Nap transitioning

[liamw91]

Hi all

Me and my partner have recently adopted a little boy. He's just turned 9 months old and is an absolute joy!

Prior to us adopting him his foster carer had him on a very tight routine:
5am - 6am Wake up
7am - Nap 1 (30 - 40 mins)
10/10.30am - Nap 2 (Usually 1hr - 1hr 30)
2.30pm - Nap 3 (Usually 40 mins ish)
7pm - Bedtime

Obviously this times might adjust slightly but this is his general sleep schedule. We have adhered to this routine to allow him to settle in but I think he is ready to move to 2 naps.

We want to slowly start to tweak the timings but unsure how to go about it. The trouble we have at the moment is that he wakes up at between 5 - 5.30 and just rolls around in his cot. We have tried to soothe him and let leave him to go back to sleep, but he's fully awake at this point!

Anyway, he then has his bottle/nappy change and about an hour later he is tired again and has his first nap at like 7am!

Ideally, we want his wake up time to be closer to 7am and for him to have two longer naps during the day. I'm wondering if the 5am wake up is because he doesn't need three naps anymore? Or if he just really wants his morning bottle (he's a really hungry baby!) and then go back to sleep after.

Our ideal routine would look something like this:

7am WU
9.30am Nap 1
1.30 Nap 2
6.30/7pm Bedtime

Any ideas/tips of how other people have achieved this transition? It's going to be difficult to push his awake time considering he has a long day from 5am to 7pm. If we cut the third nap it wouldn't work as he wakes up approx 11.30, so couldn't last till bedtime!

Massive thanks in advance

What happens if when he wakes at 5am you offer a bottle straight away? Only suggesting as my DS was in this pattern from about 6-10ish months. He’d go to bed at 7/7.30 wake for a quick BF at 5am and then back to sleep till 7.30

Well we give him a bottle/nappy change when he wakes up and then wait about an hour/45 mins till he starts rubbing eyes/yawning again and then put him down for a half hour nap.

I've not actually tried putting him straight back after his bottle - worth a try?

Totally- he’s only 9 months and it’s totally normal to still need a night feed. 7-5 is still a long time for a baby with a tiny stomach to go without a milk. It’s worth a try, if he’s tired 45 mins after waking. At 9 months we were comfortably going 3 hours before the first nap. I’ve always said I’d rather have a quick feed and then back to bed than a super early wake. My DS dropped that feed naturally.

Great thank you for the advice. I will try it a couple of times. You are probably right as he loves his food, literally kicks his legs until he gets it.

Thanks again, I'll let you know how I get on

Everything with babies is worth a try

Sorry Posted too soon! 😂
Everything with babies is worth a try. 😂 if it doesn’t make a difference you could try something else. At 9 months I remember DS was

4-5am quick BF
7/7.30 wake
10/10.30 nap for an hour
2/2.30 nap for hour or hour and a half
7/7.30 bed

I never changed his nappy or put the lights on, just went in fed and put back down

Fab thank you. So would you not bother with the nappy even if it's wet? Suppose it's only another hour or so?

With DS it was never that wet at that point. Only change it if you absolutely have to. If you think about babies that sleep straight through won’t be getting a change.

I'd definitely go for the feed and put back down. My DD is 21 months, still has the 5am feed most mornings and then goes back to sleep for a few more hours. She always has a dry mouth at that point so I think thirst wakes her. I don't change her nappy then as she'd be up for the day if I did that. A slightly soggy nappy hasn't done her any harm so far!

It might take babŷ a little while to adjust to new routine, you might have a few grumpy days, my DD used to take a week or two to properly transition with naps.

Done this for the last couple of days and it's worked great! Tries to resist for 5 minutes or so but then sleeps till 7 - 7.30.

We are still working on his day time naps as sometimes he can stretch to 90 mins, but some are 40 mins ish and he won't settle back down!

Thanks again for the advice

Good luck with it :-)