6pm meltdown - 5mo bedtime difficulty

[CookieTramp]

Hi all. My 5mo nightmare sleeper has developed a new problem. He has been a terrible sleeper night and day since birth and until this week did 10-20 minute naps only during the day and woke every 40 minutes at night.

Day naps are getting better: I get half an hour in the morning and about an hour at lunch but he now refuses to nap around 5ish, although I try every day. Today I tried at 4 and 4.30 too but he will not have it. This means that by 6 he is having a complete meltdown and I am forced to put him to bed.

But of course he treats it as a 10minute nap and then won't go down at the usual 7pm.

Any advice? We are seeing the cranial osteopath this week in desperation but wondered if anyone had any bright ideas in the meantime regarding timings. Night sleep hasn't got any better since the daytime naps improved. He sleeps 2-3 hours initially and then wakes regularly throughout the night.

It sounds like sleep regression, waking every 40 mins means he can't transition through sleep cycles so wakes instead. How do you get him to sleep?

For that last nap, have you tried pram and sling? Could you try an activity in the afternoon so he's tired out? My ds always crashes after a baby group.

I'd say sleep regression but he was only better than this for 3 weeks , ever! Around the 3 month mark we had those three ok weeks.

We get him to sleep during the day with a dummy to calm him, rocking and singing and then drowsy into his cot with Ewan the Dream Sheep. When it's proper bedtime he is fed to sleep.

Activities are a good idea but post-school-time is dominated by DS1 at the moment so it is hard to make the right thing happen for the baby.

Do you think we just have to sit tight and wait for improvement with age?