why is my baby awake in evenings...

[bouncinbean]

...after months of being a good sleeper?

11 months old, goes to bed between 6 and 7. Used to sleep til about 11/12 when we went to bed and got another feed, then a final stretch till 6/7.

Now she goes to bed, but will wake after an hour and then is awake till 11ish - just will not settle to sleep either on her own or with me cuddling. Does not seem to be hungry just awake. Still wakes at 6/7 in the morning but seems to be making up for the lack of evening sleep with a morning sleep till 9.

Any tips on how to help her sleep in the evening? Overall she's getting less sleep and is becoming more grumpy as the lack of sleep is building up. (Still naps twice a day but they are about the same)

Time to move to one nap maybe? One longer deeper sleep may do the truck

This is around the age that it's not unusual to transition to one day time nap for this reason.

Have you tried getting her up at 7am and getting her outside? Make a stick her coat on and take her in the garden. Hopefully after a few days it will reset her body clock

Right tomorrow I will try to keep her awake after morning feed and see if we can reset her back to evening sleep.
Transitioning to 1 nap - do you just drop 1? Even though she's sleepy? Even now with 2 naps we have to really distract her at about 4.30ish so she can have her tea rather than a third nap!

Start by shortening the first. Then bringing the 2nd one earlier in the day until eventually they merge.

May mean a much earlier bedtime for a while (and an earlier wake up over the Summer possibly) but that will shift gradually as she copes better with being a little bit more tired later in the day.

Morning/ midday light exposure is a good idea.

At 11 months I'd go for 7.30 awake
11am lunch
11.30-1 sleep
5 pm cat nap of 30 if required
7.30 bed

Did you manage to keep her awake this morning? Have you managed to get her outside too? Keep us posted

Hi jilted - managed to keep her awake this morning first thing, but the rest of the day has ended up all over the place. Has come out in a rash and snotty nose today so very tired and has actually ended up having 3 short naps during the day. I think we're all a bit under weather as 3 of us fell asleep together on sofa this afternoon...
Went to bed at 7 and was up again at 7.30, and took till 9 to get her back to sleep again. Got 40 mins before waking again, but this time was back to sleep quickly. Although written down its not much better but I feel much calmer and relaxed and feel like we've got some
ideas to try. More fresh air and once she's not so obviously poorly to make sure she's not sleeping too much in the day.

Poor little thing. Hope you all feel better soon

Thanks - unfortunately this kind if thing is a trigger for her eczema and we're now dealing with a flareup across most of her body :-(
Normal routines are out of the window till we get that back under control and it's anything to get through the day and night. Poor thing is all red and blotchy and overtired now as are the 2 of us.
Last time it took a few days so hopefully by end of week we can start to get into some kind of normality and reset our routines... In the meantime I will be loading up on chocolate and the odd glass of wine or bottle of beer. Good excuse to drop the housework as I will need to nap in the day instead!