Hi,

Hoping I can get a few opinions as I cant actually work out if there is something I am missing?! My little girl is so happy and contented and we have so much fun - I have a routine and yet she only STTN sometimes and sometimes wakes up twice in the night.

I am not overly bothered anymore and think she will just progress when she is ready - but I am fed up of people saying she 'should' be doing it now!

my routine:

wakes up around 8am, has a little play with her teddies...(she loves this time and ignores us if we go in before she is ready)
at 8.15/30 daddy changes her nappy and brings her in for cuddles and BF
9ish breakfast
lots of playtime/baby group/go into town/shopping etc
11.45 lunch
12.30 nap for anything up to 2.5 hours (BF to sleep)
playtime and snack at 3.30/4ish
dinner at 5.45ish
We let her play with her toys and spend time with daddy until bath @ 7
After bath she BF but not usually to sleep unless her nap was very short!

The night wake up is anytime between 2-5ish and a long proper feed - doesnt feel like a comfort suck!

and she can & does self settle

sorry for the essay!!!

I think you're going to have to break the BF'ing to sleep habit, she's expecting milk to get to sleep.

Although I FF it took me a while to break the habit of LO waking in his cot expecting milk.

She may be drinking a bunch but it will be comforting.

The only thing i would say is that i she goes down quite late to bed.

I was always told that the contented naps they had during the day the better they slept at night.

At 11 months my LO was having a nap at 10.30 ish for around 2 hours and then back down again around 4ish. she then went to slepp for the night at around 6.45 and slept right through.

Does she show any tired symptoms in the afternoon?

I understand every child is different and she may not need 2 naps during the day but its just a suggestion.

The night time feed does sound like its more habit than anything. Maybe try giving her water instead of boobie feeds?

sorry if my thoughts are wrong.

good luck xx

Thank you for both replies!

The reason she only has one nap during the day is that she is only usually up from her midday nap at around 3, so there is only 4 hours before her bedtime nap. I think I will start bedtime abit earlier and see if that helps!

After all that, I think I have worked out the cause for the bad nights. She has woken up with another cold and has been very clingy with it! Hopefully things will return to normal once she is better! In the meantime I am resting while she is napping

My DD never went down to bed before 7:30 and still doesn't.
She will sleep until 8am the next day.

She only has one nap in the day and didn't sleep properly through the night until she started weening herself off (BF) I don't think it's a problem.

We never stressed about it either and she got herself into her sleeping habits, we just followed her lead.

Like Sweetthang24 said every child is different. If you're happy to feed her through the night still, go for it.

Though with Erin it might have been partially a comfort thing, we did start giving her a bit of cows milk before she went to bed as well as Boob as she would fall asleep on me before getting her full. She seemed to sleep better with a fuller belly as she wouldn't sleep until the bottle had filled her up.

I have a friend who gave her LO water in a bottle / beaker just because he got a bit thirsty through the night and that worked for them.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong, the schedule sounds just fine. My oldest didn't sleep through the night on a regular basis until he was 2 1/2 when we brought his brother home from the hospital. He apparently needed someone else in the room with him. He's been a great sleeper ever since. I stopped offering a bottle around 9 months but he still woke up, didn't matter what I did. Also, one nap at 11 months is plenty especially if LO isn't being cranky throughout the day. Both of my boys dropped to one nap around that time which coincidently coincided with learning to walk. I personally believe that at that age they don't need the nighttime feed and are waking/eating out of habit so I am going to encourage you to cut it out. But having said that, if you think she still needs it and are okay with continuing it then you need to do what you feel is best. She will STTN when she is ready, you can't force it.