as not to get him overtired. I will watch for his cues for a few days just to undersatnd what his A-S pattern is at this point and see how I can tweak his routine.

And, yes, he just learned how to roll on his stomach. 2 nights ago I found him on his belly screaming.... he does not know how to get on his back yet.

Monica

[* Paula *]

Monica,

You are right, it can be quite common or a lo to wake 1 during the night for a feed.  Once you have you lo established well on solids you can think about concentrating on cutting out that middle of the night feed, however you may find that he will wean himself off that feed.

Rolling onto their belly and not being able to get back - sounds farmiliar - He will soon grasp how to do it.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

Paula x