6.5 month old - help with nap and day routine

[Sleeplessinseattle32]

He is my second baby and I’m finding it so difficult to get the routine right as naturally it has to also work for my eldest. This is what our days look like.

6.30am wake up

Attempt a feed but as he’s been feeding in the night he’s not that hungry
7am(ish) breakfast
8.30am nap (usually 40 mins - 1.5 hours if we’re lucky)
11ish breast or bottle feed (finding he’s very distracted and takes more milk from the bottle than breast)
11.30/12 lunch
1pm nap (usually 40 mins - 1 hour)
4pm feed
5ish dinner (by this point he’s so tired he’s rubbing food in his eyes)
5.45 bath
6pm bottle
6.30pm bedtime

He wakes up overnight between 2 and 5 times, sometimes happy to be bounced but more often than not he wants to feed back to sleep.

He's definitely over tired by bedtime but I really struggle to fit another nap in when I’m trying to get dinner ready and keep my eldest happy. I don’t feel we can concentrate on fixing the night sleep until we get his day sleep sorted. Does anyone have any advice on how to juggle his routine with another kid in tow?

Keep the first nap short (school run) ideally just 45 minutes get him up by 9:30, I would switch the milk and solids so lunch at 11-11:30 , then feed to sleep @ 1 hopefully that 2nd nap will then be longer. Unless he is eating really well 3X a day I would do a "dream feed" around 11pm, this will hopefully reduce the night wakings- good luck.

Agree with PP, play around shortening the first nap I wake mine after 20-30mins to try and get that lunchtime nap from 12.30-2.30/3pm, that will then get mine to a 6.30 bedtime. If the lunch nap is really short then another nap on the afternoon school run - I know the wake window isn't ideal but it helps release some of the pressure until bedtime.

Thanks both, I’ll give that a go. I hadn’t thought of capping the first nap. My eldest is in pre school which is 1-3.30 so it’s tricky with timing but I try and keep the little one awake so he can have a cot nap or just let him nap whilst I’m out and running errands.

Ideally you want to extend the 2nd nap so it’s 1.5-2 hours and then have a wake window of 4 hours before bed. Easier said than done though!! I’d try capping the first nap at 45-60 minutes, timing the second nap for 3 hours after wake up and don’t be tied to the cot so maybe try the pram so you can use movement to resettle when he starts stirring after 1 sleep cycle.