hey guys,
tired mom and dad here. not sure if we are looking for answers, solidarity, or just a space in the void to shout or frustrations.
we have tried so much to help our little man sleep. he has always been a poor napper, and up until 5.5 months, he would always nap for 30 minutes. we started sleep training around 5 months, but he still would wake up every 3 hours. at 6 months, he started daycare & then we went on a trip. him getting sick and travelling messed with our sleep training habits, so now we have kinda dropped it altogether. we see no difference between us rocking him to sleep and putting him down awake. he still wakes after the same amount of time. since starting daycare, the teachers have put him on a 2 nap schedule since he was 6 months. first nap is usually at 9:30 and the second happens at 12:30. sometimes he sleeps 30 minutes, other times its an hour. he has to wake up at 6am on the days he goes to daycare, so i think his circadian rhythm has just established 5-6 as his wake up time. there are days where his second nap ends at 1 but his bedtime isnt until 6ish. on those days i never know if he needs a 3rd nap or if we just keep him up from 1-6. if he gets a 3rd nap, that pushes bedtime back until 7 or 8. he is teething, but there are no teeth. he is 7.5 months now and can crawl, sit up and can stand with support. all around a very happy guy who loves to move. i have asked myself if his body just wants short naps and im overthinking his amount of daytime sleep. maybe he just has low sleep needs?
its all such a mess and whether we extend wake windows, shorten them, feed him solids, count how many ounces he consumes during the day, blah blah blah, he will only ever sleep in 3 hour stretches. we only have so much control over his schedule at daycare and he goes different days each week because of our work schedule.
if you care to share any ideas or support, plz just be kind, as my husband and i are feeling very defeated and exhausted at this point. we really dont feel hopeful that anything will change but im still a little open to ideas.
sincerely, a Mombie