7 month old naps.

[mermaid101]

Has anyone got any advice for me about my DD's (just over 7 months old) naps.

Until she was 6 months she was an excellent sleeper (I know - very, very lucky!). When she got to 6 months her sleep went totally haywire and she was waking every hour for about three weeks. Thankfully this has settled down now. I think it was a combintation of regression and teething.

However, she is still waking up 2/3 times a night. It seems to follow a pattern: first wake up about an hour after she has been put down at 7pm and then two fairly close together between about 9 - 11.30pm. She isn't hungry and she doesn't appear to be teething just now. She goes back to sleep fairly quickly.

My friend suggested that this pattern of waking is down to overtiredness.
My DD gets up about 6.30am. She has a half hour nap at about 8.30/9am. The she has a sleep after her lunch about midday (normally for about just over an hour, although ocassionally as long as two) and then sometimes a short nap at about 4.30pm.

Does this sound about right? I would like her to try to sleep longer after lunch, but she usually wakes up after about an hour and I can't always get her back to sleep.

Would this explain the waking at night? I appreciate a few wakings before midnight aren't really the end of the world, but if it was possible to sort this out it would be great.

Hi - I'm in the same situation with my 6 mo DD. She was also a beautiful sleeper until she started teething. I've started reading a book called the 90 minute sleep plan by a lady called Polly Moore, who is a sleep scientist at a US university. She says babies have a 90 minute sleep cycle. DD has just started crying so I need to run, but if you google Polly Moore her website will come up and there's lots of useful info on there. Good luck!

Hmm, I would say overtiredness is usually the cause of unsettledness before midnight; it always was for us. Her lunchtime nap could def do with being longer, but as she's having a catnap at 4.30pm, this should help with her overtiredness from the short LT nap.

Maybe try cutting out the catnap and putting to bed earlier to avoid excessive overtiredness. Also, have you tried feeding her when she wakes after an hour at lunch?

Thanks for the replies. Lucidlady I'll get a look at the Polly Moore stuff. Has it worked for you and your DD?

Loveisagirlnameddaisy, sorry for the silly question, do you mean giving her more milk when she first wakes at lunchtime and then trying to put her back down?
It's something I've not thought of, and have been trying to pick her up and pat/shush her but she very rarely goes back to sleep, although doing this works at night.
It's all so confusing!

Actually, thinking back, it was what I used to do if she woke before she was weaned in case her 11am milk feed wasn't enough to see her through her nap. I think by 7 months, when she was on solids at lunch, it wasn't a problem. You could try giving her a top-up feed when she wakes before she gets too alert as it's then really hard to settle (naps tend to be lighter sleep than nighttime which is why shush pat maybe isn't successful).

The thing to aim for is getting her body used to having a long sleep at lunchtime so even if you feed to start with, you hopefully won't have to do this long-term. Does she wake up naturally after her 30 mins morning nap or are you waking her?

Hi - its worked in the sense that it's helped me to get her to nap more regularly. We used to have real nap problems. However, the night waking continues to be an issue. Why, I'm not sure, as she naps for 2-3 hours a day, which is meant to be the right amount. I'm wondering if I need to increase the naptimes somehow.

lucid what's your usual routine during the day?

It normally looks like this:

7-7.30: wake, milk
8: breakfast
8.30 - 9.15ish: nap
10: milk
11.30: lunch
12.15ish - 2.15ish: nap (this one can be between 1 - 2 hours
The rest of the afternoon then tends to depend on when she wakes from that nap. Generally she will have some more milk when she wakes, followed by milk and dinner around 5.30. Bath is at 6ish, followed by story, last milk feed and bed by 7. She's stopped having a late afternoon nap. Ive tried to reintroduce it but it just means she's wide awake until about 9pm which is far too late.

Lucid at a glance I would say that looks like a really good routine for a 6 month old, although a bit short on sleep overall if her lunchtime nap is not regularly 2 hours.

Its puzzling to know if she's overtired or undertired... Not wanting to go to bed if she has the late nap indicates she doesn't need it, but if she's waking a lot in the night, she could equally be overtired! How much and for how long does she wake in the night?

Hi,
Lucid that looks almost exactly the same as my routine. My DD got a full 2 hour nap yesterday lunchtime and I thought I'd cracked it!

No such luck. She was up about 6/7 times between 7pm and midnight. Then she slept until morning.

How you asked anyone else what they think it might be? I'm desparate for answers!

mermaid don't judge things after one day. She may need a fortnight of regular 2 hour lunchtime naps before you see the difference at night. It took us weeks to see improvement so patience is crucial. As is consistency.

thanks loveisagirl. You're right: it's very hard not to panic when you're in the middle of it all and become negative.
She only slept for an hour today at luch, but I'm taking your advice and adopting a more wait and see approach.

Thanks so much!

You're welcome! I waited weeks to see the fruits of my labour and we were rewarded in the end!

Do you know what, I'm giving up on trying to crack the nighttime sleep problem for now. DD is going through a growth spurt at the moment (seriously, stuff that fitted her two days ago no longer fits...) so I'm just going to feed on demand while she needs it. Hopefully in a few days I can start fixing it again.

Goodbye, sleep...it was fun while it lasted

That could definitely be the cause. Give it a couple of weeks (growth spurts don't go on for months) and if it's still as bad, try again. Good luck. :)