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7 month old nap muddles - too much or too little sleep?

7 replies

Jane7 · 06/03/2012 11:27

Hi, I've got in a total muddle with seven month old dd's sleep. This is what she currently does:
Wakes between 5.30 and 6am - has bottle and breakfast
Sleeps between 8.30 and 11.30 - one ginormous three hour nap
SLeeps again between 2.30 and 3.30pm
Then bath at 7 and asleep by 7.30

But 5.30am is too early for me and I'm wondering if she's sleeping too much in the day and then only getting 10 or so hours sleep at night. What does this pattern look like to you? Wld it be better to go for 3 naps? Wld love to know what other 7 month olds do. I know I'm lucky that she sleeps all night, but I feel she's really tired at 5.30 ad I don't unerstand why she wakes then. SHe used to sleep 7 until 7. Thank you!

OP posts:
PrincessPrecious · 06/03/2012 12:05

Perhaps make the morning nap a bit shorter and she might sleep past 6am!!

Jane7 · 06/03/2012 20:16

Thanks princessprecious - i know what you mean, but if i make morning nap shorter, then she'll go down earlier for afternoon nap, be even more tired in evening, so go to bed earlier and then surely get up eaarlier... help!

OP posts:
PrincessPrecious · 07/03/2012 11:12

Perhaps. You could try it and see what happens. Otherwise just accept you have to wake up at 5.30am!!! Some babies are always waking up in the night so you are lucky really. My 11 month old DD won't sleep in the daytime anymore. She sleeps all night from 9pm to about 7 or 8 am. Put her to bed any earlier and she will wake up earlier! At 7 months she did have a nap during the day, just one in the afternoon for an hour or so.

citymonkey · 07/03/2012 14:10

I think that the number of hours sleep sounds fine to me, but maybe needs to be divided a bit differently - ideally to get her sleeping in a bit later than 5:30? Is she feeding in the night?

I'll tell you what I do. My son is six months old. When he was four months I started him on a routine roughly based on how long he could stay awake before getting tired. I find now that at six months, that is usually about 2/2.5 hrs.

Wakes up at anywhere between 6:45 and 7:30am (I have usually woken him at 7am if still asleep but he has recently dropped 10pm feed so if he sleeps later I have let him for last few days!), has milk feed.

Goes down for a nap about two hours after he wakes - so usually put him down around 9am. He will usually sleep for 45mins to an hour. I will wake him if he is still asleep for much longer than an hour (which he isn't usually). SO say he wakes at 10ish.

At 11am he has milk and then solids (have been weaning him for about 10 days now) - though I will be planning on giving him some solids after breakfast milk in a few weeks and then this 'lunch' will move forward to 11:30/11:45, and he should be able to stay awake a bit longer to eg 12:30.

At about 12/12:15 I put him down again and he has his 'big sleep' which I try to make at least two hours (though sometimes he wakes a bit early), so he is usually ready to get up at 2/2:15 ish.

He will then need another nap to get him through til bath/bedtime, which he will usually have some time after 4pm. No more than an hour here, though can be as short as twenty mins - he really needs this to recharge though.

Then naked time / bath at 6pm, fed and in bed by 7.

Our babes have the same total sleep time but just split differently! Not sure what your nights are like though?

citymonkey · 07/03/2012 14:12

PS - I used Jo Tantum's 'spaced soothing' techniques for naps. My little one at four months wouldn't go longer than 45 mins so I had to get him to stretch this out.

er1507 · 07/03/2012 15:52

I think the morning nap sounds too long so where she's waking t 5.30 shes maki uk for a longer sleep at this nap. My dd is 7mo and this is what her routine looks like...

Around 7am wake up
Morning nap between 9/9.30 depending in how early/late she woke
Naps for 45-60min I never have to wake her
Lunch time nap at 12.30/45 again for 45-60min
Afternoon nap 3.30/4 if she goes to sleep closer to 4 then I make it a shorter nap as I like her to be awake by 4.30 so that she's tired enough for bedtime.

However now she's getting closer to 8months and managin to stay awake longer I will soon be pushing her morning nap a bit later and the same with the lunch time nap and cutting the afternoon nap out altogether.

I would try pushing your dds Mormon nap back by 10min every couple of days and go back to the earlier bedtime of 7pm. Hope this helps.

er1507 · 07/03/2012 15:53
  • I ment where she's waking up at 5.30 she's making up for the sleep with the longer morning nap
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