8 month old no longer wants to sleep...did I have it to good before?

[Amanda1]

I'm a first time momma and need some advise.

We co sleep with our 8 month old son (not planned but it just naturally happened). 

He used to be a great sleeper. He would nurse to sleep on the couch with me at about 10 pm, I'd bring him with me later to bed. He would sleep until between 11 and 12  ( I'd have rathered he sleep earlier and wake earlier but wasn't about to complain). Then he would have about 3 naps ( about 1 hr each) throughout the day. He would nurse down for most naps (unless he was in the car, buggy or ergo) and I could sometimes slip away from him after asleep.

Well, now things have suddenly changed. He is very hard to get to sleep, even when exhausted. At night i will bring him to bed at 10, then slip away but he needs me to keep going in and nurse him again, this happens until I go to bed. He is often sleepy before 10 but even if I put him down at 9:30 he'll sleep for an hour and be up till 2.

And during the day he can be exhausted but will not sleep unless in the stroller or car.

We recently sidecared the crib to our bed, but have not succesfuly put him in it, and have kind of given up trying, that is the goal though.

He is breastfed and eats small amounts of veggies in the evening

Any advise?

[laneysprout]

Just wanted to direct you here:

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1293834/8-month-old-son-wakes-at-night-to-nurse-constantly-need-advice-help

You are not alone!

[Unlikely Mama]

10pm is a REALLY late bedtime for a baby.  You can probably get him on an earlier schedule with some consistency since most babies are by nature early risers. If his naps are crap (i.e. under an hour), I would put him down for the night (and did regularly with my DD, now 10mo) at 5pm or within 2.5 hours of his last nap if it ends after 3pm.  I would also not let naps go beyond 4pm in order to preserve bedtime. Since nighttime sleep is superior to daytime sleep, I don't see the point in a late nap when DD will get more sleep just going to bed.  I used to let DD "tell" me when she was ready to sleep.  Problem is, as she has gotten older, her sleep cues are less reliable and so by the time she lets me know she's tired, she's already overtired. Our sleep life totally changed when I stopped trying to keep her on an adult schedule and honored the fact that babies need way more sleep than adults. I put her to bed early and she sleeps way better. GL!