Ealry Bird!

I wish I knew what to tell you about helping him sleep later - early mornings are tough for me! But I did have one thought. Since he still needs a 2 am feeding, I would try feeding him just before you go to bed each night. I did this with my babies and it helped them get through the night (and enabled me to get a full night's sleep without interruption), then they woke at about 6:30/7:00 am (going to bed at 7 pm) and played happily for a little while in their cribs, like your son (they still do this as toddlers). If you try this, and he still wakes around 2 am for another feeding, forget about my advice! But it was a great routine for us, and I told a friend about this who was still waking in the middle of the night with her 9 month old, and it worked for them, too. It might even "re-set" his "clock" and he may sleep a little later in the morning(one could hope!).

He may gradually adjust to sleeping later on his own. Since he is adjusting to longer naps (which is great!), this is a change in his sleep habits, so it may just take him a little bit of time to get settled into this new routine (again, one can hope!)

My son was doing the same thing at 6 months old. He is now almost 8 months old and sleeps 11 hours at night (with sometimes a nighttime feeding).
I found that my son was sleeping too much during the day so I cut back on the amount of time he was sleeping and it has helped a lot. He only needs about 3 hours of sleeping total for naps. He still took three naps. usually a 1 1/2 morning nap, then two shorter naps in the early afternoon and late afternoon. I know they say the more they sleep the better they sleep, but I found that my son didn't need all of the sleeping during the day.
Just an idea, good luck!

Hi J., babies go through different sleep habits, as they grow, so what you want you have to do is determin the times you want him in his crib, and I say that cause you, can `put him down but you can not make him sleep, it sounds to me like you are doing things, right the only thing I would do differently is, I would not give a 6 month old a 2;30 feeding, and I would rocj kim to sleep so he falls asleep being nurtured. Thats it. I had my babies on rice cereal at 6 weeks and they slept through the night from that point on. J.

6 months old is a growth spurt time... and they get hungrier more often and increase intake. AND, they are changing developmentally... and may be hitting new milestones...ie: crawling, sitting up, rolling over, teething, etc. MANY times this causes a hiccup in their regular sleep patterns. Many changes happening to them and it throws them off.

Just keep to your routine and sleep/nap times. It will pass. Both my kids went through that too.

A baby has a pattern of: wake, feed, awake time, nap/sleep. The window of "awake time" is about 2-3 hours. Put him down for nap/sleep while still awake... or keep whatever routine you have for him, the same. Consistency is the KEY. Perhaps... 2 naps during the day is fine.... versus 3. But if he is needing 3 naps, than that's his "pattern." Every baby is different. Keep it the same. Don't change it around too much.. or it will just make matters worse.

As they grow up though... their patterns change. It's not static. But consistency is important... my boy is 24 months old now and still takes 2 naps everyday, and goes to bed fine, and wakes up at 6:30a.m... This is his pattern, and the routine which I've kept since he was a baby. Same for my eldest 5 year old daughter. Even if they went through changes... I still kept a nap/sleep routine consistent. They both still nap.

Your boy seems to sleep fine and nap fine... it's just that he is waking earlier lately. I suspect it will pass though. I went through that each time my kids were hitting another developmental change and milestone. My son in fact, just made 24 months old... and this past week his sleep habits were crazy! But I know it will pass. I just still keep him on the same nap/sleep times and routines, anyway.

Good luck,
Susan

If you want him to sleep in later, I would try putting him to bed later. With all of my kids, they needed around 11 hours a night. My boys were better sleepers so I would put them to bed at 8:00pm and they would wake up around 8:00am or 9:00am. With my girl, she does not sleep as long so I put her to bed around 9:00pm or 9:30pm and she wakes up around 8:00am or 8:30am. I would always make sure they were awake from their last nap by 6:00pm just to be sure they went to bed at bed time!!!

Dear J.,

It seems to me that you are doing the right thing now. I think that you are on the right track. Mothers know their children better than anyone else in the world, and you are certainly working hard to fulfill his needs. C. N.

Hi J.!
My daughter is an early bird!! She goes to bed at 6:30 (and has since the DAY she was BORN!!!) and wakes up at 5:30 or 6:30. My son usually sleeps till 7:30 or 8 (he goes to bed at 9) I have put some soft toys in her crib that she can sleep with without hurting herself while sleeping. I have a crib pinano that ties to the rails, that she plays with etc....
We don't even go in the room when she wakes up and she will fuss sometimes but we ignore it. It is TOO early! if she is crying we will go get her but she is now almost 1 and she KNOWS that we will get her when her brother wakes up. so she plays so nicely. I have just put a few books in there (she is my book worm!) she loves them!
Usually around 7:15 she starts calling us..."ALLL DONEEE!!!" or just yells till we get her!
there are times when she doesn't last that long and i get her, bring her in bed with us, nurse her and then depending on how she is i will put her back in her bed, unless she just lays with us! usually she wants to play and we tell her no playing on mommy and daddy's, so she goes back in her crib just fine!
Good luck and maybe some idea's!
XO
A.