My 7-month son, who weighs 8.5kgs, sleeps in his cot for all his naps. But sometimes he refuses to settle for his lunchtime nap unless given a dummy, and I always have to give him a dummy for the late afternoon nap. I am unable to drop this nap as he gets very tired by then, due to him still waking at 5am for a feed.
My 7-month son, who weighs 8.5kgs, sleeps in his cot for all his naps. But sometimes he refuses to settle for his lunchtime nap unless given a dummy, and I always have to give him a dummy for the late afternoon nap. I am unable to drop, as he gets very tired by then, due to him still waking at 5am for a feed. How long can I expect to him to go on waking for a feed at 5am, and how do I get him to settle for naps without the dummy?
He sometimes fights going down at lunchtime and is only given a dummy if he has not settled after 30 minutes.
He settles at 9am for a nap of 45minutes, but how do I get him to stay awake past 9am?
Feeding details
5.00am: 7ozs formula
7.00am: 8ozs formula, followed by 3 tbsp porridge and pear
10.30am: 5ozs formula, followed by 3 tablespoons chicken/salmon/lamb with vegetables, 1tbsp natural yoghurt, few sips of water
2.30pm: 8ozs formula
5.00pm: 2ozs formula followed by 3 tablespoons baby rice mixed with vegetables
6.30pm: 6ozs formula
Total daily intake: 36ozs formula
My son naps at 9-9.45am, 12-2.00pm and 4.15-5.pm. He settles at 7pm.
Once a baby reaches the age of six months he starts to cut back naturally on the amount of sleep he needs. We advise that the times of the daytime naps are moved forward and that the length of the morning nap is shortened. This ensures that the baby reduces his sleep during the day and not in the early hours of the morning.
To help your son adjust to the new times move things forward slowly. Put him down by five minutes later every few mornings until he is used to settling nearer to 9.30am. This nap should be about 30 minutes in length. By napping later in the morning your son should be ready to go down for his lunchtime nap around 12.30pm. The later timing of this nap should help your son manage to get through until bedtime without the late afternoon nap or, if he does need it, that it is a very short nap.
This nap in the afternoon does not always need to be taken in your baby’s cot. If you take your son out for a walk in his buggy he will probably fall asleep for 15/20 minutes, which should be enough to refresh him so he enjoys his tea and bath time.
As your son settles without his dummy at some of his naps we suspect, from looking at the amounts he is eating, that he is probably not getting enough food, and this could be contributing to him wanting to suck on the dummy at some of the settling times.
Count your son’s 5am feed as his breakfast feed and then, when you get your son up at 7am, you should go straight into giving him his solids. This will encourage him to increase the amount of solids he takes at this meal and will allow you to push his lunch forward. He can be offered a 2-3 oz of milk after his breakfast.
Now that your son is taking protein at lunchtime you need to quickly reduce the milk feed at this meal and then eliminate it altogether. You should aim to give him lunch at 11am and cut out the milk feed, replacing it with a drink of cool boiled water from a beaker. This will help him increase the amount of solids he is taking. Although all babies are different, a baby of your son’s age would normally take between 6-8 tablespoons of solids at lunchtime.
To help eliminate your son’s need for his dummy to settle him at his lunchtime nap, you can offer him a couple of ounces of milk to, as long as you do not allow him to fall asleep on the bottle. Once he is settling well for his nap you can gradually reduce the amount of milk he is taking, and then eventually drop it altogether.
You may find that giving him a small milk feed prior to his nap results in him taking a smaller 2.30pm feed, but this should help increase his appetite for his tea. Now that your son is eating a protein lunch you can begin to offer him a carbohydrate rich tea, using the suggestions to be found in the CLBW book. Offer your son suitable finger food at the beginning of the meal and see if he is able to drop the need for 2ozs formula before he begins to eat his solids. Your son should then increase the amount of solids he takes to nearer 6 tablespoons, providing this does not mean that he cuts back on his bedtime milk. Ideally this should be a full feed of 8ozs.
Your son needs a minimum of 500-600 mls (18-20oz) at his age, ideally divided between three milk feeds. As long as he gets this amount of milk each day he will be taking enough. You should find that reducing the amount of milk your son takes enables you to increase the amount of solids he takes and this, in turn, will help him start to sleep to nearer 7am in the morning.