[lilz]

Hi there,
My daughter doesn't generally have day time sleeps- If she does it would only be very short ( 20-30min) cat naps if that & only twice during the day or she doesn't sleep at all.
She has been extremely active since day one- has to see & know everything that is going on- Doesn't want to miss out -

The problem we are having is she isnt interested in going to bed each night until about between 11pm- 1am- During the day she is either crawling, in her jolly jumper, playing in her play pen, always on the go but I cant seem to find any answers on how to settle her earlier??
Any suggestions, ideas would be muchly appreciated!!

Many Thanks

[Alpha_Chook]

Do you have a bedtime routine? If not then create one. If you do, start it a little bit earlier each night. You won't go from a late bedtime to an early one straight away, it will take some adjusting. I'd be packing away toys, removing all stimulus to try and get her to quiet down earlier and put her in bed sitting in her room with her if needed

[SplashingRainbow...]

What time does she wake from her night sleep?

Without sleeping during the day she must be incredibly overtired. Remember that hyperactivity is a sign of being overtired - so your "active" daughter isn't necessarily saying "keep me awake" it could just be her bodies way of processing her tiredness.

Without details it is really hard to tell what to suggest. I personally would be setting a bedtime routine, telling her what the routine is and talking her through it, and treating her bedtime as 8 to start with (assuming that's about when it gets dark a your place - I'd them try bringing it forward after other issues are sorted). After 8 it's into cot and bedtime. Nothing stimulating, no lights, calm low voices only, cuddles and settling as required.

Are you doing this and it's taking 3-5 hours to settle?

Then I'd be starting naps 2 hours after she has woken to hopefully get a big morning nap in that helps prevent the overtiredness.

Can you give more details?

[Joey11]

I agree with PP that babies get more active as they get more overtired, unlike an adult who gets slower and winds down. My DS has few tired signs - he'll rub his eyes a couple of times, maybe get a bit clumsier. But if we miss that small window of showing tired signs he just gets more and more excited.

It's up to you to communcate with your DD that it's bed time, not vice versa. Create a routine - I use dinner, nudie play time, bath, pj's, bottle, book and bed. Taking about 1/2 an hour from bath to bed and with no excitement after nudie play; dim lights, no tv, no exciting interactions with others.

It can help to have a bit more routine during the day; say get her up at 7am and have certain windows for naps (i.e. down for first nap between 9-10 depending on tired signs and how it's going that day). I used to be fairly anti-routine with DS but I have found as he gets older (he's 10 months now) that he is so much better with at least a loose routine, and it helps me identify when he is tired during the day but not really showing it.

You may also want to look again at the daytime sleeps, as better naps will help with the night sleeping.

[KRT]

I agree with PPs - your daughter sounds overtired.

I would suggest putting aside a few days to help her catch up on sleep, doing whatever works - maybe going for a drive, going for a walk in the pram, sleeping on you. Then try moving to a loose routine, with around two hours of awake time before trying for a sleep. Then you might want to start looking at trying to resettle during some of the catnaps - or your DD might start to have longer sleeps hereself. And then you might want to move to try self-settling... Or you could try it all at once.

I had a really active, alert, live-wire of a baby - turns out he couldn't switch off. It was so confusing! But he's much happier, as am I, with more sleep. Good luck!

[Phoenix Blue]

I would also agree, over tired. Babies need a certain amount of sleep to develop properly and they need to learn how to slow down and switch off, and need your help to do that.

At 7 months, look at about 2 hrs of awake time. If yr baby show little or no tired signs, then go by the clock. Quiet wind down time in room, songs, story, very dark, into cot, pat and shush. How do you get her to sleep currently? Ideally you'd be looking at 2x 90 min day sleeps and a cat nap - but lots of babies just catnap. When she's been awake for close to 2 hours, time for next sleep.

Good day sleep promotes good night sleep with babies. Start a consistent routine and she may respond to it really well. Good luck.

[AntiBourgeoisie]

Oh my, OP.
I hope you take this in the nice way that its meant - but it sounds like you have never learnt to put your baby to sleep.
Babies do not magically decide they need sleep, and then fall asleep, and stay asleep. They, and you, need to form a partnership and work on it together.
At 7 months, your baby should be having approx 4 hours split as 2-3 naps in the day, and 11 hours at night. Your baby should not be awake longer than 3-3.5 hours at a time, max.
The more overtired a baby, the less easily they fall asleep. A sleep deprived baby cannot play or learn effectively, and cannot grow properly. Inadequate sleep has effects in learning, memory, intellectual capacity and multiple hormonal processes including growth hormone (for growing) and insulin (for fat storage, metabolism etc). For your babies sake, you need to address this issue rapidly!
I actually suggest you go see your maternal and child health nurse or GP, or some other professional to talk about baby sleep. If your 7 month old is only having 2 or less 20 min naps a day, and is not going to bed before 11 pm at the earliest, then I'm sorry to say that someone has neglected to tell you how much sleep a baby needs and how to go about it. Active baby or otherwise, your baby is so so far off what she needs.
I suggest you also look at a couple recent threads with extensive posts about this:
http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/ind...owtopic=1043913http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/index.php?showtopic=1043825
Baby sleep is an interest of mine and it is important to me.
I'm sorry if tho post sounds harsh, but I do think you need substantial external assistance, not just a few 'tips' from the Internet. Good on you for seeking help, but please escalate this and see a professional about it.