7 month baby naps / wake windows not working?

[Kitcatkor]

Hi all, for context my 7 month old baby sleeps 9.5 hours at night without fail, excluding the 1-3 times he feeds. Because of this, we put him to bed at 7.30 because he wakes between 5-6 most days. We don't want him to wake any earlier. He refuses to go back to sleep if he wakes at this time.

I am struggling with his naps and wake windows during the day to get him to bed time. He naps 45 mins for each nap. Again, he will absolutely not sleep longer in naps. But he can link sleep cycles because he does so at night and I've seen him go to sleep on his own. As such, our rough schedule is below, but I believe he is overtired because of his short naps, his wake windows are too stretched? He can only stay awake up to 2 hours without getting very tired, sometimes overtired. I'm worried he's chronically over tired and it's meaning he won't sleep longer than 9.5 hours at night. How else can I do his naps, should I put him on 4? Any advice?

5.30 wake up
7.30 nap 1 (2 awake time)
8.15 awake
11.00 nap 2 (2.45 awake time)
11.45 wake
3pm nap 3 (3.15 awake time)

3.45pm awake
7.30pm bed time (3.45 awake time)
By bed time, he is often very exhausted. I don't think 3x 45 min naps is enough for him?

Tia, any advice, tips or experiences appreciated xxx

It is a little on low side. Have you tried resettling when lo wakes from naps? Also big feed before nap to rule out hunger? Does lo have a dummy? Where does lo sleep in day?

Hi ChittyBang, thanks for your reply. Have tried resettling after naps but he refuses to go back. I have tried leaving him to see if he'll go back but he cries and I can leave to fuss but can't leave him in distress. He sleeps in his cot same as at night, dark room, white noise, same as at night again. Always fed before naps and sleep. He's never had a dummy, refused to take one and we didn't try to use it much anyway lol. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Have you had a look at huckleberrycare.com/blog/7-month-old-sleep-schedule-and-development
In early days I followed them and seemed to help some days.

I don't normally suggest it, but have you tried an earlier bedtime? It sounds counter intuitive but I have heard it can work. Personally never worked for me.

Or the rise lo before 530am. As in stir them enough but not enough to actually wake them so they sleep longer. I was never brave enough to try it 😆

The other thing at 530am keep it dark stay in bedroom. Feed and do everything to get lo to sleep. So then you can start the day at 7am rather then 530am. Then move everything forward which may help?

Yes definitely Agree lo is overtired.

Also are you bf? And is lo in own room?

Hi

i think an earlier bed time may help. My LO I find wakes at the same time every day (6am) regardless of when I put her to bed so I just put her to bed at 6pm all being well and she still wakes at the same time in the morning so that might help combat some overtiredness.

Anything before 7am I always do upstairs in the hope she starts to link that with ‘sleep / nighttime’. If your not doing that already that also might help.

Also in the morning sometimes after her first bottle she will go back to sleep with cuddling.

I read previously that babies tend to fight the last nap and for you to do anything to get them to sleep so if your lucky and your baby normally naps in their cot (mine does not !) it might be worth trying to do that last nap as a contact nap to try and stretch it out as 3.45 hours for the last awake window does seem quite long for 7 month old.

Good luck. It sure isn’t easy getting these babies to sleep!

I have the worlds worst sleeper, he’s 7 months, but I’m slowly getting there.

I would say try putting him to bed earlier too - mine goes 6:30 and so did my eldest.

If you can, treat 5am like a night waking and don’t start the day until at least 6am. So, keep it dark and attempt to resettle, even if it doesn’t work. Send him the message that 6am is morning and not before. (I’ve shifted this slowly up to 6:45 now ).

I do white noise, sleeping bag, dark room, same dummy and same toy for nap times and bed time - everything is predictable for him. Carrier/ pram/ car naps just don’t work as well.

using this routine I’ve gone from 30 min naps to 2h naps (if I don’t wake him) in 2-3 weeks

Thanks for all your replies! I am bf, and Lo is in his own room. He doesn't have a bf feed to sleep association, I don't think, as he will happily take a bottle from dad or, go off to sleep (if not hungry) from over shoulder patting and then shush-patting in the cot.

Lots of suggestions to try an earlier bedtime which I've been reading about so, I will try putting him at 7pm this week (30 mins earlier - he's gone 15m earlier tonight as refused last nap which has been unusual lately). And I'll see what happens. I also like the suggestion to try get him back if he wakes before 6am, I had started doing that but I just got dejected when I'd go through all that and he'd be awake anyway so I'd have to give up and get him up for the day, then he must be like "hey you tried to trick me it was still night time but it's morning!!"

It took me weeks of persevering to get him to nap in his cot at all, so we have made good progress but a few tweaks needed I think because these 45 min naps are not enough for him. I can see he wakes still so tired. So I will try these. Thank you 🙏

Would lo sleep better else where??? I think it was about 9 months my lo went to sleep in their cot in day for longer periods. Before that was a pram

Let us know how it goes.

He might be ready to gradually go from 3 naps to two. If so, he should naturally sleep for longer and wake windows will lengthen. Pram or car naps might help especially if you make a conscious effort to keep walking/driving at the crucial 40 minute mark to help link sleep cycles.

So far he is still sleeping the same sort of times in the morning with an earlier bedtime, so bonus extra evening time at least! Question: if he wakes at 5.30am, if I'm to try and get him to sleep until 6am, by the time I've treated it as a night feed and try to get him back to sleep, it would be 5.45 am and nearly 6am anyway. I also know that there's no way he will go back to sleep at this time. So do I just do a whole night feed process and then get up at 6am or feed him til 6am? I don't know what to do.

Personally i would stay in room until 7am, even if they only doze 20 mins. That may be enough to getthat first nap later. But that's me. About 645am I used to pop her in her cot whether she was asleep or not. Then around 7am go in and be all morning. Curtains open etc.

I agree with the 7am. Anything before 7am is treated as night time. My 8 Month old today woke at 5.34 for a bottle. I tend to do a nappy change (again treated as night time so no talking / low lights etc) first as I feel she is less likely to go back to sleep with a full nappy and then I do bottle. She then went back to sleep after all of this until 7am!

hopefully if your LO goes back to sleep this will help with moving the day nap times so the last wake window isn’t so long. I would then begin the bedtime routine at 6pm

Hope this helps you! :)