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What does his schedule look like during the day? How many hours is he awake between naps and bedtime and what time does he wake up in the morning?

Sorry you're not getting any sleep!

I used that WT chart religiously from 3.5-6 months but then it didn't really apply to us as much. I will refer back to it when we transition from 2-1 naps! I agree with @Thehistoryofus that the sleep averages are high. The wake times are also conservative but that's because the goal is to not push a wake time to cause over tiredness. I would love to have a baby who sleeps as much as Olive does!!!

At 4 months my LO refused naps after 4pm and if the time between naps was too short, so I can understand why your LO would refuse a nap at 4:30. My best answer to that would be an earlier bedtime. We've done as early as 5:30 (with great results and NOT a super super early wake up).

I can only imagine how frustrating it is that your mil doesn't follow your instructions and won't help nap train your LO. It's old school grandma mentality that babies will only sleep when they show tired cues or that they'll sleep better at night with less day sleep. Blah!

If it helps, at 6 months my LO would be up for 2.25 hrs until his first nap then 2 hours between naps 2, 3 and bedtime. He needed that extra bit of time to be sleepy enough to take a good morning nap and then would take 2 45-min naps in the afternoon. You could also try giving your mil some set naptimes (8:15, 11:15, 2:15 with a 6am wake up) that she can try and follow.

here's the thread: http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-old-is-your-lo-and-how-much-sleep-do-they-get-in-24-hours

@Thehistoryofus: ah yes I totally agree. Not all babies will fit within those guidelines, but it's a decent place to start. I was just hoping to offer some ideas she could try to help with her mil.

Sleep is still a challenge for us, and I definitely don't have it all figured out. I think it's one if the most difficult aspects of the first couple of years.... If not the most difficult!

@Clementine: Have you introduced solids? It is really weird but for us, some point at 7 months when LO started eating more solids, we introduced rice porridge with chicken and that's when he started sleeping through the night (whereas he used to wake 1-2 times a night to nurse). My baby was EBF too. Maybe if he sleeps with a full stomach he'd sleep better.......

I also agree that he needs to nap well during the day to sleep well at night. Is he still doing 3 naps or 2? I remember reading that have him awake by 7am, then the first nap starts at around 9am (for us it has been 9:30am for a very long time), and the 2nd nap around 1-ish pm (2pm if he's a bit older). For us that works pretty well. My baby seldom really show signs of tiredness since 5-6 months, but if you put him down at 9:30am and 1:30am in his crib, he'd cry a bit, roll around, then fall asleep within minutes. Ignore him for a bit (maybe 10-15 minutes, seriously) even if he's rolling around, or sitting up and cry...etc. after you put him down. Don't rush in too quickly if he starts crying after napping for 15-20 minutes or so... sometimes they'd go back to sleep on their own. And usually my LO sleeps 40 minutes to 1.5+ hours (I usually wake him if he sleeps pass that).

Also, maybe try feeding him before he goes down for his nap, and/or ensure he naps on a full tummy? Maybe that'd get him nap a bit longer?

If my LO didn't take good solid naps before 3pm, he'd usually take a 3rd nap at around 4-5pm - but if that happens (if he naps after 4), I'd limit the nap to 15-30 minutes.

I dunno.... for us we are blessed with a baby who generally naps and sleeps pretty well (except when he transitions from 3 naps to 2 it confused us for a very long time, and we didn't know when to put him down for the 2nd nap for a long time). Best wishes to you....

@caffeinated: sorry i'm not sure i understand the question?

@caffeinated: oh ok the nap limit on the chart. i think the chart is assuming you have a bedtime of 6-8pm, depending on your lo's age.

olive wakes up by 3:30pm in order to have a 6:30 bedtime. that's been her schedule for the past 3 months. it's harder to get her to nap past 4pm because she has an internal clock. charlie was the same way, and most kids tend to be like that too.

i move bedtime around so that it's 3 hours after she woke up from her last nap. during the week it's 6:30, but on the weekends we're always off schedule.