Sleeping FAQ: 6-9 Months – Daytime Sleep

Will my 8-month-old cut back on his long morning sleep when he is ready?

I have been fairly successful with the CLB routines so far. The only problem I have at the moment is that my son is very awkward at taking his 2.30pm feed and at nearly 8 months I thought that it is either his teeth bothering him or that he is simply ready to drop this feed. Today and a day last week I was forced to alter the routine to take my son to eczema clinic. It has been two of the best days we have had recently. It went as follows:
7.00am: Woke, drank 5 oz milk mixed further 2 oz with 4 tbsp of Ready Brek
9.15-11.15 am: Nap
11.50am: Lunch – Lamb Hotpot & Sweet Pot & Yogurt
2.00pm: Drank full 7oz formula (unable to get him to drink this feed for last 3 weeks)
2.15 – 3.00pm: Nap
5.00pm: Tea Red Lentil Savoury & Yogurt & Water
6.00pm: Bath
6.30 pm: 8oz formula & bed
I do understand that the sleeping routine is geared towards helping them when they are older, as the next nap they drop is the morning nap but would they not naturally increase their afternoon sleep? I am having to wake him at 3.00pm as I am aware that he needs no longer than 3 hours but I know that he would sleep longer, leading me to believe that it would be best to extend and bring forward his afternoon nap nap when his morning nap is dropped.

Providing you are aware of what could happen with this schedule in the coming weeks or months, but feel at the present time it suits your son better, then you may decide to continue with it. The problems which could arise are that he doesn’t automatically lengthen his lunchtime nap once he no longer needs his morning nap. Once he is used to sleeping a shorter time in the afternoon he may well be unable to settle back to sleep after his first 45 minutes. Whether this happens or not depends on each individual baby. This will mean he becomes exhausted by bath and bedtime and could fall into a deep sleep straight away possibly resulting in early waking the following morning. In the next month or so your son will become much more mobile. He is liable to get very tired once he masters crawling and cruising and will need a longer sleep in the middle of the day if he is active all morning. This will help him enjoy his afternoon and manage his tea, bath and bed without becoming overtired.

If you decide to remain on the schedule he is on now, until he shows signs of needing to cut back in the morning, then do so. It does seem, for what ever reason, that he does take his milk better at 2pm. Possibly because he is getting tired and uses it to get himself sleepy. Once you decide or realise that his routine does need changing, do so gently. Begin to cut his morning sleep back by 10 minutes every few days and at the same time bring his lunchtime sleep forward to nearer 12.30/1pm in the same way, adjusting it by 10 minutes every few days.