Reply To: Newborn under 3 mo – connecting sleep cycles

[Emma H]

Hi Anastasia,

It’s great that you have completed the whole course. I hope you have found it helpful.

It’s also great to hear that your little one is sleeping well at night and has already fallen into the pattern of sleeping, eating, and sleeping overnight.

At this age, shorter naps are extremely common. This is mainly due to two reasons:

1. Sleep pressure guides when your little one needs to nap, and he will continue to sleep until something else demands his attention or he is no longer tired.
2. Your little one spends 50% of their time asleep in active sleep (a type of REM sleep). This lighter sleep phase is easily disturbed by temperature changes, loud noises, and sudden movement. Therefore, the naps can be accidentally cut short these things. Plus, we can accidentally wake them up if we misinterpret their movements and sounds during active sleep as being awake.

The good news is that your little one is getting a good amount of sleep over 24 hours. Given that catnapping is extremely common at this age and he is getting a good amount of sleep, I recommend just letting it be and going with the catnaps.

At this age, it’s important to work on the foundations for great sleep, as these will help your little one nap for longer if he needs a longer nap (by reducing the chances of waking him up prematurely) and help him learn to fall asleep independently (which will take a lot of practice and time, as it’s a skill he needs to learn).

These foundations include:

1. Creating a sleep environment that is conducive to sleep – so cool, dark and free from sudden loud noises.

2. Pausing when he initially stirs during his naps to ensure that he is truly awake and not in REM sleep or cycling between sleep cycles.

3. Helping him learn to fall asleep independently (by learning this skill he will have the ability to link sleep cycles when he is developmentally ready to between 5 – 6 months).

4. Combining wake windows with tired signs and his general pattern to put him to bed when tired and ready for sleep.

5. Having a set – wake up time.

6. Swaddle him for sleep if you’re willing to (this will reduce the startle reflex and encourage him to sleep longer).

Plus the other strategies mentioned in the course.

I hope this helps!

Emma