Why Isn't My Son Sleeping?

I see several things to adjust that will solve this. First, rice cereal is constipating, so if that's an issue,don't give it to him. Second, he's not getting enough breast milk, which is also good for keeping the poo soft. And third, stop the water. He doesn't need it, it has absolutely no nutrition in it, and it fills his tummy. Breast milk is about 95% water, so he gets plenty of water in that. If you want to spoon feed him, make cereal (not rice) with breast milk, not water. (Nice schedule, but don't expect it to last without adjustment. Babies change daily, and schedules need to be fllexible.)

well I think your baby needs more breast milk! For the first year of a babies life the majority of their nutrition and food should be either breast milk or formula. Not water! and baby food. I mean it seems like baby is only getting breast milk 3 times (about 18 oz) throught at 15 hour period. That is not enough. You have to remember that baby food is just to teach your baby how to eat solids and to get used to textures but not the main source of food until after one years old. Look at the back of a jar there are hardly any calories or fat in baby food. I think the reason your baby isn't sleeping well is because he is still hungry. Like you should nursing him before each nap too. Now if you don't want him falling a sleep at your breast that's fine just nurse him like an hour or 1/2 an hour before nap. but I'm telling you he needs more breast milk. I bet if you do this he will nap a ton better.

Is he teething? That seems to be the simplest answer. Sometimes when they go through stages of growth too, they are too busy to sleep. Milestones like crawling, babbling, walking, standing up, a new fascinating toy, etc. can keep them up. It may just be a phase. My little girl went through lots of short phases where she would either be on a sleep strike or a nursing strike simply b/c she was too busy!

As he gets older, his need for sleep changes. I think he's trying to tell you that the current schedule isn't working FOR HIM. YOU need to adjust to his changing needs. Experiment a little with the routine, and be a little flexible. Follow his cues and make the adjustments that come with growing up.

Hi C.,

I echo what Sara F. says - great book! And he is probably ready to give up the third nap.

My daughter was on a 4 hour routine at about this age, too. She gave up the 3rd nap somewhere between 6-8 months - it was on/off for a little bit. Our routine (for sleep and nursing) was something like this:
7 AM - wake/nurse
9AM - 11AM (ish) - morning nap
11AM - wake/nurse
1 PM-3 - afternoon nap
3PM - wake/nurse
6:45 - 7ish - bedtime routine, nurse, then down for the night

She slept through the night at this age. We were gradually adding solids into her diet starting at 7 months. We added them one meal at a time, I'd nurse first and then feed food. Eventually she was eating solids at her 3 daytime "meals", and as we weaned after her first b-day, the meals stretched out in time a bit to become breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

So a couple thoughts...it sounds like he needs more breastmilk or formula. At this age, b-milk/formula is baby's primary source of nutrition. Food is more about baby learning to chew and swallow and give some nutrients. Maybe offering breastmilk a couple more times during the day would make it so you wouldn't have to wake him to eat at 9:30. Also, if he wakes up at 6AM, he might need to go to bed earlier, maybe more like 6:30 or 7:00 (I know that's hard in lighter summertime days!).

Just some ideas - hope it gets figured out! Could be teething, too. You're definitely on the right track!

If he rarely takes his third nap that may be a sign that he is ready to go down to two naps. Does he still stay up until 7:30pm when he doesn't take the third nap or do you put him down earlier? Sounds like he is over-tired. In this case, get rid of the third nap, try to push his naps a little later and his bedtime earlier. Work to going down for a nap around 9:00am to 10:30am, afternoon nap 1:00pm to 3:00/3:30pm. Bedtime 6:30/7:00pm. A great resource that I found REALLY helpful when my kids were babies is the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". Schedules and sleep needed are broken down by age, since this is ever changing as your child gets older. Really helpful!!