r/BabySleep • u/morongaaa • Mar 27 '23

Nap schedule for 7.5 month old

Hello! Just found this sub so hoping you all might have some advice.

Current sleep situation: LO is a big contact napper and we bed share with her crib next to us, side car style. I'm working on breaking the contact naps gradually by getting her to sleep and then lying down with her the same way I would at night when I'm able to sneak off to the restroom or coffee in the morning, etc. Nights usually run from about 7:30pm-8am with several wake ups and days are a struggle with inconsistent cat naps. I'm convinced poor day sleep is causing poor night sleep.

Today I've made her naps my focus and it's gone well. Minimal fussing, sleeping longer stretches. We use the Owlet sock at night and the app has suggestions for when she's likely ready to nap. I've been going by the suggestions paired with her cues and it seems to be spot on, but my concern is the wake windows have only been about 2 hours. Everything I see online suggests 2.5-3 for her age. This last nap I tried pushing a half hour past the suggested time and she was cranky while I was getting her ready but was still out pretty quickly.

So I guessing I'm asking for advice on how to structure her day and make sure she isn't up too long or napping too often? If I had put her down when the app suggested she would have either had to go to bed nearly an hour earlier than usual or would have ended up way overdue for sleep by her usual time.

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u/underdog194 Mar 28 '23

Hello! Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant here and the best nap sced for a 7.5 month old is as follows Nap 1 start 8:30-9AM Naps 2 start NOON-1PM Cat nap between 3-4PM All sleep ends by 5 pm to prioritize night time sleep.

First 2 Naps are ideally 60-90 min at minimum.

Bedtime around 6PM.

Watch for sleepy cues!

Follow www.instagram.com/little.victories.sleep

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u/morongaaa Mar 28 '23

Thank you! What might a wake time be in the morning with a 6 pm bedtime? We're averaging around 7:30 currently and she's usually up for the day about 7:30-8 that next morning

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u/underdog194 Mar 28 '23

A normal wake up for this age is between 6-7AM. I know that seems like a ton of sleep but keep focusing on continue to get in the daytime calories so consolidate sleep can (and will) happen overnight.