My nearly 7 month old sleep routine is driving me to tears

[clb26]

I feel so bad but my nearly 7 month old is making me cry with his sleep routine. Every single night without fail, he wakes up screaming and twisting after 30 minutes of being asleep. He's tired, he rubs his eyes and ears but he will scream for hours on end until he eventually passes out. It's a fight getting him to sleep in the first place and then start all over again after 30 minutes. He still wakes up several times a night for a feed. I can't listen to the screaming any longer. Can someone please help?

His routine is last nap ends at 5ish, he has purees and solids at 5 to 5.30pm, a bath every other day, change into pjs and bottle if he wants, burped, bed between 6 and 7 it takes over an hour to get him to sleep, and then falls asleep and wakes up. He will scream once placed back into cot if he needed feeding or changing etc.

I'm a first time single mam and I don't know what to do

Thank you everyone, I'm going to try and him on a nap routine tomorrow, no sleeping past 4pm but he's so moody by 7pm because he's tired. I will drop the 15 minute nap

I would get him up 7am & have last nap 1-3. I don't think you can expect him to go to sleep for the night if he's only been up from his nap just over an hour. I think if he's getting up at 8 you should aim to put him to bed at 8.

Waking up from last nap seems very late, he would probably be better off with a good 1-2h nap after lunch, waking up no later than 3pm
He should still be having milk before bed at 7 months too really, most of his calories should still be from milk.
Does he have a dummy? That might help soothe him.
Also white noise or music?

Yeah I would drop the 15 min nap and aim for his last nap of the day to be between 2.30 and 3, awake by 4 at the latest. I would also try and push bedtime to 7ish. Good luck

He has refused to take dummies since 4.5 months, he mostly refuses a bottle before bed but then wakes up for one, if he hasn't had one. Since he started teething, he won't take much milk during day time, he's got lullabies and a red night light

Agree with getting him up earlier and then longer wake window before bed. He could also be starting to drop the third nap. The short second nap suggests it’s on its way. Dropping naps unfortunately does take time and pretty stop and start until they have fulling transitioned. I think all of mine dropped a nap between 7-8 months.

My daughter's last nap ended at about 3pm, 3.30pm very latest and she was in Ben by 7.30pm after 15 minutes. Sounds like you might have a nap problem! The waking after 30 mins is probably the completion of a sleep cycle, he probably just thinks he's had another nap and it's time to wake up again. But he's got enough sleep pressure in him from being awake all day that he's unhappy about it.

Yes push back the lunchtime nap till after 2, waking no later than 3:30. Try and get him to have solids and a bottle before bed.

I think he’s overtired. You need to find a way to teach him to sleep and self sooth so that when he wakes from a nap or at night he can get himself back off to sleep. 15 mins of nap is nothing, he’s not getting anything from that, he needs a good two hours in the day.

I’d put him back down for a nap at 9am for 45 mins then get him out to a play group or baby singing thing, back home for lunch at 12 and down for another nap at 12:30, this one should be for two hours and then you’ve only got a hour or two to kill before supper at 5pm and then bath at 6:45 and read books until 7:30. The bath every night isn’t because he needs a wash more as a signifier it’s bedtime. Stick to the routine, it really helps not to mess around with the timings as they know what to expect. Nap at home not out and about.

I’d bring all the naps forward and if he’s not interested in milk feeds add in some lunch before his second nap. I always found a short first wake window made it easier to slot in all three naps and also made for a happier baby for the rest of the day.

My routine is pretty similar to this.

Wake at 7

Breakfast at about 9.

1st nap 10/10:30

Lunch 12/1 depending on nap length.

Second nap at about 2/3

Occasionally have a tiny and I mean tiny danger nap if dinner is running late and the second nap was very short but I try to avoid it if I can.

Dinner about 5/6

Bath when we get there after dinner.

Final feed around 8pm

Mine typically naps for 45 mins -1 hour max at a time.