Routine for my 7 month old?

[Nikkim30]

Can someone help me with a routine for my 7 month old? She is wearing me out as I think she is often over tired and grouchy but won't sleep, I think she may do better with more of a routine.
The problem is that very occasionally she will sleep through the night but she usually wakes up twice, sometimes more and sometimes less, she also wakes up at different times but usually around 6.15. She takes a nap around 2 hours later, and as and when throughout the day. She goes to bed around 6.30 - 7.00. That's as much of a routine that we have. She is a nightmare getting to sleep for naps and at night (I do read to her before bed).

Could anyone share their routines with me and how do you stick to them when you need to go out and about during the day? Also do you think they help?

Thanks

When DS was 7-8 months (he is 14 months now) he used to have one short nap at 8 or 9am, and then a longer afternoon one after lunch, about 12.30-1pm. Bedtime was (and still is) 7ish pm. However, I often had to resettle him half an hour into his afternoon nap.

I have always cuddled him to sleep for his daytime naps, but settled him into his cot at bedtime. So after lunch I would just cuddle him until asleep and after a couple of weeks he got used to sleeping around the same time.

As he is my first DC, it was easy for me to arrange my outings around his naps, I don't know what I would have done if I had other DCs though. The routine seemed to help with his night time sleep (he used to wake once for a bottle and then go back down until the morning - very early morning though), then the 9 months sleep regression hit - and my MN nickname was born.

I wish I could cuddle her to sleep, she would just cry and fidget to get away!

My dd2 10 months gets up at 6isha nd then has a snooze at 9am for an hour and hen a second nap at 2pm for an hour. I have to admit that I like routines. She sleeps in her cot at home or if we are out I try and time it so she can snooze in the buggy or car around those times HTH

I think you should try and persevere with some set nap times. This will make your day far more predictable and you will be in control. You will know when to plan things / see friends and also know that she won't be tired when you want her up playing or socialising.
I've always had an issue with early waking like you - we had 0600 starts for ages but it did get better towards the end of his first year. If you can try and stretch her so the first nap is no earlier than 9.00 that will help. I've even read that a later first morning nap -9.15 - can help prevent early waking but that didn't happen for us.
Here's my programme:

Nap at 0900 for 45 mins and I used to wake him after that. If the morning nap was too long, then he'd only have a short one later and would be overtired by bedtime so waking her up is key!
Lunch at 1130, playtime and nap at 1230 -2.30 or so. Sometimes he'd wake after 45 mins and wouldn't settle back to sleep although he was tired and I just had to get him up and take him for a walk later and hope he'd nap in the pram around 4pm as I needed to get out for a walk by then.
Teatime at 5, bath at 6, milk 6.30 and settled to sleep at 6.45 in the hope he'd be asleep by 7.
When I started this routine at about 8 weeks it took MONTHS to get him used to napping in his cot. There were tears and I was in and out every 10 minutes but eventually he'd fall asleep.
Eventually he got used to the ritual of going upstairs, sleeping bag on, blackout curtain up, a cuddle and lullaby or two, in cot, door shut and that was it.
I think because he took most of his naps in his cot, he got to like it (he's got all his teddies in there too) and he NEVER wakes in the night needing us which is a huge bonus (now that I've also got a 4-month old terrible sleeper)
Good luck!