Overtired 9 mo

[babyre33]

My dd has been thrown off by a visitor, and then an outing that got us home too late.  She just recovered from teething and her schedule was like this:

7:15 wake and breakfast with BF & solids
10:00-11:00 nap #1
11:30 lunch with BF & solids
2:15 or 2:30 nap #2 (around 1.5 hrs)
5:00 dinner with BF & solids
7:00 or 7:15 bedtime

She's begun standing up which slowly had her waking about a half hour earlier.  Before she'd wake and then go back to sleep until about 7:15.  Now with standing, she stays up without her nap time changing she was slowly getting less sleep, then the outing put her over teh edge.

I've tried shortening her A time to help with overtiredness and of course a 6 pm bedtime, but she will only take 2 naps and will not take a third, so with the early A times she has a VERY LONG A time before bed.

This was yesterday:
5:50 wake
8:27-9:19 nap #1 (cried and stirred at 35 min mark)
12:00-12:37 nap #2 (neighborhood noise woke her)
would not take another nap
6:00 bed

she woke today at 5:40
8:37-9:12 nap #1 (35 min)

So sleep times of course say overtired, but she is laughing all day long....
anybody have advice to help naps get better?

[carlson_bb]

Wow!  I posted something almost exactly like yours.  9 months must be a big time for babies!  You should look up my posting.  I think it is called 9 month old suddenly refusing to nap.  It is very recent.  Some people gave helpful advice.  I thought I needed to lessen A time and it turned out that I needed to increase it.  I am still struggling to get my bearings again, but my schedule is similar to yours actually.  I posted the most recent version in my last posting.  I think the big difference is that my daughter gets up at 6:30 and goes to bed at 7.  I read that at 9 months they should have 11.5 hours of night sleep and 2 naps of 1.5 hours each.  Let me know how it goes.  I'm very interested.  Oh, and I remember that when this problem first started I tried putting her to bed earlier and she woke up earlier in the a.m., which was super unusual for her.  I think the problem was that she didn't need more night sleep, she needed less!

[babyre33]

In case I can't find your post, can you paste a link here?  Thanks!

Before she went screwy, she had been getting 11.5, and then 2 1.5 naps as you said.  Just before she became overtired, her first nap went to just under an hr, and her second went a bit over 1.5.  I don't know if this was part of the overtiredness, or just a shift in her schedule. 

Once I finally think I"ve got her down, she changes...I"m sure that's the way it will be from now on.

[carlson_bb]

Here is the link:  https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=83111.0.  Well, maybe you are right that they'll be making a lot of changes for the next while.  Yesterday, she did fine on her a.m. nap, but when we put her down at 2:30 she played until around 3:15.  I went in at 3:15 and laid her down (she had been sitting on her knees looking at the humidifier when I walked in) and then she went to sleep.  This is becoming rather frustrating!

[babyre33]

As they're coming int o their own, I'm sure they'll do many different things to do it "their way".  Just roll with it for a while.  I guess she just wasn't tired enough if the humidifier was more appealing than a nap.  My dd almost never plays in her crib.  I wonder if I'm putting her down too tired and she's not learning how to sleep on her own.  She typically fusses for 3 seconds or drifts right off.  But I'm affraid when the feeding before bed goes, she wont' know how to go to sleep on her own because she's pretty groggy by the time she gets in the bed.

[Mamalou]

hi I was on another post and you referred me to this one..
not sure...but maybe try to increase just the first A time, instead of the 4hr?  I've heard it's quite normal for Los to have one short nap (45-1hr) and one long nap (1.5-2hr).  But apparantly the second should be the long one as it's more restorative and helps them get through the night.  It's also set up for easier transition when they start going to one nap..

good luck!
Kristi

[babyre33]

Yeah, her second nap normally is a bit longer than the first, not much though.  She's been all over the place lately.  She's having trouble going to sleep at night now too. 

Her first A time was set at 2.75 for a while and that worked, now it's all the way up to 3.25 which has brought the best napping in the past week maybe for nap #1 anyway.  So are you thinking more like A time #1 at 3.5 and #2 at 3.5 or so?

[Mamalou]

This may sound crazy, but if she wakes early, I've heard to try as much as possible to keep the original nap time for that first nap, as they say early naps may be causing the early waking.  I've been trying and now Kubko has been consistently doing a 4 hour first A time!  (I put him down 15 min early, but he doesn't go off usually til 15min later)  Actually, the days he actually woke at normal time this week I had to keep him up longer than his original 3hr A time in the am. 
I'd say try to stick to that 10 am nap time to see what happens...Then wake after 1 hr...do you do that? can't remember? Then 4 hour second A time and she'll probably sleep 1.5-2 for second nap.
HTH
Kristi

[babyre33]

That sounds BEAUTIFUL mamalou, but she has not taken a 2hr nap since she was an infant.  She woke at 5:15 this morning so that would make a LONG first A time.  I don't mind trying.  What I was trying to do today was have a 3.5 hr A time for both.  This would be extending the first to make the last not as long because her second nap has gone down the tubes.  the first nap was great today with teh 3.5 A time, I tried putting her down at 3.5 for nap #2, and she was WIDE awake.  It is now almost 4.75 hrs A time and she is not showing ANY signs of being tired.  In another .5 hr it will be 3pm, she almost NEVER naps after 3   So nervous right now.  This will make the longest A time in history for her if she doesn't take nap #2.  wish me luck.

