The cure for an 8 month old

[mamabear]

Here is his schedule:

6:45 wake up, breastfeeding
8:15 nap 45 mins (pram outside)
9:00 breakfast (fruit, bread, porridge) and breastfeeding
11:00 nap 1.5 hours (pram outside)
12:30 lunch (veggies, fruit)
15:00 nap 1.5 hours (walking with pram outside)
16:30 breastfeeding
18:30 dinner with family (veggies, meat, bread, pieces of whatever we are having)
19:15 breastfeeding, diaper, and then bed, asleep at 19:45 (ideally!)

He has been sleeping well since the first night, has only woken a couple times and needed our help getting back to sleep. However Jeffrey wakes on his own EVERY morning at 5:45, quite angry. We have tried jingling, leaving him to settle himself, and even a bit of buffing which we don't use otherwise anymore. Nothing works (I suspect he is hungry?) and we have to take him out of his crib very early. He is therefore exhausted by the time his 8:15 nap arrives, and I have to wake him after 45 minutes EVERY time. He usually then wakes up after 45 minutes during his 11:00 nap (we try unsuccessfully to get him back to sleep), and only half of the time do we succeed in getting him to sleep the full 1.5 hours in the afternoon. This means at the moment he is getting about 12 hours of sleep on a good day, pretty much the same as before the cure

Is my schedule totally wrong for Jeffrey? As we near the end of the followup week I am thinking how I should change it. After reading here on the forum I have began to suspect that he is hungry, and not getting enough food throughout the day. He refuses to be spoonfed, and I'm finding it difficult to get enough finger foods in him to fill him up. Any suggestions for very filling but nutritious finger foods? He will chew and suck on a peach for 30 minutes but that's not going to get him through the 11 hour night...

Also, in case it is important, he is a small baby (7kg) and VERY active, "creeping" around the apartment at a high pace whenever he isn't eating or sleeping.

Thank you so much!

[TorsMamma]

Hi and welcome!

I feel like you, that your boy do not get enough food. It is what you give them during the day that reflects how the night will be. THE WHOLE day!
You can continue breastfeeding but you need to add more food to the feedings. You give food first and breastfeed directly after the meal. So breastfeed like you do in the morning, then put in a second breakfast 1 hour later. Then the first nap. Then the real LUNCH with food and dessert and breastfeeding. Then a real snack with breastfeeding. And real dinner with dessert. Then the last meal a small snack WITH breastfeeding. Then he will last the whole night which is only 11 hours. My son did 12 at 4 months.

Also you need to check that the bedroom is absolutely Pitch dark in the middle of the day. If you walk in there at noon, you should not be able to see your own hand. 8)

Also if possible I would like for you to read in For the Love of children, about the 8 month anxiety, which is where he is in his development right now. When you have read this, please get back to me!