Episode 118 – 8 Month Old Nap & Sleep Schedule, Awake Windows and Sleep Regression

Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.

Hi, Courtney Zentz here the founder of tiny transitions. I’m going to talk to you today all about the ideal schedule for an eight month old baby, how long they need to sleep during the day what that sample schedule would look like and how we can ensure that your child has the right amount of daytime sleep to ensure the right amount of overnight sleep, so everyone is getting good consolidated sleep. First, I want to start with some sleep foundations. Children need at this age approximately three hours between their naps to ensure the right amount of the sleep pressure hormone called adenosine. If you try to put your child down too soon, they’re not going to have enough of that build up so they’re not going to take a nice long nap. And if you wait too long, they’re gonna get overtired. And overtired in a child actually triggers the brain to release stimulant hormones, because it thinks you’re trying to stay awake, and thereby also creating a fussy baby who doesn’t eat well and generally doesn’t nap well, either. So if you have an eight month old, and you’re trying to figure out what that ideal sleep schedule should look like, first, we’re going to start with the ideal bedtime, children should be asleep somewhere between seven and eight o’clock at night, waking somewhere between seven and eight o’clock in the morning. Ideally, children will sleep 11 to 12 hours overnight, and they’ll wake when they complete the sleep cycle in that particular range. So for example, if a child goes to bed at seven, and wakes at 712 hours later, they’re going to need that first nap of the day to happen at 10 o’clock, that naps actually going to be fixed, because it’s going to help the body clock then also begin to recognize that sleep is coming. So if we need about three hours in total daytime sleep for a child at this age, a 10 o’clock nap is going to come together and look three different ways. You’re going to have a child who sleeps 10 To 1110 to 1130, or 10 to 12. Typically, children will take ideally one longer nap in the day of the two naps that they’re going to take for eight months of age. If they take a nap from 10 to 11, their second nap is going to be from two to four, three hours of an awake window, right. And then if they sleep from 10 to 1130, it’s going to be 230 to four, if they sleep from 10 to 12, it’s three to four. So those are your sample schedules. For an eight month old, you have two naps with approximately a three hour awake window, and a three hour total daytime sleep need which has baby waking up at four o’clock to go to bed at seven. So if you have a child who for whatever reason can’t move to two naps a day at eight months old, you can still have a child at three naps a day when they’re eight months old. However, it’s going to look a little different. The naps will be shorter, and they’re going to be kind of sporadically spaced throughout the day. A lot of times I see this with children who are in daycare, sometimes another child in the room will wake your little one. Sometimes they have a very different set schedule at daycares. And as a parent, you don’t have any say in what that looks like. Sometimes they misread a child’s cues and will put them down to sleep when they’re really not ready. And that causes as I mentioned, a shorter nap because they don’t have the right amount of sleep pressure. On the other side. If you’ve got a decent commute home after daycare, your child might fall asleep in the car seat while you’re driving home. And then you’re left wondering what do I do with timing. So if your child at eight months of age is still taking three naps a day, that’s okay, I have private sleep coaching clients that I work with who prefer that schedule because of maybe older siblings, and a car line drop off or pick up where they know falling asleep in the car is inevitable. You can still manage to have a beautiful sleeper at night even with a three nap schedule. But here’s what it’s going to look like. If your child is waking up somewhere around seven o’clock in the morning. Ideally, they still don’t need that first nap till 10 o’clock. But from a timing standpoint, you have to balance how do I fit in three naps knowing that I have to do three naps. If that’s the case, I would suggest you put your child down for that first nap around 930. They will be ready enough to go to sleep. But they probably won’t take a super long nap. So if we say it’s one cycle, it might be 45 minutes, so they’ll sleep from 930 to 1015. Okay, the next nap of the day would probably sit somewhere between 12 and one o’clock. Okay. So if they’re sleeping around 1230 And then they wake up at 115 again for another 45 minute nap. Okay, the next nap is going to then be at 415. So then they’re going to wake up about five o’clock. So what that does is it gives you three naps, all one cycle each 45 minutes so they are restorative. Okay, but you’re a little short then on total daytime sleep needs. What does that mean? All right, well, we just have to put baby down, you know, probably a little bit sooner because they’re going to be a little bit tired. So the nice thing about this is you can still have the three naps and then you can still have a bed

I’m typically at about seven o’clock because their body is going to need the rest because they were a little bit shortchanged on naps. So you just properly spaced it. Your adenosine levels, which is the sleep pressure hormone went down a little bit, okay? And you have the ability for your child to still take those three naps. Sleep is a lot of hormones. You have adenosine, melatonin, cortisol and adrenaline are the main ones that are kind of happening throughout the day for your child. So it’s important that you maintain that balance. Children who have trouble with going to bed or waking overnight are frequently overtired. Especially early morning wakings. Right. If your child is settling independently to sleep, they should be able to sleep through the night and be balanced on this type of schedule. If your eight month old is struggling to go to bed, waking through the night and not sleeping through the night or waking up early in the morning, there is likely either an issue with their timing, an issue with the environment or a habit that they’re still holding on to where you rock them to sleep, feed them to sleep, bounce them to sleep, or they’re just looking for something from you to sleep. If that’s the case, you might need some more coaching from us here at Tiny transitions. And we’re always happy to talk more about the services that we provide. We do 30 minute phone consultations just to get those questions answered. If you’re more of a do it yourself person and you just need to know the facts. And you can implement. We have private sleep coaching with myself or any member of our slumber squad here. Amazing certified sleep consultants that are always happy to work with clients. And we’ve got free sleep communities. So if you join our community here called slumber made simple, we do weekly q&a, live coaching all kinds of different stuff because we’re here to support you and your quest for independent rest. Down here in the notes. You will also see the ability for you to grab any of our freebies I have a massive comprehensive library of freebies for all of our clients at any age, we work with newborns, infants, toddlers and school aged children who are struggling to sleep through the night struggling to settle at bedtime or struggling to do it all so that you can be arrested family. I believe in sleep education and knowledge. I want you to have it so definitely take a look at those freebies. Go out and download any of our sample schedules which are out there or any of the guides based on age to help your child get the rest they need to be their best. Be sure to follow and click subscribe and we look forward to seeing you on the next episode here from tiny transitions.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai