9 Mo Taking Shorter Naps and Eating Less Food...

M. ~`
I know the worry, especially with your first, you don't know what to expect! At that age, just before age 1, they do teeth, and eating/drinking and sleeping will change alot also with their growth spurts. My motto was, "just when you figure it out, they change"!
Yes, they need their sleep. At that age I started stretching the 3 hour window, but basically, WHENEVER they get up, they have 2 - 3 hours awake time, and then put them down for a nap (AS SOON AS YOU SEE THEIR SLEEPY SIGN)...with the same short (15-20 min) routine, try not to do it right after they eat! (a full tummy can be uncomfortable for sleeping). This was my major problem with my little guy so I became an expert...at least for me.
As for food, if she's getting some solids plus milk, she should be fine unless she really starts losing weight. (My little guy also wanted some pure water at that age). Trust your "mommy gut" if she starts acting sick or really not herself. As folks told me, you'll have to roll with the changes. Good luck and enjoy the process. God bless.

young children go through phases of eating and a lot and then hardly any. with my daughter she usually sleep more at these times. i'm thinking because she's not eating as much or sleeping well, maybe teeth? they can start being painful well before the parent can see them. for nap try moving 1st nap later and you may get back on two or maybe even one big one. for eating try a cup or a sippy. the faster flow may be what she needs. good luck!

My daughter is now 32 months old, but around 9 months, she did the same thing. About a month after that, she started walking. Looking back, I think she was so busy trying to stand and walk that food and sleep just didn't interest her. There was just too much other cool stuff to see and explore and do. Plus, once we started solids, even just a little bit, she really cut back on her milk. If you can survive with three shorter naps instead of two longer ones, she'll be ok. Good luck!

All kids are different and if she continues to grow and seems healthy I would not worry. Kids go through phases - sometimes my kids would eat everything that was not nailed down and other times they turned up their noses. I would mention it to the Dr. but if she does not seem sick and does not lose weight she may just be telling you that she does not need as much. Growth spurts played a huge part in my babies eating habits. She may be at a lull and you may see it pick up when she hits her growing phase again.

Bbabie sdon't always get the "correct" amount of sleep. As far as eating, wow, youe baby ate A LOT of food per day-26 ounces! Don't worry if she is not as hungary, she will eat when she is hungary. UNless she is vomitting a lot of what she eats she should be fine. As far as naps, maybe you should just try one nap a day. At 9 months my oldest only wanted one nap a day.

Dear M.,

According to "What to Expect During the First Year" nine months is about the time that appetite drops off. I recall a story about a little girl who seemed to live off of "bread and love, and most of the bread went to the dog." Of course, you need to know your own child. My daughter would (and still does) get weird late in the morning (almost lunch time) if she doesn't eat a good breakfast, so I made that meal the priority.

My daughter also gave up her morning nap the day she turned one year old. Your daughter may be indicating that she can give up her morning nap and take a longer afternoon nap. It may be tough keeping her awake longer in the morning, but it is worth a try.

By the way, proper eating and sleeping is a spectrum. Expert X will say one thing, and, of course, Expert Y says something else. Some kids just need a bit less than others. As long as your daughter is alert and happy, she is getting enough sleep. It is harder on you than on her; I'm still getting over my daughter giving up her afternoon nap when she was 3 1/2, and she is in kindergarten now! I heard a saying awhile back that states something like "you can't force a kid to eat, sleep (or stay awake) or poop." I think you can encourage eating, you can enforce bed time, but the last one is up to Nature.

Hope this hels

babies at this age have soooooo much going on! And just like big people, they go through phases too. If she's not losing weight, is still active and looks healthy I wouldn't worry too much. If you're really worried, a call the nurse at your doctor's office. sometimes they can let you know if they think it would be worth a trip in to see the pediatrician.

Also, make sure the room is dark during naptimes and light during wake up time. It will help set her internal clock.

Keep encouraged... this too shall pass :)

Hi there M.,

I just had to respond to this because my name is also M. and I too have a daughter born in Dec 07! Where do you live btw? It'd be funny if we were neighbors! :-) And it just happens that I'm sort of going through the same thing right now. Although my daughter doesn't seem to be drinking less milk, she definitely has cut back on solids. It's a struggle to get her to eat anything more than the equivalent of a jar of baby food a day. But, although I was worried at first that she wasn't getting enough, I've been told repeatedly by many sources that as long as she's getting enough breastmilk/formula it is fine. Remember, breastmilk/formula is actually supposed to be their main source of food the entire first year! Solids are only supposed to be exploratory at this time. So the fact that you have introduced solids is probably why her bottles have gone down somewhat. It still sounds like she's getting plenty though and sounds like she's letting you know what she needs if she's refusing any more when offered.

As for the naps...my daughter is sleeping less lately too. It could be teething like one person suggested, although in my case I don't think so as my little one has 6 teeth already and isn't really showing any other signs of teething. Also another thing to consider is whether your daughter learned a new skill lately (crawling, pulling up, cruising). That also can cause a baby to be disrupted in their sleep patterns as they're often too excited learning/practicing their new skill to sleep. Of course then they're super-tired later, but they don't know any better. Anyhow, I don't have too much more advice for you but to keep doing your best and trying to put her down whenever you see signs of being tired. But, know you're not alone! For the past week or two, my daughter has been only taking 1 nap (ranging from 1-2 hours) when she used to take 2 naps a day. She also is playing in the crib (or crying off and on) for up to an hour at times when I've put her down for her afternoon nap. Hopefully it's just a stage they're going through and it'll pass soon!

Good luck,
M.