When routines go out of kilter

[Purp]

DD (7 months) isn't on a strict routine but ends up eating and sleeping at similar times. I'd like to know what is it best to do when you get the odd blip and say she wakes at 5.30am. Surely then all her breakfast, lunch and naps are put out? Do I give her her lunch at 10.30?! Also as she will be more tired, is it right to keep her to her normal 7pm bedtime or is it OK to put her down earlier. I worry that then she would continue to wake earlier.

Also, she has started only having a 30 mins nap at lunchtime (since putting her down not straight after a brestfeed). DH says he thinks this is because that is all she needs but I think, even though she is an individual, nearly all babies do need a longer lunch time nap. What do you think? Is it worth trying another nap at around 4pm?

My dd has between 2 and 3 hours naps a day - if she doesn't have these she gets overtired and doesn't sleep so well at night.

I don't think your routine will be all out - what time does she normally wake ? I know my dd wakes normally between 6 and 6.30, sometimes occasionally 7, but I just keep her routine the same (perhaps push things forward or back by 1/2 hour) - if she wakes up before 6 I leave her in her cot with her mobile etc but don't usually get her out of bed before 6am. She then has bottle and brekky as normal. She always has bottle first and straight away and then I do brekky at the same time, always between 7.30 and 8 regardless of when she woke up.

Hope this helps a little ?

Yeah thanks Tillysmummy. At the moment things have gone a bit haywire and she wakes anytime between 5.30 and 7 (not that she ever settled into a waking up pattern). I must say I was glad to hear that your DD wakes between 6.00 and 6.30, I think it is easy sometimes to feel that everyone else's child wakes at the elusive 7am. Anyway, I guess I could not breastfeed her until 6 like you, at the earliest. I don;t know, it's just that she is generally tired by about 2 hours after she has woken and that could mean putting her down for her morning nap at say 7.45am which seems a bit mad. Or isn't it? I find it hard to know what's OK. I guess I could give her breakfas at the same time every day and push forward her first nap but then she would probably be overtired.
Sorry to be rambling but I'm a bit freaked out about daytime naps at the moment. DH is going through a real "let's be led by our daughter" phase but I would love to have quite a strict routine. DD waking up at different times just makes everything more complicated!

Purp, tons of sympathy and I know exactly how you feel. My dd has a good and quite strict routine, same nap time every day but if she's woken really early I put her down a bit earlier. EG at 8.30 instead of 9. I find that now dd is 8 months she lasts longer. It used to be 2 hours but now she can go 3 or so without napping.
Re getting her up it certainly works for us. I refuse to get her up before 6. I'll go in constantly and comfort her (although normally she's happy to play anyway) but won't get her up for the day until 6. Normally she wakes at around 6.15 to 6.30 now but sometimes still 5.50 or 6 - she also used to wake at 5.30 but it stopped when she wasnt' getting up till 6.

I think you should go with how you feel - you know your dd best after all. I agree with DH to a certain extent - we were led by DD quite a lot but once she formed her own routine (with a lot of help from us :0 )we stuck to it.

Good luck and you're not alone. I don't think there is such a thing as a permanent waking time in the morning or permanent sleep times. Most of my friends whose babies have been great sleepers, till 7 or 7.30 changed their sleep patterns at least once if not twice in the first year for a short period of time.

Having problems with DD (32months). We had excellent routine at bedtime when she was younger but then about 6 months ago she had an illness that lasted 2 months (whooping cough type virus) and we had her sleeping downstairs until we went to bed because she was being sick all the time it was easier for me to have her downstairs until I went to bed.On top of that, she is a very restless sleeper because of her eczema. How on earth do I put her back to bed at a reasonable time (ie 8pm at the latest) without me having to lie beside her till she's asleep !

Have tried various things - last night I even tried putting the stairgate across her bedroom door so she couldn't come downstairs and she absolutely screamed the house down - and I left her there for just over half an hour and she was sobbing her heart out so in the end I gave in and went upstairs and just lay down beside her till she was asleep.DH said I am cruel leaving her to scream like that but I am dertermined that we will get back into a bedtime routine - obviously it's going to take a little bit longer than I thought - because she is a little older. My 11month dd is absolutely no bother. She goes to bed at 7pm and that's her till 7 the next morning.

I would welcome any suggestions................

Thanks again Tillysmummy. It is so good to know that you are not alone isn't it? I think it is easy to feel a little lost sometimes and to feel that everyone else knows what they are doing! Also I have a cold at the moment so am not feeling as strong as usual! What you said makes sense about "starting the day" at the same time, no matter what time they wake up. DD is in our bed but I might manage something! Thanks again anyway.

Susiebabes, sorry, hope someone else can help you because 32 months is out of my sphere of experience!