I am concerned my 7 month old is not getting enough sleep and picking up bad habits. He used to sleep through the night from 8 weeks till about 5 months. Once I began introducing cereal I think it messed up his night feeding schedule- I "thought" since he was eating cereal he was getting filled on that and not breast milk- so when he woke up at night I would feed him. Then he started teething so I countinued the night feeding and now I think it is a habit- . He also only takes 2 naps and usually they are not an hour long. I guess I am wondering if thats enough?? He does not seem especially cranky and usually stays up until 9-9:30 and sleeps until 6:30 am usually waking up 1x, but I feel he should be taking at least a longer nap in the day at some point, Any hints/suggestions???
He's 7 mos old! How can a 7 month old be thinking deviously enough to pick up bad habits? He can't distinguish bad from good at this point. Where would he be picking them up from?
Suggestion: don't worry about it.
you can not make a short napper into a long napper. babies wake up and then they are up... and so is mom./
I would try to move his bedtime up to 8 or 730. he will probably get up at the same time of the morning no matter when you put him to bed. babies just do that.
Sleep is differnt for every kid.. my daughter needed lots of sleep and took 3 naps for a long time.. my son didnt need so much sleep adn got down to 1 nap a day by 9 months..
If you put your bby to bed earlier.. you can go in at 10 or 11 or whenever you go to bed and nurse him that might fill his tummy and then he might sleep longer... It might work or it might not..
Napping just depends on your kid. He needs about 11-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. It doens't really matter how he gets it. I'd rather having him sleeping through the night than taking long naps. My daughter, now 21 mos, was a HORRIBLE nap taker until about 11-12mos. She rarely slept more than 30 minutes at a time...but slept through the night. She now takes a 2-3 (sometimes 4) hour nap in the pm.
Sometimes physical changes (i.e. rolling, crawing, walking) affec their sleep.
Babies' sleep habits change frequently. Not to be a pessimist , but none of mine (3)TRUELY slept through the night til they were toddlers and they were not great nappers.
In the night he may be waking just because he wants his mom! I don't really have any great advice to solve the issue. He might not need that much sleep. Not all babies are the same. No worries. It sounds like he does sleep pretty well at night...just up once...HOORAY!
I had 3 boys and none of them napped long during the day. As the babies get older some just require less sleep than others. Doesn't help you out much during the day, but it sounds like they just don't require as much sleep at this time. Things may change in a couple of weeks or months as they require a little more they will sleep more.
At 7 months I think the average is 12-15 hours of sleep per 24 hours. And waking up 1x per night is completely normal and age appropriate. If he is waking to feed he's hungry. If you noticed him doing this after starting cereal I would be curious to see if stopping or reducing cereal and increasing daytime nursing would fix the problem. cereal is pretty much nutritionally void...it's "play food" and is not necessary.
J., My son now 14 months was and sometimes still is a horrible sleeper and eater! We have always said he is a "snacker" he never drank a full bottle and at 7 months rarely napped without me or my husband holding him. I know many people do not agree with that but desprite times call for desprite measures. I would stress a lot about this and it made the situation soooooo much worse. I did the same thing with eating. I did get the book "No cry sleep habits" from the library. This book explains the need for a good night time routine that should take about an hour and that your child should be asleep at the "bedtime" you set. So we would start at 6:30pm with bath and then he was in his crib by 7:30ish usually earlier. Also, agree with other posts that your bedtime is too late. I have also read that some babies only need a 45 min. nap when others need longer. Once I read that I took a breath and then just prayed he would sleep for 45 min. Now at 14 months he sleeps through the night (just with making a night time routine and slowly discontinuing the last feeding) and takes one nap for atleast 1.5 hours. Good luck and try to relax I know it is difficult!
Hi. My son doesn't nap that much at daycare 5 days/week, but will nap ok on the weekends with me.
I put my son (now 11.5 months) to bed at 7:00pm. I think that 9:00pm is too late for a 7 month old. The earlier you put to bed, the longer they will sleep because they will be well rested.
I am also in the habit of a night feeding still at about 4am (although from 4 months to 8 months, he slept all night).
Good luck.
