7 Month Old Nap Question

TB..

Relax...Babies make their own schedules. Unless there is a reason you need him to nap at a particular time, give him some time as it would seem that he needs a little less sleep now and is ajusting his nap time. My children, now 17 and 27, took one long mid-afternnon nap at 7 months and went to bed around 7:30pm. Hope this helps!

DS

Maybe this isn't what you are looking for, but I'm all for letting the child guide the sleep schedule and the parents looking for the sleep-cues to tell us when its a good time to help baby into their nap. The schedule you described sounds ideal, but is it necessary to be so precise? Our 13 month old only started sleeping through the night about 2 months ago, and she still has some nights where she wakes up around 3am. I'm so happy to hear your baby is sleeping through the night, and think that because the night time sleep is so good, maybe the nap times can be more flexible. Have you tried just working with his cues and seeing how that schedules the day? I found that after a month or so of watching cues, our daughter had a pretty regular nap schedule she created. But, as everything, it has changed again. And so even though she is tired in the afternoon, she will not take a nap. Hang in there, and I suggest the more flexible, the less stressful.

Hi. I have to say that I share your frustration with the whole "nap thing". I too was trying to mold my 19 month old into a nap schedule that would work with our schedule. The reality is that your 7 month old is going to make his own schedule and it probably will not be what you want it to be. My advice to you is get some guidence from a few baby sleep books. There are many and I have skimmed most and have taken bits and pieces from all. They really helped me on my sons schedules. Just remember that all children are different but these books are great guidence for transition. You may just try to keep him up until 9am for several days until he can naturally adjust himself. The same for the afternoon nap. He probably will not nap for 2 whole hours but may for 1 1/2 which is still a good nap.
It will take time and dedication on your part and try not to become so frustrated that you just give up.
My son was a two nap a day sleeper and sleeping soundly through the night on a regular schedule when it was time for just one nap a day. His signs were obvious that this should happen. It was a nightmare for about two months with frequent night wakings and a crabby baby throughout the day. But I stuck with it and now the one nap a day is one and half hours and is happy during waking hours.

Good luck

The truth is that kids nap when they nap.

Messing with naptimes probably won't help you as it is in nearly constant change anyway as they grow. What seems to be under this is that it's inconvenient that your baby sleeps such odd schedules.

If you're really looking for advice, I say trust him to know what he wants. It's totally normal - completely - for a kid to sleep like this - my son did pretty much exactly the same thing and at 10 still sleeps nearly 12 hours a night. Kids need a lot of rest, their primary work is growing and learning and that takes a lot of effort and energy.

Trust your baby that he knows what he needs.

TB: What we found with our son (now 4 yrs) was that we needed to make sleep changes very slowly -- move nap or bedtime by 10 minutes, keep it that way for a few days, and then try to move it by 10 more minutes. You might not get the naps to exactly where you want, but you should be able to get close. Also, whenever our son has gone through a sleep/nap change, whether it was dropping the late afternoon nap, the morning nap, or naps altogether, the transitions have been trying. When he stopped napping (or when he dropped a nap, etc.) we could always tell he still needed it to some extent but not enough to actually nap. His preschool friends' parents told me they were having similar experiences. After a few cranky months though, things would even out.

BTW, totally normal for the late afternoon nap to be the first to go. Next should be the morning nap (babies need the type of sleep they get in the early afternoon from a development standpoint whereas the morning nap is more a continuation of the nightime sleeping). Our son decided to drop the early afternoon nap first. We did the ten minutes at a time thing and after several weeks had successfully moved his 9am nap to 12:30. We then moved the 12:30 nap to 1:00 when he was two. When he was 10mos, he tried to stop napping completely (aaaahhh!). We called a sleep expert both our pediatrician and friend had recommended, and she told us we were over soothing him. No more rocking and singing; just darken the room a bit, read one book, and put him down to rest. It only took one day to work! Our issue was so easy for her to fix in our one phone call that she refused to even charge me! We were so clearly first time parents!

