9 month old nap, bedtime and overnight sleep troubles

[Beccus]

ds has never been a good sleeper. Currently sleeping roughly 2030-730 with 3 wake ups and fed back to sleep each time. Occasionally wide awake and won't go back to sleep for 2 hrs. He's been crawling about 3 weeks. His naps and bedtimes are a mess. He was on 2 naps a day, but wasnt getting tired until he'd been up 3.5, 4 and then 4.5 hrs. So that is 12 hrs awake already, plus the 2 naps plus time to settle for naps and bed. So, easily 14.5 hrs, making bedtime v late and not really leaving enough hrs for a decent chunk at night. he was self settling reasonably well on this routine.

I've tried moving him to one, but bedtimes have been awful. He just wants to stay up, crawling about with us keeping him company. He's happy if we let him do this, so not sure if he is overtired, but gets v upset if he is in his cot, regardless of whether we stay with him. He is still settling well for his nap.

I don't know how long he should be up after his nap. I tried 4.5 hrs, initially, but he wasn't tired until about 5.5 hrs. Yesterday he fell asleep in the buggy for 5 mins after 4.5 hrs awake and then was up another 3 hrs, despite seeming tired again at dinner. Tonight he seemed v tired at dinner, also 4.5 hrs after his nap, but didn't end up sleeping until he'd been up 6 hrs.

Anyone find their dc can't sleep after a bath? Wonder if bath before bed could be the problem as we moved bath to after dinner as he gets so grotty when he eats. Wwyd?

I think you might be suffering from the 9 month sleep regression.

Could you work on the naps? I found that this helped with mine. Where is he napping now?

My DS is 9 months old and we have just been through this. Seems like he was a very similar sleeper to yours!

What I did .... nap no. 1 was 3 hours after wake up (asleep by this time). Limit to 1 hour as if I let him sleep for longer he wouldn't take a 2nd nap and would result in 5am wake ups too strangely. Usually takes the full hour and I have to wake him. 2nd nap 3.5 hours after end of 1st nap (again .. asleep for this time) but let him sleep as long as he likes for this one. Usually max of 1.5 hours. Bedtime ... to be asleep 4 hours after wake up from nap time.

So roughly ....
6am wake up and milk
7am breakfast
9am nap
10am wake up and milk
1130am lunch
130pm nap
3pm wake up and milk
430pm dinner
615pm begin bedtime routine
700pm asleep

We stopped doing baths as part of bedtime routine for about 5 weeks as they were getting him too excited rather than relaxed. Just reintroduced now.

We have done this rough routine with naps and gaps between sleeps for 4 weeks now and in the last week he has started sleeping through the night or waking only once for a quick feed. So usually a 11 hour stretch. He previously never slept longer than 3 hrs at a time.

I THINK cracking the naps and gaps between them has led to this? Who knows though.

Hope that helps?

Sorry, also in this time he doesn't have his usually sleepy signals anymore. No eye rubbing or yawning .. actually his tired/overtired signs are him being really active. Almost hyperactive! However if I stick to these timings he is always asleep within 15 minutes and rolling/crawling around.

Arrghh .. meant my DS is 10.5 months old. Doh!

thx all. ds can sleep either in his cot or the buggy. I think he sleeps better in the cot, so I try to get him to nap there. maybe I should try getting him down earlier, but I don't think he is tired. if I try to put him down 3 hrs after wake up, he screams, but after 3.5 will self settle with no problems. he was up x 4 last night & woke for the day at 730. so, 1st nap could be 11 or I could push him to nearer 12ish. even 1 hr at 11 means the 2nd nap would be at around 415 by the time he settles, which I think would make bedtime too late. I think I have to go for one nap again and do bath earlier.

sleeping later is a new thing, too. used to be up 5/6ish, but he will sleep in a bit longer now if I feed him & put him back to bed

Its no problem to move bathtime to the morning, rather than bedtime. Lots of people have this as part of their routine. Indeed, no need to bath baby every day anyway.

If you are sure your baby isn't tired until 4 hours of awake time, then I would suggest working at significantly lengthening the 12pm nap and moving to one nap per day.

7.30 wake
12.00 nap
3.00 wake
7.30 bedtime

Is he eating enough? Just wondering as my friends Dd was very much like this but when she ramped up her protein intake she slept much better. Roughly, what does he eat in a day?

Have you heard about the No Cry Sleep Solution too? It's no a simple magic cure but helped us lots.

Personally, I don't think 1 nap is suitable for a baby this young, but I'm not the one trying to get him to nap

I'd go for 2 naps, but make them consistent. So try him for a time in the morning that suits you, maybe a long work before playgroup and then try another nap about 1sh, after lunch.

another crappy night with 4 wake ups, but, omg, such a better day, following a schedule similar to fate's suggestion. 1st nap 3.5 hrs after he woke up and he nearly slept for 3 hrs! Then bedtime 4.5 hrs after nap. Self settled no problem. ...before 7! He hasn't napped that long since he was a newborn, & I can't remember the last time he was asleep before 7....or self settled at bedtime. ....so yes, someone was overtired, me thinks. ...8 hrs awake better than 12....will be really interesting to see how tonight is. foodwise, he does normally eat quite a bit at lunch and dinner, less interested in brekkie and just has a banana. lunch and dinner are quite protein and fat heavy in an effort to improve sleep. I try and carb load his snacks

and no bath today either!

Happy to hear things are moving in the right direction!

So, so glad you've had a better day. Fingers crossed for tonight

well the 1st half of the night was a write off with 3 or 4 wake ups which all needed feeding back to sleep before 2. he may have been too hot as I put the fan on and he slept until 6, fed again and then up at 715. despite the wake ups, he has had a lot of sleep in bed last 24 hrs

Are you taking him out in the afternoon? Sunlight helps with sleeping.

At that age mine napped straight after lunch (in the pram in the Garden a bit) then we would be out in the fresh air and sunlight as much as possible in the afternoon. Once mine woke I gave them a snack and we went to the park.

I never let them sleep past three and they went to bed at seven.

If I were you I would try swimming in an afternoon as well. It's very tiring and his sleep patter might just need adjusting, tiring him out will help with that.

All of my children like a fan on at night, pretty much year round. Than fan moves according to temperature. So in winter it may be far away from the bed and pointing away from the bad. In winter it might be on childs bedside table pointing right at them. But it is always on at night.

Having a fan is not just about the room temperature.

• It is a source of loud white noise (which blocks out small, annoying sounds and also helps to relax)

• Also the air movement is in itself relaxing (like a breeze).

rubbish day. took almost an hour to settle for nap and I gave up on cot and had to put him in buggy. only napped for just over 2 hrs and needed resettling a few times. then at bedtime, 90 mins of screaming before eventually feeding to sleep on 3rd attempt. nap transitions are so tricky and having a toddler about does not help. we do get plenty of sunshine in pm and often go for a paddle in the paddling pool. Here's hoping for a better night