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Hi Emily!
I hope you got a few more hours of sleep last night and you’re not too exhausted!
I’ve answered your questions based on what you have said, but I am more than happy for you to provide more details/clarify points if you have any questions based on what I have written.
Regarding your first question, you could try an earlier bedtime and see what happens. The exact timing of this earlier bedtime will depend on your baby’s last nap. If, for example, his last nap of the day finishes at 5 pm, then he might not be ready for bed until 7 or 7.30 pm (as they generally have a wake window of 2-2.5 hours at this point). But if his last nap finishes at 4 pm, he might be ready for bed at 6 or 6.30 pm.
In regards to moving him into his own bedroom, the AAP recommends babies stay in the same room until 6 months of age, due to the SIDS risk, so I wouldn’t recommend moving him to his own room at this point. But in saying that, if you do want (as I know they can be super noisy), I recommend you talk to your baby’s doctor to see if your little one is at low risk, and they would be ok with recommending they sleep in another room.
If you want to keep him in the room with you until he is 6 months old, then a middle ground might be giving him a separate sleep space (eg, crib) to sleep in if you haven’t already. I have also had parents wear an earplug in one ear overnight to reduce the noise level but still ensure they can hear their little one. This might also be an option.
I recommend using the pyramid techniques now for daytime naps and bedtime if you’re happy to. This way, you’re allowing him to practice falling asleep independently. You can apply the pyramid techniques with the pacifier. But if you find yourself replacing the pacifier to help him fall asleep or throughout the night, I recommend you consider removing the pacifier. For some babies, pacifiers can lead to more restlessness and wakes, particularly in the early morning hours when they’re in lighter sleep, as they need the pacifier to fall back to sleep. If this is the case with your little one, removing the pacifier and helping him learn to fall asleep without the pacifier should help reduce his restlessness and wakes during the night.
Also, based on what you said, do you think he is stirring from 12.30/1 until 2.30/3 am and then again from 4.30 – 7 am because he is hungry? Feeding him slightly earlier might reduce the need to constantly pop the pacifier back in, especially from 4.30 – 7 am. If you’re happier to feed him slightly earlier, your night might look like this:
- When he stirs at 12.30/1pm you give him his first feed of the night.
- You give him his second feed when he stirs again at 4.30am.
- Then he sleeps until 7am when he wakes for the day.
You might be a little concerned that you’re increasing his overnight feeds. But working on the pyramid techniques with naps and bedtime, plus all the other strategies mentioned in the course (e.g., keeping the bedroom dark and free from sudden loud noises, keeping stimulation low and the lights dim overnight, keeping a set wake-up time, etc.), will help your little one start to stretch the length of time he sleeps overnight and hopefully give you some more rest too.
Regarding his daytime naps, I wouldn’t necessarily wake him from a long nap if you find that he isn’t having a long wake period in the middle of the night. Instead, aim to have a consistent wake-up time. A consistent wake-up time will help reset your little one’s circadian rhythm (which will also help make bedtimes more consistent and encourage longer stretches of sleep overnight) and lead to a regular time for his first nap of the day. Once this nap time becomes consistent, the second naps will become more consistent, and so on.
I hope that helps!
Emma