7m and dropping afternoon nap...

[emeraldgirl1]

Basically it just doesn't seem to fit in our new 'routine'!!

She has switched to a longer morning nap than usual (75mins when it used to be 30) and has a decent lunchtime nap of around 1.5h.

Our day currently goes:

7am wake, bottle and thn breakfast
9ish, morning nap til around 10.15
12pm lunch
1pm nap til around 2.30
4.30pm supper
6.30pm bottle
7pm bed

I moved her supper from 5.30ish to 4.30 because she was having sooooo much wind at night that I thought the earlier time would help, plus Also create a longer gap before her evening bottle. And this routine is working!! She is sleeping from 7 til 7 with just one wake up for a feed, whereas prior to this she was waking 6 or 7 times a night... So obviously I don't want to mess with something that is working.

BUT... She is so painfully tired by 6.30 that bedtime is a dreadful rush and quite stressful, shovelling bottle down her, racing through a story etc, all the while she cries and fusses...

7pm bedtime does suit us well though as I need to work in the evenings... But she barely sees her dad this way :( and it is awful to see her so tired in the late pm.

She used to have a nap at around 4.15 but that doesn't work with the earlier supper.

I tried to get her to catnap in pushchair at around 5.15 today but she was too alert from supper time etc... Besides am not sure is wise to be having a nap that late? Might start to make her struggle to settle in the evening?

Should I just tough it out on assumption she might have dropped the pm nap in a couple of months anyway?

Feel as if I am imposing this on her cos of switch in eating times but it is working and I don't want to mess with a winning formula after so long deprived of sleep!!!

[emeraldgirl1]

I should say that by afternoon nap I mean a mid-late afternoon nap... I call the 1pm ish nap a lunchtime nap... :)

[neversleepagain]

A baby has a natural drip in energy around 12:30-2:30 so this is usually a good time for them to have their main sleep.

If she is not sleeping much in the afternoon I would cut her morning sleep to just 20 minutes.

[emeraldgirl1]

Neversleepagain, thank you for post!! Would you try to make time for a late pm nap, then, and hope that cutting down a morning nap makes her more ready for extra time to sleep around 5ish?

[neversleepagain]

I personally wouldn't put her down that late. Try putting her down at around 9:30 and wake her at 10am. Lunch around 12pm then her main nap 12:30-2:30.

Not sure if I answered your question though!

[Iwaswatchingthat]

Agree with waking early from nap then early lunch and longer lunchtime nap.

[neversleepagain]

I put mine down at 6pm and they sleep right through until 7:30am. You could try moving her bedtime earlier to 6:30pm.

[omama]

Agree with neversleep. She's omly 7 months old, dont mess with her morning nap at the mo. Most babies drop the late afternoon nap between 6-9 months but as you are finding, they can be very tired as a result. An early bedtime is prob the best way to go. I know you say this means she wont see dh but remember this is just a short stage in her life, in a month or so she'll cope much better without that nap & you can grafually extend bedtimeback to 7pm again. Hth.