A good routine for 7 month old baby?

[enchantmentandlove]

I hope it's okay to post again, as only yesterday I made a thread as dd has been struggling with sleep due to a new cot/teething/a cough and cold. Thank you for all of the advice I received.

This post is just dds general sleep, not the past few days we've been having.

Anyway, since making that post I've been reading through several threads and feel like my 7 1/2 month old dd doesn't get nearly enough sleep in general. My mum and mil tell me I let her nap too much and to cut them down, but from reading here I'm not sure if dd is napping enough at all. Getting her to sleep can be very tricky and I've always struggled with a routine.

Between 6:00-7:00am wake up & 7oz bottle
If she woke up nearer 6 she will have a nap (around 7:30-8:30/9) then have breakfast, if she woke up nearer 7 she will have breakfast then a nap, around 40 mins-1 hour
She refuses a later morning bottle so has some fruit
Midday - lunch
Around 3pm - 6/7oz bottle
3:00pm-4:00pm sleep (I never wake her up from naps, sometimes she will have an hour, sometimes only 40mins, sometimes an hour and a half, it's really random)
5:00pm, dinner
6:30-7:00pm or 7:00pm-7:30pm, bed time routine (bath, story 7oz bottle)
Then she sleeps roughly 7:15/7:30pm till morning, stirring quite a lot though. I also sometimes give a 6oz feed in the early am. This is a good day. Sometimes she will only nap for about 15 mins in the afternoon, and won't go back to sleep no matter how hard I try.

Reading that 'routine' sounds so silly. I have really tried to get more milk in her, and give her more naps but she just refuses. She usually naps in the day in our bed/or co sleeper (we have very recently got a cot which isn't going so well), or in the pram after a walk. In the night it's our bed or co sleeper (now cot). She won't sleep in her carrier or bouncer etc. She also needs me to get to sleep and has a dummy.

I would really appreciate knowing some other routines, or what I can do to get a better routine for us. I've always let dd take the lead, but she ends up over-tired. I try putting her down before she gets too tired, but it usually results in an hour of wasted time.

I know this is long and hope it makes sense! Thank you

[Ineedanewbody]

The volume of milk she's having is fine, 600-700mls plus solids and water? How much solids are you giving her for breakfast & lunch?

Sleep wise a good rule of thumb is the awake time at this age is 2-2.5hrs with a longer awake period before bed. Do it may look something like this:

7am - awake
Milk
8.30 - breakfast
9am - nap

10am awake
11.30- lunch
12-12.30 -nap

1.30 -awake
3pm bottle
4pm - nap

4.30 - awake (wake up if asleep)
5.30-6pm - dinner
Milk
7.15-7.30 - bed

Watch for sleepy cues and you may need to take her out in the buggy or whatever to get her to nap.

Not all babies will fit this but most will. Might take a bit of work though.

By 9 months most have dropped the third nap and having a morning & afternoon nap. Short naps are usually due to over tiredness. She's having s really long awake period so that's probably why.

[Ineedanewbody]



[Ineedanewbody]

This might be useful

[Ineedanewbody]

And this

[enchantmentandlove]

Thank you so much Ineedanewbody - that is so helpful!

[OohNoDooEy]

I think at that age it's time to move to a by the clock routine. I'd do a nap at 9am and 1.30pm. Breakfast at 8, lunch at 1, dinner at 5. Bedtime routine from 6.30 with a view to sleeping by 7.

2/3/4 is popular and what they do at day nurseries.

[enchantmentandlove]

Also breakfast I usually porridge sweetened with some fruit puree, her morning snack some fruit or steamed veg cut up into small pieces, lunch is some finger foods then dinner is some homemade lumpy puree (about a first stage freezer pot full) then sometimes a framage frais if she still seems hungry.

[enchantmentandlove]

Thank you, that makes sense. I used to be a nursery nurse so did things quite routined, but never have so much with dd, and just thought we would naturally fall into one. But as she's getting older I think it may have to be more structured.

[seven201]

The advice is all so contradictory. I have a 7 month old and received one of those 'your baby is 7 months old' emails the other day and in it said your baby should not be napping more than 3 hours total during the day (I can only dream of that much, not been that long since she was a month old (she has silent reflux and allergies though)!!) and be dropping down to two naps (never made it above two!!) as it will affect their night time sleep, which obviously goes against the chart a pp pasted in.

At one point I made a spreadsheet so I could track a whole week and then try and work out what routine to try and instigate. What actually helped was making a conserved effort to watch for sleepy cues. It sounds like what you're doing is working though so I wouldn't rock the boat unless you feel something isn't right.

[enchantmentandlove]

Thank you for your reply, I have found the same! When I guess each baby is different so different things will work. I'm always on a debate with myself too - one part of me wants a more structured routine, whereas another part of me likes being more flexible, I'm not sure.

I think making a real effort to notice those cues earlier will help, as will maybe writing down each day for a week (when she's feeling better), to figure things out.

[Ineedanewbody]

I think once you start solids there's more of a need for routine. I was totally baby led with DS and eventually found a routine about 8 months in when getting sids established.

With DD we were in a routine from a few weeks in. Partly because you're already in one but also as I realised life's so much easier when you have a well rested baby.

[enchantmentandlove]

Thank you for your help, that totally makes sense. I'll wait until she's feeling a bit better and figure things out. We've always been pretty structured with bedtime, but other than that a lot more relaxed which sometimes works but sometimes doesn't.