6 month old sleep/nap patterns

[Bumper1]

Hello everyone, I come to the sleep board in search of wisdom!!

Part of me thinks that I just need to chill out but I'll describe the situation anyway.

DS goes to bed between 6.30 and 7pm every night. He shuffles and snorts over the monitor while my husband and I have our tea and relax. He seems to settle down as the night gets later. During the night he cries at least once. This crying lasts only a couple of minutes and I don't intervene unless he sounds really distressed or it goes on longer than a few minutes.

He very rarely sleeps for longer than 45 minutes during the day. Typical day goes something like this (shifts about a bit depending on where we are, what time he wakes for the day etc)

Wakes for the day at 7.30am
Morning nap 8.45/9.15 - 9.30/10.00
Lunchtime nap 11.15/11.45 - 12.00/12.30 (I sometimes can convince DS to go back to sleep and so he gets another 30 - 45 minutes after 15 minutes awake)
Afternoon nap can be anytime between 2.30 and 3.30 and for the last few days has been lasting 1.5 hours.

I am wondering if his daytime sleep affects his nighttime and that is why he cries out/seems to wake a little? Or I am being over analytical and should be glad he stays in bed (mostly sleeping) for 12-13 hours and let him do his own thing during the day. I know that all of this will change in time anyway, especially when I go back to work in February and he is with other people 4 days a week.

Let him do his own thing. Most babies this age need about 3 hours sleep during the day, but not all babies are the same!

My 7.5 month old sleeps for 12-13 hours and still needs 3 hours sleep in the day (but he does have very lazy parents...). He also wakes and snuffles, or sometimes shouts out for a few seconds, then goes back to sleep.

Do you instigate naps? The first nap of the day seems a little soon after waking to me...my 6.5 mo needs his first nap around 2.5 hours after waking.
But in any case just follow his lead & try not to get too worked up over it. I let naps run my life with DC1 - am much more relaxed about it now.

Lose the routine ;)

Go with what your baby wants.

My ds is 7 months and our days vary depending what we're up to...... But generally:

Up anywhere between 7&8am

Back for a nap anywhere between 9.30 and 11 where he will sleep anything from half an hour to 2 hours.

Afternoon sleep is generally shorter and happens between 2&4, then bedtime is around 7, and I dream feed him about 10pm.

He's still EBF (and weaning) so sometimes wakes for a feed around 3am ish.

This is our routine, but is very loose and subject to change at a moments notice :)

Thanks everyone. I knew I should just continue to go with the flow. I follow DS's cues for sleep during the day. It's helpful for you all to help me keep perspective. Natural worrier here I'm afraid. Also helps to read your experiences

Your awake times look a little shorter than we have. DD is nearly 7 months, but tends to do between 2.5 and 3.5 hours awake time. Perhaps if you try gradually extending the activity time over a few days, maybe by going for a walk/looking out the window/distracting you might be able to get a longer nap? I just say this because a 45- minute nap for us means DD is undertired. :)

Oh, and I definitely find day sleep affects night sleep. I find if DD gets good naps she will sleep through. If not, she won't. So, while we try and be as flexible as possible with it, there's a big incentive to make sure she gets her sleeps in!

Most days look something like this:

7am - up
9.30/10am nap for 1-1.5 hours
2pm-ish nap for 1-2 hours
7pm bedtime

Some days her morning nap is longer, sometimes her afternoon one, but I find as long as she gets at least 2.5 hours of day sleep, her nights are okay.