8.5 month old refuses to nap and awake for 14 hours!

[Pretendbookworm]

We had DS in a really good routine. He would only nap if he was pushed in the buggy or on me for 10 minutes max, but he woke at 6am and was asleep by 5pm. I finally started to get some time regularly to myself (partner works away) so really made some progress in recovering from PND.
Now since teething and it getting lighter he has continued to wake at 6am but won't go to sleep until 830pm! He's not even tired even if he's only had 20 minutes of sleep in the day! He wakes at 6, has 10 mins sleep at 9ish then 10 mins at midday (or longer if I go for a walk, up to half an hour sleeping) but then he can be awake for 8-9 hours. Sometimes he doesn't even act tired and is full of energy. I've tried putting him into his cot to nap or letting him sleep on me - neither seems to keep him asleep for longer in the day.
It's really draining me as he cries whenever I leave the room too and has to be continuously entertained (can't just be left to his own devices on the playmat). I can't get anything done and then when he goes to bed I'm exhausted and can't enjoy doing anything. This week has been especially hard as it's my last week of maternity leave and I really want to enjoy it.
How do I get him sleeping? :(

Bump

Hiya OP. One of my twins is like this and would happily go for hours being awake not even looking tired, full of beans etc. However I managed to tackle it and now she will nap for up to two hours in her cot! She's 10 months now. You say you are on your last week of maternity leave - who will baby be with in the day? If he's in nursery you may find she fits into that routine easily and you can recreate at home. For me, what worked was dark room, sleeping bag, dummy and comforter, putting down in cot after a big breastfeed and sitting beside her with my hand on her tummy until she fell asleep. I was really consistent about this even if I had to be there for half an hour repeatedly putting her back to a lying down position. At 8.5 months I would have put them to nap 1.5-2 hours after waking and then after lunch and a small nap in the afternoon.
Will baby sleep in a carrier?
Also 5pm is a very very early bedtime! You might be better pushing that later and seeing if naps improve. Best of luck. It's awful never getting any alone time especially with PND.

I know 5 is very early but it seemed to work as he wasn't sleeping in the day. It was a pain putting him to sleep so early sometimes as we could never go out for very long in the afternoon, but if we didn't he'd be miserable.
I've bought a better blackout blind which is coming today as it's like daytime in his room with his current one down and then I'll try at getting him to sleep for longer in his room in the day.
While I'm at work hes going to be look after by various family members. If that doesn't work then I'll put him into nursery but that's almost impossible as none of them are open long enough to cover my work hours.
He will sleep in my carrier but only if I'm moving which still doesn't give me time away from him with his 14 hour awake time! Lol
A bottle puts him to sleep a few times in the day but only for 10 mins at a time. He's never taken to using a dummy.

Bump

It's really draining me as he cries whenever I leave the room too and has to be continuously entertained

These are signs of an over tired baby.

I would not suggest there is anything wrong with baby's nights sleep (8.30pm-6am is within the range of normal at this age). Instead I would suggest baby isn't getting enough daytime sleep.

What is often important in daytime naps in not just the time baby is for, also the length of time baby is awake.

How about trying a couple of pushchair walks each day. Try to get baby to have about an 1-2h sleep at 9am and then another 1-2h sleep about 1pm or 2pm.

Then at night, 11 hours sleep would be normal for your "average" baby this age. But it might be 10h or 12h. So I would suggest establishing a bedtime around 7-8pm.

If you are struggling with PND, the routine if set nap times and set bedtime may help you as well as baby.

It might also be worth speaking to your gp about how you are feeling.