10 mo old playing for HOURS at night!

[EDuquaine]

I posted this originally in PU/PD and realized later that this is a more appropriate spot for it:
Hi Everyone,
We having been doing pu/pd for 10 days now and I am getting desperate.  It's not that it isn't working, it's just that there are some new problems cropping up that I don't know how to handle and I feel like I'm spending all of my nights standing by her crib.  I've seen a few things mentioned about this but I need the detailed instructions on what to do!

We have been co-sleeping since she had surgery at 5 months and I have allowed her to nurse throughout the night.  I was a major victim of the poor baby syndrome since I felt guilty about her surgery. 

So at ten months she was still nursing at least 3-4 times per night.  (Really bad, I know!)  Since I started pu/pd last week, she is laying down for naps and when I put her to bed with a little fussing but only about 10-15 minutes of problems.  However, she is STILL waking every 2-3 hours and for two nights in a row she woke the second time around 1am and cried for me.  When I went in, I did pu/pd once and she laid down right away but she proceeded to play in her crib for the next THREE HOURS!!!  I have taken everything out of her crib but she is so darn nosy that she will play with anything-the wall, her feet, the sheets, etc.  When I leave the room, she cries and stands up but when I am in there she talks and plays.  I just don't know what I am supposed to do.  I woke her from both of her naps after only an hour yesterday to ensure that she would be more tired but it doesn't seem to be helping.  In this case, do I leave the room and let her cry or what?  It isn't really pu/pd when she will lay down is it?  Please help!!  Also, I'd love to hear the schedules of other 10 month old babies as most that I have seen are more for younger babies.

Here is our daily routine-
around 5 or 6 she usually wakes up hungry so I breastfeed her but put her back down awake
7:30 or 8 get up
eat breakfast
play/bath/walk
breastfeed and put down (awake) for a nap usually around 10 (depends on the exact time we got up)
naps for around 1 1/2 hours
get up, eat lunch
play until around 2:30
breastfeed and put her down (again, she is still awake when I put her down) for second nap
she has been trying to sleep pretty long for this nap but I've been waking her after 1 1/2 hours so she will be more tired at night and not play!
5:30 dinner and either breastfeed or formula
7:30 start winding down by reading, breastfeeding, rocking
around 8 she goes to bed

Please let me know what I could do to change this.  I'm having trouble knowing when to do the breastfeeding because some days she wants more or less since she is kind of in transition with eating a lot of solids.  I don't really know how often she really needs to be breastfeeding while eating three meals. 
 

Thank you all for your help!
Erin (sleep deprived mother of Hannah) 

[Layla]

Hi Erin

At 10 months most babies sleep 1hr in the morning (some even 45mins) & take a longer afternoon nap (around 1.5-2hrs). So I would suggest waking her up from the morning nap & afternoon nap at 2hrs the most. Something like this:

7:30ish - wakes
BF upon wakening
9:30 - breakfast
10:30 - morning nap (3hrs A time in the morning)
11:30 - wake her from nap
BF upon wakening
1ish - lunch
2.30-3pm - afternoon nap (3.25-3.5hrs A time)
4:30 - afternoon nap ends
BF upon wakening
5:30 - dinner
7:30 - windonw + last BF
8pm - bedtime (3.5hrs A time)

This is a rough guide - some babies cut down to 3 feeds. Some still need a feed at night but I would wait about 5-6hrs so if she wakes earlier try to settle her other ways. Have a look at the solids forum to get an indea of how much a 10mo usually eats/drinks. Still do milk 1st followed by solids at least 1 hr later.

With pu/pd... if she is not crying, you leave the room. You might be better off doing the wi/wo method (although its for toddlers, it might work for you in this instance cause she just wants to play when she sees you). Here's the link to the method https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63896.0

I do think that there is too much daytime sleep can also cause them to be up at night & happily playing. So try cutting the morning nap & the pm nap to max 2 hrs (to start with). You will really have to do it longer than 1 day though - try something for 3-4 days to see if things have improved.

hth & keep me posted
Layla

[EDuquaine]

Thanks Layla, for the help.  I've been keeping her morning nap short for the past few days and it seems to be helping!  (Yay!)  She is still waking about 3 times a night but I think she might be teething so I can deal with that.  At least she will go back to sleep now without too much fuss.  It's still better than it was before BW.  Thanks also for the schedule.  It helped me to have some direction in that area.

[Layla]

You're welcome! Great to hear she is sleeping better now & not up for hrs playing .