8.5 Month old Schedule review

[sfamily]

Please provide some feedback regarding the following schedule for our 8.5 Month old baby boy.

All in all the schedule works fairly well right now but we would really like to see him taking longer naps instead of short naps 4 times a day like he is currently doing.  He is eating well between 28-32 oz of formula a day and he is about 17.5 lbs and is happy pretty much all day long and rarely fussy about anything except when he is tired.  We would also like him to sleep a little longer at night time but he has always been a short sleeper.


Sleep 8 PM
Wake 5:30 AM
Bottle 6 AM - 8 oz formula
6 am - 7 am - activity bouncer and floor playing while Mom and Dad get ready for work.
Feed 7 AM - Fruit and Cereal
7 am - 7:45 am - activity bouncer and floor playing while Mom and Dad get ready for work.
Nap 8 AM - in the car on the way to grandparents house. We have tried avoiding this nap but its almost impossible as the drive is 15 mins and he always falls asleep.  Usually 30 Min nap.
8:30 - Activity with Grandma. Playing walking in jogger and jumper
10 AM - 11 AM - Nap - Usually cant get him to sleep more then 45 mins to 60 mins
11:15 - Bottle - 8 oz forumula
12 noon - Feed - Vegies
12 - 2 - Activity Playing with Grandma
2:30 - NAP - Usually cant get him to sleep more then 45 mins to 60 mins
4 PM - Bottle 8 oz F
4 - 6 - Activity play time
6 PM - Short nap 30 mins usually in Crib or in car on the way home from Grandma's house.
6:30 PM - Dinner - Vegies
7 PM - 1/2 bottle of forumla 4 oz usually
7:30 - Bath time and reading with mom and dad
7:45 - Remaining bottle of 4 oz
8 PM - Bed time.

[Grace's Mom]

Hello 

When you lo wakes up, is he happy, fussy, etc.?

45 minute naps usually mean they they need more A time and most babies move to 3 naps at around 4 months of age so I think he is getting too many short naps and because they are short he's not able to stay up as long thus all the naps. 

Between 7-10 months most lo's move to 2 naps.  I think you should work on extending A time and moving to less naps.  It's seems that your lo is able to stay awake 3 hours which is what is needed for 2 naps.  An average 2 nap day looks something like this...

6am wake and feed
9-10:30 nap
1:30-3pm nap
6pm/6:30 bed time

Since your lo wakes up so early I would honesty shoot for an earlier bed time.  He may be overtired which is why he is waking early.  I know it seems strange, but an earlier bed usually helps them sleep in better. 

You may want to move to 3 naps first before jumping to 2 naps.  What do you think your lo can handle? 

-Melissa

[sfamily]

He almost always wakes up happy, even when its just short cat naps when being driven to grandparents house in the morning or on the way home after the day.

We have thought about trying an earlier bed time or longer naps during the day but we have just not been able to get him to sleep for more the 1 hour during the day.  He wakes up alert and ready to play.  He gets a lot of activity time during the day as grandma and grandpa keep him very active playing with toys going for walks and trying to walk.

Any other idea's or suggestions ?

[Grace's Mom]

Can you try adjusting his routine so that he can have longer naps?  With anything you try, you need to give it at least 3-5 days for the change to really start to happen as it takes about that length of time for their little bodies to adjust.  I personally would adjust the routine...ad a bit more A time to help lengthen those naps and then put him down earlier for bedtime and see if that helps....give it a week and then reevaluate if needed.

Does your lo have a wind down time and nap routine?

Melissa

[Grace's Mom]

Here are some links you may want to take a look at...

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64159.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64161.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64744.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=84884.0
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85134.0