Baby tired not long after waking

[MissObsessed]

I've posted a few times about my DS and after taking on a lot of advice I think we are finally settling into more of a routine and night sleeping has got much better! I just wondered if anyone had any words of wisdom about when he wakes in the morning please?

DS is 5 months and is now taking much more milk during the day (between 6am-11pm.) He is now taking around 40oz during this time so he has started either sleeping through (from 11pm-6am) or has been waking only once at around 4am.

If he wakes at 4am I then put him in bed with me as he settles better and then sleeps round to about 6am-6.45am. However he seems to be rubbing his eyes as soon as he wakes and he wants another nap around 7.45-8am - is this normal?

His daytime sleep is quite good now because I've lived by the mantra "sleep by any means possible" as his sleep was quite bad during his regression. He often naps on me but will nap on the move or in his pram at home. Naps range from 40mins to 1.5hrs. He isn't fed to sleep but he is rocked.

At night he has his last nap around 5pm until around 5.45 and then goes down for bed about 7.30pm. He stays downstairs with us until he wakes for his last feed between 10 and 11. In total he is having about 4hrs daytime sleep and 10 at night (with a few resettles)

So if you've managed to wade through all of that, is it normal to want a nap at 7.45am after getting up at 6am?

He is awake for 8 hours a day sounds normal. My dd was awake less than that at that age. Apparently the first nap of the day should be pretty early.

Under 6 months, 1 hour awake time is perfectly fine and normal. So is 90 minutes awake time or 45 minutes, so be baby led.

If baby is tired 1h after waking in the morning, that is naptime. Don't worry about it.

More sleep = better sleep

My DS was very similar. By about 7 months we had settled into the '2,3,4' routine - awake for 2 hours (usually 7-9am) then nap, then awake for 3 hours (say 10-1pm) then nap, then up for 4 hours (so 2-6pm) then bedtime routine.
Used to quite like the morning naps - gave me time for a shower and a coffee (or an extra lie-in if I needed it!)

Thank you both for your replies. I think the wobble came when I mentioned to MIL that DS went back down at 7.45 one morning at she said "surely that's not right if he's slept through" but then she had DH 34 years ago so times change!

How would you expect it to change at 6months+ FATE? I know it's not an exact science but would it just be awake times lengthening as nap times get longer?

Sorry Perpetual only just seen your reply, yes the morning nap is quite handy, if I can get him to have it in his pram and not on me!

My 6 month old sleeps through and wakens around 7am, is fed around 7:30am or so and then goes back down for a nap and can sleep until 9am or even 10am sometimes. I find it great as I get up and have a shower and can often have a nice relaxing breakfast before she wakens up again! Or at the weekend I just stay in bed and go on MN like I'm doing now!!

Ah, I remember those naps Miss! A trick that sometimes worked for me was to have a light dressing gown or cardie on in the mornings, and when DS fell asleep on me I sort of slipped out from under him and left him wrapped in the dressing gown/cardie on the bed, which seemed to trick him into staying asleep! (obvs only good before they start trying to roll!)

I secretly love it when he naps on me while also feeling guilty that I could use the time more productively!

I have sometimes managed to lie him on a blanket on the living room floor so at least I know he can't roll anywhere

My DD always favoured an early morning nap until she went to down to 2 naps at about 10/11 months.

How would you expect it to change at 6months+ FATE?

PerpetualStudent already answered that. As naps lengthen, awake times also lengthen. It's no exact science, as you say, but usually in the 6-12 month bracket baby
settles into a structured day based around 3, 2 or 1 nap per day.

My DD settled into a "2222 routine" initially - two 2h naps and one 1h nap separated by 2 hours awake time each time. As Perpetual mentioned, 234 is another common structure, once settled into 2-nap days.

It being a 6m plus thing is taken with a pinch of salt. Most children will be after 6 months once their naps lengthen to be consistantly over an hour. But not always. Older babies are also more likely to be sleeping through, so need less sleep during the day.

I remember dd waking early, having milk and breakfast and being back down for a nap before dh and ds had even woken at the weekends! I tried to get her to add the extra time on to her nights sleep but it never worked.

Your routine sounds ok and if you're happy with it then it doesn't need changing.

Thank you all for your advice, sometimes this motherhood thing feels like a lesson in winging it