Good luck! It is definitely possible to change your son's sleep schedule. Just take it slowly!
K.

My 3 kids' nap times were each different according to their needs. Perhaps if you adjusted his nap time by a smaller amount of time (15 minutes or less?) you can gradually transition him to the time you want? I would also try adjusting his whole schedule by that amount since he seems to fall asleep after a certain amount of time anyway.

I never attempted to schedule my kids nap times, I just adjusted myself to what they needed. But I also had the luxury of time. Most people do not. I wish you well with the schedule change and I hope it works out.

This is from my favorite sleep book Good Night Sleep Tight by Kim West. According to her sample schedule your baby is pretty right on. This is her sample schedule for 6-8 month olds.

7-7:30 wake
9-9:30 morning nap 1.5-2 hours
12:30-1 afternoon nap 1.5-2 hours
3:30-4 optional 3rd nap (if baby is a poor napper or previous naps were less than 1hr)
6-6:30 start bedtime
7-7:30 asleep

She also states that some kids wake up earlier & that's normal & fine. She says don't let kids get up before 6am. Hope this helps.

Check out Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Weissbluth. He has some great suggestions on how to help your child at every stage of their development.

My now 10 month old son had the same story except for the sleeping all the night bit- he still wakes once to breastfeed. His 7 month nap sched was 8-9, then 12-2, then 5-6, then bed at 8. But his 3 naps a day turned into 2 around 7 months as well. He now wakes at 6:30 and goes again down at 8:30 or 9 for a 1 hour nap. Then he stays up for 3 hrs till about 1 and has a long 2-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon. Then he stays up 4 more hours and goes down around 7:30 or even 7 sometimes if he is real tired. It took us a while to figure out his new pattern, but once we got into it, it has become like clockwork again. Regarding the long pm nap, I used to think he would not sleep that long, but a friend pointed out to me that I go to get him after an hour when he seemed to wake up. She suggested ignoring his whimpers to see if he would return to sleep and BINGO! It worked for us. His one hours naps magically became 2-2.5 hour naps in this way- a life saver for me:) He still wakes a little during these naps, but we just let him get on back to sleep.
I would suggest trying not to schedule him for one whole week and write down exactly when you notice him becoming tired for all of those days. Also try to see if he will take longer naps by not going to get him right away. His new pattern will emerge for you in that way. You will most likely have to change his bed-time too, but who knows- every baby is different!
Good luck.

This is very normal. The rule of thumb is there should never be tmore than 3 hours in between naps. It sounds like he is doing just that. Try to keep him up as close to 3 hours from the time he woke up as possible. If he gets fussy take him outside for some change of senery. If his first nap is closer to 9:00 then the other nap will just fall in to place three hours after he wakes from the 1st. Do not put him down for a 3rd unless he relly needs it. This will help to transition him. 7:00 pm bedtime is ideal. Start his bed time routine @ 6:30 and put him down by 7:00. It may take a week or so and he may be a little grummpy but he'll get there :) Also if his nap are 1 1/2 hours each this is plenty of sleep during the day.

My 10 month old does the same thing. she goes to bed between 8-8:30pm gets up around 6:30-7 is awake till about 8:30-9 sleeps till 10:45 (when I have to wake her up to pick up my 4 yr old from school)She then goes back down at about 12 till 2 (when I again have to wake her up to pick up my 7 yr old at school)she is then awake till 8-8:30 when I get her back to bed. I have noticed that if I can interact with her in the morning (park, play group, playing toys in the am) then I can get her to take a nap as late as 12(this happens on Sundays when we are at church till 12)then she will sleep till about 3 that is the only nap we get that day. Hope this helps. What yours is doing seems normal to me.

This is totally normal. Babies fall in and out of nap schedules. Just when you get used to a 3 nap schedule, they transition to 2. Then you get used to the 2 nap schedule, and they transition to one. Try not to stress out about putting him on a nap/sleep schedule. Go with the flow. They fall into their own patterns. It's totally possible that he will fall into the 9-11, 1-3 schedule. Mine did. Good luck!

