How long should a six/seven month old be able to stay awake for?

[fizzbuzz]

Dd is a random napper to put it mildly. Despite all efforts of Baby Whisperer et all, she will not fall into a napping routine.

Because of this I have no idea when she should have another nap, apart from grizzling, rubbing eyes etc.

How long can they stay awake for at this age. I know at four/five months it's two hours. Is six nearly seven months any different?

it sounds like you know her sleep cues so you know when to put her down ... i don't think there are any "shoulds" when it comes to parenting - my DS is 7.5 months and should be rolling but shows no signs! If your DD is happy and alert and sleeping ok at night then she is getting enough sleep.

Anyone?!! Am sick of arguing with dp about it.

But the worst time is the evening. Ds used to have a catnap about 5.30-6.00, and then go to bed about 7.30.

Dd will skip catnap sometimes, even though she is completely knackered, and then I never know what time to out her to bed at. If I knew how long they could stay awake for, it would solve a lot of the puzzle!

I think they are all different. My DD is 6 months and some days has one or two half hour naps between getting up 8:30 ish and going to bed at about 9pm. Other days she'll sleep for a few hours.. no particular pattern but I just let her do her thing. If I think she's overtired though, a walk in the pram will usually send her off.

I don't know, really. Ds2 is 5 months and has had 2 very short catnaps today. He's awake for hours at a time some days, and very grumpy with it.

What kind of routine are you working with? I try to put ds2 down about 10ish and 2ish, I suppose. Sometimes he sleeps, sometimes not. He goes to bed about 7 and sleeps through till 7am.

The little madam doesn't do routines, just changes every week.

eg, last week, went down for an hour or 45 mins about 9.15am. Then at about 12.30 until 3.00pm, and 5.15pm to 6.00.

Now goes down at 10.15 for about 1/2 hour, then about 1.00pm for 1and 1/2 hours, thenabout 4.15 to about 5.30. But that is this week, next week who knows?

She is very grizzly and I get so confused because she changes all the time,if I knew how long they could stau awake for, I would have at last one benchmark amidst all the constantly changing confusion. [dazed confused emoticon]

Also will not sleep in pram. No willy way, too damn nosey. If by accident she does fall asleep in pram, always wakes up immediately on return home, and am not quite up to 2 1/2 hour walks!

DS is 7.5 months. he has 3 to 4 naps. they are about half an hour long each time. he usually naps when i take him out in the pushchair for taking DD to school & pick her up. it's all very random though. it depends on when he got up in the morning, how active he's been...

my dd is just turning 8 months. she still needs 3 naps, each is only half an hour long. so she goes between 2 and 3 hours between. i look for the eye rubbing then take her straight up.

thanks dizzybint, 2-3 hours, thats what I thought.

my dd is 6.5m - she can only stay awake 2 hours, occ 2.5. she does all the obvious sleep cues luckily which i usu go by, but if it's gone past 2 hrs i watch her like a hawk. her day naps are sometimes random but usu about 4 per day. if we get up about 7 then back in bed 8.30-9.45 ish for 30 min, then asleep about 11.15 - 11.30 for half an hour, then 2-3 ish if i'm lucky then 5-5.30ish, then in bed at 7. all depends on when we get up but still usu in bed at 7. sorry, pretty boring to read! i ignore any books that say they can stay awake for 3-3.5 hrs at this age - she just can't.

Thanks dcb, you have just confirmed what I thought,about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. She needs a lot of sleep fortunately, but unfortunately she is determined not to have it!

fizzbuzz - I havent read all the posts but I looked in my baby record book for dd now 9 yo and at 6 mths she was doing hte following:
Wake 7:15 - 7:45 cereal/formula
Bed 2.5 hrs later
Sleep 1.5 - 2 hrs
lunch
sleep 1.15 hrs
tea 4pm
sometimes naps again
7pm -bath/bottle/bed
by the looks of it she stayed wake around 2.5hrs at a stretch and had two definite naps and one occasional nap per day.
hth

Thanks Cruise, hope your ds is settling as on your thread!

Two hours sounds about right in the morning, although I find that my DD does a much longer stretch in the afternoon (which ensures she goes down ok for the night).

Her routine is approximately:

7/7:30: get up
9:15-10: nap
12:30 - 2: nap
6:45/7: bed.

Sometimes she needs a quick power nap at around 5. If she's at nursery she sleeps as little as 15 minutes the whole day, but then she is really knackered when we get home!

I tend to keep her up in the evening until she seems really desperate for sleep. This solved our problems with her crying on being put in her cot at night. When I put her to bed based on a bit of eye rubbing or the first ywan, she would just kick off as soon as I put her down and howl for 3 hours. What a monkey!

Similar to Dizzybint.
DD is 7 months on 6th Feb and sleeps 7-7, but only naps approx 930-1000 in the morning and approx 2-3pm in the afternoon. Sometimes she only sleeps for 30 mins in the afternoon so is well grizzly by bathtime!
Saying that, she is far more consistent than my DS (now 4) ever was, as his routine was nowhere as regular as hers is.
Agree with Taylormama that as long as you put her down when she is rubbing her eyes etc, she is getting enough sleep.
HTH

Well thanks for all posts, they have been v helpful. Dd is obviously getting enough kip, although she was sleeping for whole afternoon a week ago!

However still has v grizzly moments, her nickname is Grizelda, and unfortunately it has stuck and everyone calls it her, despite the fact she smiles all the time!

I think i may have been guilty of thinking (or hoping!) that she needs more sleep than she really requires. Having said that, have finally got her to sleep at 8.20pm, after going to bed at 7.20, because she was overtired. Arms and legs flailing etc. Dc are just a mystery to me!