[Mamalou]

oh geez, that would be a super long A time--better not try it, but go maybe 4 hours? Try anyway...
As for the second A time, it's usually longer than first isn't it? So maybe try 3.5 for first and 4 for second?  Maybe she's not showing any signs because she's overtired by now? Oh I hate it when you can't figure it out and I feel so bad that I can't help you more!

Was the original problems night wakings or early wakings?

Kristi

[babyre33]

I know she's overtired.  She's had less than 13 hrs sleep for a week now!!  Nothing I'm doing seems to be helping that much.  Yesterday both naps were just short of 1 hr.

Today after 4.75 hrs A time she finally went to sleep...for 25 min .  I put her in bed with me and she went right out, but only for 10 min at best.

I know today was obviously wacky with that second nap.  It just seems like everything I try doesn't work.  Other times it's like I find the right thing, and poof!  It's fixed.  It takes a while to find the right thing, but I'd get it.  This time, it seems like no one has any answers.  I know kids don't come with "rules" to follow.  But it always seems as though someone on here has the magic touch and all is right with the world again.

I feel like I've done everything I can with her A times and her naps aren't' changing.  And I know she's overtired, so I can't see how keeping her up more will help.  But she'll only take 2 naps, so I can't make the A times short or she'll be up for like 6 hrs before bedtime.  It keeps getting worse!  I"m a bit emotional too.  I just found out I'm pregnant, my mom is here visiting and has been a great help, and she leaves in 4 days.  I am exhausted, and unfortunately do not see any light at the end of the tunnel.

[babyre33]

I meant to say how i love the collage of pictures you have!  So cute!!!

[Mamalou]

thanx,that"s our baby group...why don't you come join us? It's Mar/Apr 2006 babies under birth clubs in Easy Forum..
Actually, maybe someone could help you better there,
I feel so guilty not being able to help you!!

[rinajack]

I think you need to decide on A times, and stick to them for a good week for things to improve.  I think that 3.5 followed by 4 sounds pretty good for this age, if not a little bit on the long side, bit you can always put down early if tired signs are shown earlier.

Re the pregnant thing, I know that feeling. If it helps you, will you lo fall asleep with you in your bed?  Then you could take your afternoon nap together.  I know this is not exactly BW, and you probably shouldn't do it Every Day, but it has certainly helped me cope with the first trimester tiredness and a lo who is not too keen to nap right now.

If your lo is happy, then maybe, just maybe, she isn't overtired.  My lo consistently does 13 hours per day or less, and is only a few weeks older than your lo.  If she is happy, and healthy, and coping with the amount of sleep she is getting, then try not to stress about it.

9-10 months is a tough time for sleep due to so many developmental miletsones.  We have some issues with this ourselves.  I often have to do wi/pd/wo to encourage Zara to go to sleep.  If you choose a method of telling/helping your lo to go to sleep, make sure you are super consistant with this also, and with winddown routines, I think it makes a huge difference at this age.

[babyre33]

Mamalou, don't feel guilty!!!  I appreciate all the advice.  My lo was born in May, I try and get in the May/June club as much as possile, but they are a bunch of chatterboxes, and I cannot keep up with them!

Rinajack, that is helpful!  She is realtively herself after she wakes, but I do think she is overtired because she is so miserable most of the time, or in that hyper alert phase where she can even act "delirious".  It's kind of scary to see how crazy she gets.  This is trypically just before bedtime which is already at 6pm.

Has anybody ever put your lo down before 6pm?  She;s waking around 5 am no matter what, so I was considering putting her down at 5 or 5:30 to see what happens.  The 3.5 A time for #1 has worked the best lately.  But nap #2 has not been good for a while.  You're right, I'll stick to the 3.5 and 4 for a while and hope for the best.  I was going to do a bit more than 3.5 this morning as she doesn't show signs of being tired before her nap normally (for #1).  But just before 3.5 she yawned, and we put her down.  She slept for an hr!!!!  Yea!!!  That's been the best in a while.  Even the 5 extra minutes I consider a vicotry.

Thank you all for your help and encouragement.  I definately need it!

Congrats to you rinajack!!!!!