Yes...this seems normal. Be thankful that he is sleeping throught the night for now.

I don't think he's going to sleep for 12 hours anymore. He's going to start teething, if he hasn't already, and he's going to wake up more frequently. He'll also be up more because he's older and more aware of when you're not in the room with him, plus he can keep himself more busy playing now. He may go down to 2 shorter naps and go to bed later. It's sort of one of those "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it" things. You can put him in his crib, but it doesn't mean he'll go to sleep. If you have a certain lullaby CD or routine, Like a bath, lotion, baby massage, bottle, or something like that, then you can try to incorporate the same routine right before bed. He will start to associate those things with going to sleep. Other than that, I try to be more like a chameleon and work around his schedule than expect him to work around mine. My 13-month-old son only takes 1 nap a day now. I have less time, but actually more time since I stopped spending 2 hours a day TRYING to get him to still take the second nap.

Hi! My son is 6 months old and has a similar schedule. He has been going to bed between 6:15-6:40 since he was 12 weeks old and sleeping until 6 or 6:30am. He has always wanted to go to bed early...and the few times that he made it to 7ish at night..he still woke up between 6-6:30, so I prefer the earlier bedtime. I was trying to help him transition his naps because he was also dead tired by 9am, but it didn't work. So- what I have now done that is working great is this.

I put him down for a cat nap around 7:30. It works! He only sleeps for about 45 minutes, but then I can put him down about 2 hours later around 10:30 or 11 and then again around 2 ish. This way he is up from his last nap between 3:30-4and can make it til 6:30 for bath time. I figure that when he is ready to transition into 2 naps, the cat nap will be easiest to drop. Good luck!

Dear T B,

This is the hard part, for sure. I really don't know the answer, but I would suggest that he doesn't nap well in the afternoon because he is too tired and can't relax. I do know that it is not a good thing for a young one to sleep to 3:00 in the afternoon because it interferes with his night time sleep time.

So just wake him up. As I said I don't have any good answers. The other Mommies will though. C. N.

count yourself among the lucky ones that he sleeps through the night, he will adjust the sleeping schedule by himself. You are a LUCKY mom here!!!

TB-Still use the 2 hr rule: If he wakes up from his afternoon nap and it's 2 pm, put him back down by 4 pm for a third nap. If it's closer to 5pm for his third nap, pretend it's bedtime and put him down for the night. I know you would think he will wake up way too early the next morning, but he'll actually sleep longer and possibly past 6-6:30 am, which then will move your am nap back later and poosibly the day. The reason he isn't sleeping through the night right now may be two-fold. One, many babies are not ready to NOT eat for 12 hrs until they are 9 months old! Two, if he's overly tired (ie: going a long stretch in the afternoon without a nap) he will not sleep as deeply and soundly and will more easily be aroused at night.

Check out the age appropraite section in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, by Dr. Marc Weissbluth (it sounds as if that's the book you may have already read). He will explain more in depth exactly the trouble you are having. And yes, this is very common (and very frustrating to deal with) at this age.

Your Pediatrician should also be a good source of advice for how to navigate this tricky time! Remember, on-line advice should be taken with a grain of salt! Trust your own physician on problems like this, that's what they're there to do. Good luck and happy sleeping!

Dr. S. McNulty, Mia Bella Pediatrics

First thing, I HIGHLY recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." Not only does it give you a sleep cycle for your baby, but informs you of average sleep schedules for children through their teen years. Even after experiencing napping and sleep schedules with my 3 year old daughter, I found this book to be extra helpful in getting my stubborn 6 month old on a sleep schedule (wake at 6:30a, nap 9a-11a, 1-2p, 4-4:30, and to bed at 6p). The hardest thing for us was being consistent since over the weekend we'd straighten him out, then daycare would do something different. Either make sure you're all on the same page or wait until you have a long weekend or a nice chunk of time to establish the routine. Good luck!
(I also think YOU are in charge here and despite other mom's advice to wait it out, I think you can make up your own rules. When sleep deprived, nothing can hurt to try because it just might work!)

