Help with transition from 3 to 2 naps

[trrk]

My 7.5 month old baby seems almost ready to go from 3 to 2 naps. I try to follow her cues but her sleep seems messed up whatever I do. Some days she refuses the 3rd nap and ends up grumpy and overtired by bed time which we usually do around 7pm on those days. Other days the last nap is quite late (eg 5:30-6pm) then she doesn’t want to go down to bed until late leaving us no time to relax before bed. Either way she is waking frequently throughout the night (just for her dummy or cuddles, doesn’t seem hungry) when she used to sleep through. Of course the wakeups could be developmental but it seems coincidental that the timing has corresponded to her daytime naps being less reliable. Any tips to get her sleeping better both during the day and night?

I would be inclined to drop the third nap and (temporarily) bring bedtime forward a bit. If the first two naps are reliably the same length and time (ish) every day, she'll benefit from a consistent bedtime.

As she gets bigger she will be able to tolerate longer awake periods in the afternoon, and you can restore bedtime. I found with mine it was about 15 minutes every week.

The wakeups are probably mainly developmental; lots of babies have it at this age. It is a phase they grow out of.

Thanks for the advice! We’ve tried the earlier bedtime the last few nights without much luck so far so still a bit stuck on what to do. Last night was even worse as her 2nd nap was short (40 min) but she wouldn’t go down at all at bedtime for hours and also woke all night.

Hi, @trrk did this improve? I am going through the same thing. I also believe it is to do with dropping the 3rd nap.

@Finnigan123 I've found when they're transitioning to fewer naps some days they'll have 2 naps and other days they'll have 3, switching back and forwards for a bit

Luckily it did. After a few unsettled weeks she settled into the 2 nap pattern with roughly 2, 3 and then 4 hr wake windows through the day and sleep improved. She mostly slept through until nursery illnesses hit when she started nursery at 12 months and sleep had been pretty shit since unfortunately.

@trrk thats great. I have brought her bedtime forward 30 mins. It hasn’t helped yet but hopefully in a few days it will.

@Lammveg yes, on days she doesn’t nap as well, I will try add the third nap back in.

thanks - hope in sight….until nursery 😫