Settles for naps perfectly during day, not at night!

Hi, I have a 10 mth old who wont settle at bedtime and eventually goes to sleep every night screaming (from being overtired Im sure) then wakes 2 or 3 times during the night as a result. Naps during the day are no problem and she goes to sleep perfectly for them with no effort required from me, just put her in the cot and away she goes! During the day she displays all the right tired signs - rubs eyes, yawns etc so I know when she's tired. At night she doesnt though and its just a guessing game as to when to put her to bed. She is awake for 3.5 hours during the day in between her morning (1.5 hrs) and the afternoon nap (1.5 to 2hrs), so I have been basing on putting her to bed about 3.5 to 4hrs after she wakes from her arvo nap. I even tried varying the times (less and more) but nothing seems to work and she still screams everynight! What do I do???

Hi Sophie's mum, I find my little man goes to bed better at night if his afternoon sleep is either 1 hour or less, sometimes even no afternoon sleep. He is 6 1/2 months old. He has a good morning sleep 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Although this makes for a hard baby to keep happy after 5 pm and until he goes to bed as he is tired. We have a routine of tea, bath play time, jolly jumper, bottle and bed. The jolly jumper tires him out nicely. We keep the same bed time of between 7-7.30 every night. Good luck and hope the screaming at nights stop soon.

Thanx Deena for your advice. I will try it although Im a bit skeptical it will work for Sophie. She is just so active (will be walking by weeks end we think) during the day that she needs at least 2 decent naps. Im sure the reason she has such long naps at the moment is because of the restless nights and lack of sleep from getting up too many times, therefore I guess she makes up for it during the day, then we go through the screaming match again at night and the cycle starts again. She used to sleep about 13 hours of a night and only 2 or 3 naps of an hour each time during the day - now she's doing about 9 and half hours at night, and sometimes up to 3 and a half during the day. Morning and Afternoon nap can be only 2 and half hours apart sometimes!! She's a weird child...but we will work her out one day....hopefully!

Hi Sophies Mum,
Try giving her only 1.5 hours sleep for each of daytime naps, then at night, give her dinner, a little bit of play time, a bath with lavender oil (there is a bath oil especially for babies/children with the lavender already in it. I think it is from Johnson and Johnson. You get at most supermarkets), bottle or drink of milk, then bed. I find this works well with my 9 month old. He has a full tummy, the play wears him out a bit, then the bath relaxes him. He has his last milk feed, so he isn't hungry or thirsty, then he goes to bed about 8pm. He then sleeps through until about 7am the next morning. Hope this works for you too. Good luck.
Tracey

Thanx Tracey. This is the exact routine we follow, except she has a bath in the morning (needs one after the all night nappy..ewwww..and the breakfast in the hair!) so instead she has a shower with her Dad to freshen up of a night time. How long after your little man has his bottle of milk is it before he goes to bed? I've tried holding her out so she has the bottle then straight to bed, but she wants it right or wrong at about 7pm (even though she has her dinner at 5.30pm) and then to bed at 8pm.

Hi Sohie's mum,
Brady has his bath to relax, then his milk then into bed as soon as he has finished his milk. That way he is clean, feels fresh, is not thirsty and has a full tummy.
Tracey