Why does my 7mo look and act so tired??

[CityDweller]

7 mo DD is (touch wood) sleeping ok - she does 2 daytime naps totalling 2-3 hrs and goes about 12 hrs overnight with one or two bride wake-ups. But the past week or so she's just looked and acted absolutely shattered. She's got bags under her red-rimmed eyes and by about 5pm (sometimes earlier) she's grumpy, rubbing her eyes and bedtime ends up being a screamathon.

I'm not sure why she's so knackered when she seems to be getting a decent amount of sleep. Or what I can do about it as she doesn't seem to show any need for more napping - it's not until late afternoon it goes pear shaped and by then it's too late to fit in another nap before bedtime.

Any ideas? Someone suggested it's a growth/developmental spurt thing, but surely if that was making her tired she'd just sleep more???

My 8mth ds is like this too. From about 4pm he is grizzly and clingy. I try to put him for a nap but he doesnt and will be like this until bedtime. So im looking forward to any suggestions anyone has.

How long since yours dropped the late afternoon nap yummy? Mine dropped hers about 3 weeks ago and I think this tiredness/ grumpiness goes with nap transitioning. The past few days she's napped longer in the morning (that always used to be a 35 min cat-nap), so maybe that'll help with the sleep deficit. she says in desperate hopefulness