What kind of sleep / food schedule?

[KBecks]

We are blessed with a baby that has slept well since he was a couple months old, but now at 8 months, I feel we will do well by introducing a schedule and sleep / eating routines.

My initial thought is to begin a before bed routine at 8, and put him to bed at 8:30, expecting roughly 12 hours of nighttime sleep.

Then I'm thinkg naps at noon and 4 p.m. or thereabouts.

For our bedtime routine, we're thinking of cuddling, a book and singing a song to our boy. Maybe this would be a good time to introduce changing into PJs (he normally sleeps in his day clothes) and a comfort object?

If I do only 4 feedings per day, will that be enough?
What suggesions should I think about?

Note, after hitting about 8 months and becoming an accomplished crawler, our good sleeping boy was becoming harder to settle down. We did the Ferber CIO method for 2 nights now and he has done well with it. His longest crying period was 15 mins, and he seems to be doing better falling asleep on his own.

[inmypjs]

Hi! Your son is exactly 1 month older than mine (born 11-21-04). I'm so happy for you that your baby has been a good sleeper from the start. Ours wasn't a first but now he is on a great routine that looks something like this:

6:30-7am wake
9-10:30 nap
1-2:30 nap
possible late afternoon 45 minute nap
6:30-7pm bed

Of course the times do vary a little, as sometimes he just sleeps less or more. We nurse after each wake up and do solids at lunch and dinner times (12ish, 5ish). I sometimes do a "dream feed" around 9/9:30, depending on how well he nursed during the day.

Fyi, I really like 2 books about sleeping that talk a lot about appropriate schedules - Healthy Sleep Happy Child by Mark Weissbluth and Good Night Sleep Tight by Kim West. Both of them talk about the benefits of going to bed early and about biological times for naps (midmorning and early afternoon).

Hope this is helpful.

[boygirl3]

My son is only 5 1/2 months and follows your sons pattern pretty closely. My only problem is that my son doesn't sleep through the night. His schedule has changed (all over the board) the past month or so....and now teething has started. Yet, the last few days have led him to sleep for approx. 3 hours when he first goes down, then he sleeps in 2 hour stretches! I nurse 1 or maybe 2 times at night but otherwise comfort him and/or give him his pacifier. I'm hoping this changes soon.

[mykidsmom]

My 8 month old dd has been on a schedule/routine since about 3 months old. She has always been a great sleeper and we have definite rituals around naps and bedtime in place. Since abot 4 months she has napped from approx 9-10:30/11 and 1-2:30/3. As she has gotten older, the naps have gotten a bit shorter and closer to 1 or 1 1/2 hours rather then two.

Recently since she started crawling, she has been refusing to take her morning nap. I just don't know what to do. None of my usual tricks are working! My instincts tell me that it is either just a phase, or that I should extend her morning awake time and just put her down for the 1st nap later.

My dilema sounds very similar to the original poster. Any suggestions or experience with this would be appreciated!
Thanks!!