7 Month Old Crawling Milestone Development and Sleep Regression Help :)

This is so normal. Sleep gets disrupted by milestones, growth spurts, teething, any number of changes their little bodies are going through.

My daughter's sleep would usually be disrupted from 1-3 weeks, before forming a new pattern... Usually, a better one than before.

Co-sleeping during these periods worked much better for me than fighting them. The sensations babies go through are entirely new to them, and can be unsettling and even painful. They don't understand what is happening to their little bodies, and need the loving comfort of their parents. (Please don't read hat as a criticism of you using CIO... I know it works for some children, and I don't have ill will towards parent who use it... It just isn't my cup of tea.)

In my experience with different daycares, kids don't start going down to one nap until they hit the 1 year old room. In the infants room, which is where your little guy would be, he would still be taking 2 naps. My almost 13 month old still takes 2 naps a day (1.5-2 hours each), goes down about 7:45 pm for the night and will usually sleep all night until about 5:30 am. I think I remember both my kids going thru sleep strikes at major milestones. This is really normal and by no means permanent. I would really recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby, a sleep book that the ladies on this site recommended to me when I was struggling with my first baby's sleep. The author doesn't necessarily advocate for one sleep training method over another, but goes into the science of sleep and helps you recognize the cues and signs for your baby. I've used it with both my kids and it has really given me some sanity back... Good luck!

I was also wondering about the amount of sleep he was getting. Wow!!! Neither of my boys ever slept that much. I was pretty lucky if they slept 13 hours total (including naps). (If my kids were still that age I would be very jealous!) I understand what Gamma G is saying about daycares needing them to go down to one nap at this age, but my boys didn't really go down to 1 nap a day until around 12 months. I was a SAHM when they were that age, so our schedule was flexible and I was able to go with the flow and follow their cues.

I think you need to follow his cues. He is clearly letting you know that he's not ready to go to bed that early. He simply doesn't require as much sleep. True the crawling is part of it. Any time they learn a new skill it will disrupt their sleep. But I think this has more to do with him not needing as much sleep as he used to.

What you are seeing is very, very normal! Their needs change, so their sleeping patterns change. If he's not falling asleep until about 2 hours after you put him down, it's time to give him a later bedtime.

I would put him down for the night later, no problem at all with a 9:30-10 pm bedtime. My son was in daycare from the time he was 9 weeks old. The infants had as many naps as they needed (or their parents requested) until they were a year old. My son slept on his own schedule (slept when tired, ate when hungry, changed when wet) until then. He took at least 2 daytime naps. We did put him down for the night when we went to bed which is when he had his last feeding. Actually, it was more like we stayed awake until 11 pm or so until he had his last feeding and then we went to bed.

My son transitioned to one nap at 12 months of age in daycare and it was PAINFUL. He was exhausted for weeks. I would not take away any sleep at all that your son wants. He is only 7 months of age. Taking only one nap a day seems pretty unusual (most babies drop to two naps from 3 at about 6 months) but he is getting plenty of night time sleep.

From webmd.com:
4-12 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day

While up to 15 hours is ideal, most infants up to 11 months old get only about 12 hours of sleep. Establishing healthy sleep habits is a primary goal during this period, as your baby is now much more social, and his sleep patterns are more adult-like.

Babies typically have three naps and drop to two at around 6 months old, at which time (or earlier) they are physically capable of sleeping through the night. Establishing regular naps generally happens at the latter part of this time frame, as the biological rhythms mature. The midmorning nap usually starts at 9 a.m. and lasts about an hour. The early afternoon nap starts between noon and 2 p.m. and lasts an hour or two. And the late afternoon nap may start from 3 to 5 p.m. and is variable in duration.

Also - you WANT him to know that if he cries, you will come get him. That is how babies develop confidence in you and then self confidence. How else would one expect them to communicate at this age? You don't need sleep training, your baby is doing amazingly well sleeping. Just enjoy.

I wouldn't take him out. If he takes a paci or lovey just go in every 5 min and give it to him. Repeat. CIO usually works.

Well, you've taught him in this last week, that if he cries for long enough, you'll come and get him out and let him explore. Why would he do anything different?

It is definitely time to sleep train, and whatever method you choose...it will work, as long as YOU are consistent.

So I would suggest finding a method that you are comfortable with (b/c baby will be totally fine with whatever you choose), and get started.

He's getting too old for 2 naps. In child care all the kids are down to 1 nap after lunch well before they turn age 1. When they go to the toddler room they have a strict schedule and having random kids in bed napping isn't part of their daily schedule. So most kids are down to 1 nap every day by age one.

So he's old enough to start having a little nap and a long nap. Then in the next month or so he can start weaning down to one long nap.

Once he's not sleeping so much through out the day he's going to go down and sleep easier.

Just my opinion but 2 long naps plus 13 hours of sleep every night is just luck, that's a lot of sleep for a kiddo this age. It may be that he's just had all the sleep he needs and you're not listening. If you want to keep him taking 2 naps you'll have to adjust his bed time back by a couple of hours.

I seriously think 13 hours of sleep every night is a lot. You've been very lucky.