Having been in this situation quite a bit, I can advise you that when he is determined to go to bed at 6:30, totally change his and ur schedule.......put his coat on and take him for a walk even if its cold outside (which by the way seems to be better also) that will not only take his attention away from being tired but also might even have him sleeping from 8pm to 8am. Also, letting him play in his crib even if he is crying for 20mins during the first couple of days (2) in the morning will start training him to sleep longer. At this age children are smarter than we give them credit for. Try my idea and stick with it for 2-3 days and let me know. Thanks
T.

I think this is normal. My daughter was the same way at this age. Your baby is still young and you're just going to have to wait it out. Eventually you'll get your baby on that two nap schedule. And they usually transition on their own. As your baby gets older he will be able to stay up longer and thats when you'll pobably get him to get on that two nap schedule. Give it a couple months or so. I had the same issue but it will eventully work out.

If there is absolutely no way for you to adjust your schedule to your child's then ease into it. Keep your baby awake 10 - 15 minutes longer than he is now and bump the time forward every week until he's napping when you want him to. Although, it is easier to change your routine, it is possible to change his! My little guy sleeps about 10 hours at night then cat naps throughout the day. He never sleeps more than 40 minutes at a time and usually only twice per day! Good luck and be thankful he's still a napper!

Babies nap routines will change as they get older and need less daytime sleep and as their night-time sleep patterns change. I would just leave your baby to settle back into his own new napping routine. At his age, napping three or four times a day is probably too much especially if he's getting a good solid full night's sleep now. Two naps a day is probably reasonable and my recommendation would be to just watch your baby for signs of sleepiness and nurse him to sleep and let him nap and he may settle into a predictable routine. Who is this nap time not working for? For your b/c it's an inconvenient time of day? It sounds like your baby is falling asleep at times when he is sleepy and needs to nap and if that's the case, then I would leave it be. I have three kids and do daycare so I completely understand what it's like to have your baby (or in my case two toddlers) fall asleep 15 minutes before you have to put him in the car to go pick up kids from school or whatever, but I think that if you mess with his body's natural rhythm that you might disrupt his night-time sleep as a result. If it's working for him, then I would try to figure out a way to make your schedule work with his nap times.

GOod luck.

It sounds like you have read the book by Dr. Marc Weissbluth "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". That has been my sleep "bible" for my daughter. You seem to be going through the same thing I did with my daughter at that age. She is also an early riser and was ready for a nap by 9am (or earlier). She was taking 3 naps but rarely slept for more than 1-1 1/2 hrs. I eliminated the late afternoon nap and moved her bedtime earlier. She started sleeping about 13 hrs at night and woke up well rested. I still watched for the signals that told me she was sleepy and put her down to nap around 9am and 1pm but the times varied a little depending on how she slept at night. I know she was getting enough sleep if it took her less than 30 mins to fall asleep. Unfortunately, at about 1 yr old she decided to stop taking an afternoon nap regardless of what I did. I had to slowly move her morning nap to around noon and move bedtime earlier. It has been very trying and my husband doesn't always get to see her before bedtime because he doesn't get home in time but I feel having a well rested child is more important than anything. Feel free to email me. I also found out that you can reach Dr. Weissbluth at dadmag.com. Good luck!
L.

Boy, it's been a long time since my kids were that little, but I do remember having to change the feeding times to get my children to nap when I wanted them to. Increase the time between feedings gradually. Increase the amount you feed him during those feeding times - that will help you stretch out the feeding times. I hope that was clear. Good luck!

This is probably not something you want to hear, but you might want to think about being more flexible. If you have a 7-month-old who is sleeping thru the night, that's half the battle! Enjoy your days with him rather than stressing out about a nap schedule.