oooh not want you want to hear but i would love to be in a routine like that!! we are so haphazard, some days she will sleep a total of an hour, others 4-5 hours... no regularity whatsoever.... again, not what you want to hear!!

sounds like u are sick of being stuck at home to fit in the two 2 hour naps.... i take it your baby isn't used to sleeping except in her own cot....? have you tried getting her to take one of her sleeps in her pram? maybe start by having the pram in her room for a while, then advance it to being out on a walk somewhere fairly quiet, then maybe one day she will sleep in her pram while u are out, like shopping?? my baby does not do this and will only sleep in her cot, but maybe yours will!??

it sounds like things are fairly 'under control' with this routine, i guess you have to be ready for things to get crazy if u are going to mix it up a bit....

im no expert, as my DD is so irregular and most of the time will only sleep either in my bed, or in her cot (never out and about, EVER!!), but i would probably start by trying to get her/him to sleep in different places, that way if u do want to go out for the day, you will be confident that she/he won't turn ratty and will be able to nap in her pram/car seat etc.

in regards to fitting in a certain number of feeds.... i wouldn't worry so much. they will let you know if they are hungry... but again, if u are going to relax your routine, you might need to be prepared to be up in the middle of the night on occassion if things have gotten a bit out of whack and they are hungry.

can i ask what happened when u stopped the routine for the day? how did the day go and when did it start going pear shaped? maybe your baby just needs a lot of sleep? 17.5 hours sounds like a lot for a 7 month old, but again, they are all individuals so probably a silly thing for me to say.