6mo routine?? I need your help MNers!!

[louloupoo]

I'm desperately trying to get 6mo ds into some kind of a routine before I go back to work in 4 wks.

At the mo he wakes any time between 5 and 6, I'd LOVE him to go til 7 but he wont have it. I've tried feeding, pat and shhing, pupd, into bed with me - No chance! Once he's awake, he's awake.

Dp gives him a bottle at about 6:30 but he only takes around 3 oz. Then I give him his porridge at about 7:30 which he finishes. His first nap tends to be at around 8:30/9 for 45mins. Then he'll have his lunch at about 11:30/11:45 with some water and go down for another nap at about 12/12:30. I'd like this nap to be for around 2 hrs but generally he only does 45 mins. I offer him another bottle at around 2:30/3 and he usually takes about 3-4 oz. As he only has 45 mins at lunchtime I have to get him down again at around 4 for another 45 mins. when he wakes up I offer him some more water. Dinner is at about 5/5:30 with more water and bedtime is about 6:30/7.

He goes down for all naps and bedtime no problem but I breast feed him til he's quite sleepy. He still wakes at 11 and 3 for feeds, which I'd love to stop in time for going back to work because the next morning is killer!!

I just dont know what to tackle first...Going through the night without feeding? Settling without feeding? Or trying to make his lunchtime nap longer so he doesnt need another?

I'm sorry for the mega long post. But I'm in desperate need of some advice! He's done so well with the weaning and drinking water from a beaker, I just really need these sleep issues sorted before I go back to work at the end of March.

I eagerly await your thoughts and/or advice wise MNers.

Thanks in advance

I went back to work when DD was almost 6 months and was frantic for the last month at home with her trying to get her into a routine.

She hated it, wasn't ready, and resisted it at every turn. She screamed the house down when I tried to get her to nap at set times. It was horrible.

It turned out that my efforts were all for nothing, because her nursery didn't enforce routines for babies. They fed them when they were hungry and put them down for naps when tired.

DD eventually fell into the nursery routine around 9 months.

DD's nursery was just far enough away that she would nap in the car for 10 minutes to and from there. Nothing I could do about that.

Once your DS is away from you in the day he will probably be more tired and sleep differently anyway.

My advice would be to check with your childcare provider whether or not a "routine" is actually necessary. It might save you a lot of heartache and stress for the next four weeks if it's not needed. And you might settle DS into one routine only to have it thrown out by a new routine with the childcare provider.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much and just relax and ENJOY your last four weeks at home.

I hope that helps - and good luck with your return to work x

No advice just sympathy!!my dd is nearly 8 mths and just started crawling. Her naps are all over the place!she is well on her way to ditching the morning nap already yet still struggles to go longer than 45mins after lunch. One piece of advice i would give though is to make the morning nap later in order to encourage a later wake up in the morning. if you stick to 9 as the absolute earliest and then try to stretch it out by 5mins each day you should find that this helps xxx

My DS is the same age is I am struggling to cut out the 3am feed.

Tried everything!! Night time milk that meant to keep them fuller for longer, dinner later...etc.

But from reading other threads about naps/night sleeping there is no easy solution I'm afraid.

Have a look at the My Baby Won't nap thread. Lots of other mums in the same boat. You might get some advice :)