At 7 weeks my son will not sleep for longer than 10-15minutes at 4-5pm and so gets exhausted by bath time
My 7 week son follows the 4-6wks quite well but I’m having trouble getting him to sleep for more than 10-15mins between 4pm-5pm. This then makes him very ‘ratty’ and tired up to his bath and then he ends up falling asleep at 6.30pm.
I am a child minder and have gone back to work (work at my Mums house) so his 9am-10am sleep is usually in car seat and tends to wake after 30 minutes but I manage to ‘get him back off’ until 10am. But his 4pm sleep just goes wrong, tried car seat and also putting in own cot when gets home but still wakes up.
My son feeds at 7am 6ozs, 10.30am 5-6ozs, 2.30pm 5-6ozs, 5pm 3-4ozs, 6.15pm 3-4ozs, 10.30pm 5-6ozs and 3.30am 3-4ozs.
He weighs 10lbs 10ozs.
My son naps at 8.50-9.50am, 11.30-2.00pm and 4-4.15pm. He is settled by 6.30pm.
The afternoon nap is always a much lighter sleep than that of the earlier daytime naps. At his age your son will still need to sleep in the afternoon, but he may need some help to do so.
If possible, you could let your son doze in his baby chair once you are back home from work. Tuck him in with a blanket and see if he will doze there until 5pm. Gina recommends that you let this nap happen in some place other than the cot so a baby does not always need a darkened room in which to sleep. Another option would be to take him for a short walk in his pram once you are home and see if that encourages him to drop off to sleep.
He may be too tired to sleep properly at 4pm so try letting him have a catnap in his chair before he leaves your Mum’s house. Allow him 20-30mins from 3.30pm. He may then be more likely to take another short nap later, either in the car or once you are home.
Until you have found a way for your son to sleep in the afternoon try bringing his bath time forward to 5.30/5.40pm. If he is less tired he may enjoy his bath time more. It is not unusual for a baby of this age to be ready to go down by 6.30pm.
It can be difficult to fit in naps around your own commitments but, with a little juggling and letting him nap somewhere other than his cot, you should be able to find a way to get him to have a nap to help him through to bedtime.