7mo nap routine

[SB1712]

Hi all

My lo is almost 7 months and I’m finding her milk/feeding/nap routine really hard to get right. My daughter has never been more than a 30 minute napper despite my best efforts however lately I’m finding with help in her cot she will go back off for anywhere up to 1hr30.
The car is also helpful for this but I can’t drive for that long although have definitely done it before!

A typical day for us is:
6am wake
7am bottle
8.30am porridge (only a very small amount)
9-9.30 sleep (30 mins max)
11am - bottle
12pm - sleep (sometimes 30 mins, can stretch to 1hr30 max but not all the time)
1-1.30pm - lunch
sometimes there can be a nap in between here if we are in the car or pram at this time
3.30pm- bottle
5pm - dinner
7pm -bedtime

She is incredibly difficult to put down in her cot for the last nap but is tired and I worry if it’s past 4pm it will massively disturb her bedtime.
What are your 7 month routines like? It is difficult as she has never been a long napper.
Typically she goes down around 7pm and wakes at 5am, I bring her in with me and she will drop back off at some point normally until 6/6.30am.

I have massive mum guilt I could be doing more for her and trying to extend her naps and help her sleep but I find the only time I can do this is if we stay home every day.
Is there a time when I should drop to 2 naps a day? Would pushing the lunchtime nap back help? She can stay awake around 2hrs30 comfortably but anything more becomes very irritable.

Thank you

I am ebf and baby led weaning (baby's not interested and hasn't eaten anything) at 7 months. We have no routine at all. Baby naps approximately every 2-3 hours for up to an hour and a half on me, otherwise only about 20 mins in the cot, pram or car seat. Feeds are all on demand.

Hi @SB1712 i am so pleased to read your post because im having the same difficulties. It feels like everything has gone out of the window since weaning and i think we are about to hit another sleep regression (DD is 7.5months). We do a mix of spoon feeding and finger food. Our routine is rubbish at the minute but on a good day looks like this:

08.00 - BF (30mins)
09.00 - Breakfast (porridge + fruit usually)
10.00 - Nap (try for 45mins)
11.00 - Bottle of formula 180ml
13.00 - Nap (1hr)
14.00 - Lunch
16.00 - Nap (1hr)
(Somewhere mid afternoon there will be another bottle)
17.30 - Dinner (usually something with veg + pasta, rice or beans. I'm introducing some lean meat this week)
18.15 - Change, bath, bed, story etc
19.00 - Start to settle to aim to be asleep by 19.30pm
22.00 or 22.30 - BF (30mins) + 150ml formula top up

By end of Feb, im aiming to move everything forward by an hour in preparation for starting nursery in April. I also need to swap the late morning bottle and lunch i think, which works better with the nursery routine, but works less well for our baby classes in the morning. Really hoping when we switch to two naps it will make everything a bit easier!!!

Neither of my DC had nap time routines. Both slept on the go. They slept through at night so I left them to it.

It’s so hard isn’t it, I feel like we’ll we are doing is milk food nap at the moment! She really loves her food and then you start thinking is she having too much? When should I drop milk?

You’re right Guiding I feel I may need to swap a milk and breakfast round? Or bring milk forward to pretty much as soon as she wakes up to allow enough time for everything?

M essentially I am worried a nap post 4pm is too late, but am I perhaps worrying for nothing?

Mine has quite a solid routine. I went back to work just before he turned 7mo and needed to have him in a routine for grandparents.

6:30-7am - wake up
7am - bottle
8am - breakfast
9:30-10 - nap
10:45 - bottle
12pm- lunch
1-3 nap
3 - bottle
5pm- dinner
6:30 - bath
6:45 - bottle
7pm - bedtime.

He does naps in cot as he likes it nice and dark!

I noticed that your lo isn't having lunch before nap? That seems a lot to expect from 11am bottle to lunch? Especially as not eating much breakfast. Could you try altering a little?

Maybe something like
7am bottle
830 breakfast.
9am sleep.
10am snack If needed.
1130 if not 12 lunch. Maybe add top up of milk if doesn't eat much.
1230pm sleep I know you say irritable but may help encourage a longer sleep. Or maybe see how filling lo up before nap goes before extending awake time.
Offer milk when wakes if not had top up after lunch.
3pm snack.
5pm dinner.
645pm bottle.

Does lo not have a bedtime bottle? Unless I misread your first post?