Hyperactive 7 month old!

[Rachel1210]

Hi all my LO is 7 months old and is very very very active. From the moment he wakes up he literally doesn’t stop. He’s on the go constantly. My question is - does he need more sleep than average? I ask because I’ve read a few places that at his age he should be having between 2-3 hours during the day and 11-12 hours at night. Problem is if I gave him only 2-3 hours during the day he would be so so overtired. I already wake him from his morning nap after an hour - he then has 2 hours in the afternoon and also a 30min nap - which I wake him from - in the afternoon. So his day time sleep is 3.5 hours but I wake him from 2 of his naps so that he doesn’t oversleep. My issue is he seems constantly tired and come bed time he literally screams - should I let him sleep more in the day? Anyone got a similar LO who can advise? He sleeps for around 11 hours at night waking usually once for a feed. I also wake him from his morning nap because i read that the afternoon nap is more restorative. Any advice please? He seems to be doing well at night so I’m scared to change things but he does seem to cry with tiredness a lot....

Poor baby seems exhausted. Let him sleep and stop waking him up- at all. When he's had enough sleep, he'll wake up himself naturally. You're so lucky, mine is a notoriously bad sleeper- 12 hours at night and two 40 min naps in the daytime.

I agree. He’s 7 months old. Stop waking him up!

Personally, I'd let him sleep in the morning as long as he wants and wake him from his afternoon nap if it got too close to bed time.

Also, I’m laughing a lot at this
mine is a notoriously bad sleeper- 12 hours at night

You have no idea what a notoriously bad sleeper looks like!

If he’s crying with tiredness then let him sleep! Some babies need more sleep than average and that’s fine.

Babies don't read the guide books, unfortunately! He's fine, leave him to it. My almost-one-year-old is currently having three hours of naps in the day. Last week I think she got to four hours a couple of times, plus 12 at night, in complete defiance of Google and its dictats. 🤷‍♀️ She's learning to walk and has been ill though, sometimes they need more sleep.

I also find the more active DS is, the more he sleeps. He is also 7 months. Learning new skills is a big sign of needing sleep for DS. Hes just started army crawling and mastering sitting (balancing). He sleeps 45 mins at a time, twice in the morning then 2 hours after lunch. Usually wake around 3pm then bed at 6. By 5 he is overtired and that last hour is a struggle but he then sleeps 11hours. We dream feed when we go yo bed around 9.30/10ish then he wakes once in the night for a feed. Every baby is different. I look for sleep ques and follow them. But like you, i wake him from afternoon nap, usually if it goes past 3.15pm.

Thanks all! Do you think it matters if his morning nap is longer than his afternoon nap? I wonder if I don’t wake him from his morning nap that would probably be the longest of the day. His last nap of the day is usually around 4.30ish until 5 - but then he’s in bed by 7....

Try it and see how you go. My friends DS sleeps a lot in the morning then nothing all afternoon and it works for them. Do a few dats of following sleep cues and not waking from Naps and see what happens. Trial and error

@PotteringAlong - clumsy writing on my part 🙈😂 it's taken a long time for him to get to the 12 hours a night and even then, he wakes up hourly for a feed, cuddle, etc. I remember the early days and having a new thread on here weekly asking what else I could do to get my baby to sleep. It's so, so tough.

jinglet it’s ok! I’d been up for 2 hours by the time I read that. My youngest is two... sleep is for the weak and all that