Naps and night feeds

[FFSparenting]

I have a now 10 month old boy and he seems to be a good sleeper which I am so thankful for. He went through a stage of sleeping through until 6am ish and even did an amazing 7am -7pm a couple of times. But currently he wakes most nights around 4am/5am, I usually leave it 15mins before going to him but if he isn't settling I give him a bottle which he usually devours and a quick nappy change and he settles himself back to sleep usually. Just wondering how I eliminate the 5am feed? Or will it, like most things with babies, just sort itself out and he will drop it himself? I'm aware I'm incredibly lucky to just have one wake up though except if he's ill or teething.

Also on napping in the last couple of weeks he has dropped his second nap and now does one mega nap in the morning around 10am until 12, today he did 10:15 to about 1245! The trouble is he is then awake all afternoon and gets really tired bit won't nap again unless in the car. I generally put him to bed earlier at 6:30. Is this OK, seems really young to drop to one nap but if that what he prefers maybe I just go with it? I go back to work soon and he's my first so I'm fretting how it will work with the childminder.

Thanks for your advice!

I would try and move the nap until later in the day.

He will drip his last bottle when he is ready.

I personally wouldn't even offer milk at 5am. When my 9mo wakes that early and won't settle, I tend to do the "wrong" thing and bring him into our bed where he does go for another sleep cycle. I've read that you're supposed to let them have a strict 10min power nap when they wake that early to get them through the day. Could it be a sleep regression that's making him wake up? If so it will sort itself out in a few weeks.

If he's able to go from nap time to bedtime without getting grouchy, I'd say drop the second nap. Is he able to settle at bedtime or is he overtired? I think 10-12 months is when you can think about one nap, but it really depends on if the baby is ready or not. As long as he has structure with a childminder he should be fine.

Try a dream feed to eliminate the 5am wake x

I would offer the feed at 4 or 5 am and he will drop it very soon.
regards Nap, you need to wake him up from the morning nap and have a longer lunchtime nap. I know it goes against instinct to wake a sleeping baby but otherwise you will get in a terrible pickle with over tiredness

I have an 11 month old and her routine is wake up around 7am and is usually ready for her first nap at around half 9/10am. I never let her sleep past 11am, to ensure she is ready for her afternoon nap around 2pm, and make sure to wake her up no later than 3.30pm. This works really well for us so that she's tired by 7/7.30pm bedtime. She is showing signs of dropping the first nap but not quite there yet, I think you might be best trying a short morning nap, even if it's just 20/30 minutes to get them through, and a longer afternoon nap (not that it always works out that way!!) It pains me sometimes to wake her but I know its for her own good, as well as mine so I can get a full night sleep 😂 I would suggest offering a cuddle, water, rocking, sign a little lullaby etc at 5am if little one wakes, and hopefully they wouldn't over time if you stick to a slightly later bedtime. I'm learning everything as I go so completely appericate how all babies are different and not everything will work for all. I also find giving my baby a bit more energetic play time around 5ish helps knacker her out lol I do on occasion have to put her down at 6.30pm if shes really tired, and wonder if it's too early, but she still sleeps until 7am so must not make much of a difference. I hope you get a longer lie in soon ❤

Thanks so much for your replies. He seems to be moving his morning nap later and later, this week I've not been able to get him to sleep until around 10:45/11am. He just keeps sitting up and playing! So I suppose he is naturally moving to one nap more in the middle of the day so I'll go with that. I just can't bring myself to wake him as I'd have such a long stretch of the day left until bedtime and he is refusing his afternoon nap completely now. And as he is moving his nap later I'm hoping that will work and he will settle into a new routine soon.

The 5am wakes seem to be all over the place from 3:30am to 5ish but just one wake up and he always goes back to sleep after he devours the bottle. I do find he doesn't drink much water with his meals in the day so wonder if he is waking from thirst so could try giving him water to see. Just hard at 4am when you know what works! Would you give water in a bottle? I can't see him being happy with a his water cup so could try a bottle first to see if it works. Thanks all.

He's overtired - this results in early wake ups and is also probably why he won't settle for his nap. 10 months is too early for most babies to drop to 1 nap. I would readjust your schedule and reinstate a short second nap somewhere with wake windows of 3-4 hours.

Facilitate an short morning nap however works for him (rocking/pram/car etc). Cap it at a time that works (I found 10-15 mins plenty). so say maybe 9:30-9:45.

then lunch nap from 12:30/1 wake up by 3.

would be highly unusual to be ready for 1 nap. In terms of the 5am wake up, try to fit enough water/milk/food in during the day. Make sure room is dark enough (it’s getting so light in the mornings now). I found this wake up did go away by itself best thing you can do is make sure schedule and environment are as ideal as possible

I think it sounds like he's overly tired too, if he's waking at 5am he will want a long morning nap. I know it's so difficult to wake them sometimes, when your finally getting some restpite! But I just keep telling myself if I wake my little one up from the morning nap around 11am, it means I'll at least get an hour in the afternoon to get some housework done or sit on the sofa! Lol and she's then not overtired at night and struggling to go down for bedtime. It's so strange but they just don't want to sleep when they are overly tired 😴 you could definitely offer water from a bottle if he will take it. I initially offered my little one water from a cup, which was alway a mess because she got soaked, but it introduced her to it at least. I've tried a few different cups and the BEST one I found was the tum tum cup, you can buy it from amazon and its amazing, no spillage and they can even drink it upside down which is handy lol

Thanks again all, he is now nearly 11 months and still won't do his afternoon nap but I'm finding the wake ups are not happening as much and he is now sleeping through. So it probably was too early for him to drop it but it seems to be sorting itself out. I probably should have been waking him from his morning nap.