7 month old sleep routine

[Thenemesisofthevole]

Would appreciate any suggestions. My ds naps well during the day (an hour ish at 9am, 1.5-2 hours after lunch and a short nap around 5ish) but is not settling for his night's sleep until 9-11pm.

We have a bed time routine at between 6-7pm; bath, body cream, pyjamas, grobag and story and a bf; we do this in his room, in the quiet but he doesn't ever seem to settle to sleep. If we put him in the cot he will chatter to himself and if we leave the room will cry. Neither of us want to go down the cc route.

He doesn't even appear to be tired until much later in the evening. When he finally does drop off for the night he usually only wakes once for a feed.

Has anyone got any suggestions that could help us help him?

Drop the late nap. My son had dropped his by 5 months or so.

What time does he wake? My dd1 was like this and still doesn't need much sleep - when she dropped her naps we finally finally could get her to bed at 8pm. To wake at 7am

Dd2 is just 8 months. She wakes at 7, naps at 11-12, then again from 3-5, then asleep by 8. She's sleeping beside me now, bless her. :) I find she goes about 3 hours between naps, apart from the morning one when she can go longer before getting tired. If it gets out if routine and she has an early morning nap, so ends up having a third nap from 5 ish she won't then sleep until gone 9 or 10.

Just my experiences. They are all different

Thanks both. He tends to wake between 6 and 7.30 which is ideal for us. Will try dropping the third nap if we can and see what difference that makes.

If he's waking at 6, then napping for an hour at 9, that would suggest his next nap should be 1pm for maybe 2-3 hours- then no 3rd nap should see you to bedtime at 7ish

So what I am saying is try to extend and or delay the second nap, as well as dropping the 3rd nap

namelessonsie. I appreciate the suggestions. Will give them a try this week.

Your 7 month old has the same nap routine as my just 4 month old. Def sounds like a nap issue.

Hello
Yeah I'd hazard a guess that it's too much daytime sleep- my DD will still take a late afternoon nap (e.g 4.30-5) if she has less than 2hrs rest at lunchtime and it doesn't stop her (currently!) going down well at 7. Am now experimenting with cutting down the morning nap to 25-30 mins to see if I can consistently get 2hrs at lunch- which would mean I don't have to pound the pavements to get the last one...

Thanks for the replies. We've had a mixed few days. The first day he went down at 7.30 and I was so pleased! However the next day it was midnight again and he was fractious from the missed nap onwards. Even taking him in the car didn't work. Last night he went for his long sleep at 8.30, but was up 6 times over the night (teeth I think.) I'm going to keep persevering with longer sleep at lunch and cutting the late afternoon nap.

After endless sleepless nights we are finally in a routine with our 7mth baby. Over the past few weeks he has had this consistent routine...

Up at 6ish
1st nap @9am for 1.5hrs to 2 hrs
2nd nap 2pm for upto 1.5 hrs
BF downstairs at 6pm, then upstairs with lights dimmed for pjs on, storey, gentle song and cuddle, in cot with his "sleep dog" (soft comfort toy), a kiss goodnight and then I leave his room.

It did take a few weeks of being consistent and firm. We have found the soft toy a blessing, as soon as he sees it he smiles, rolls over and falls straight asleep, very cute :-)

Ps meant to add he is asleep by 7pm and sleeps through the night