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Hi Vivian!
It’s so good to hear you liked seeing the live example. I was hoping this would be helpful for parents, so I’m glad it is.
The settling pyramid is a responsive strategy that you can use to help your baby learn how to fall asleep on their own. Once your baby learns how to fall asleep independently, they won’t need to relearn this skill again. But if you accidentally fall into the habit where they need your help to fall asleep, then you will need to teach them how to fall asleep on their own again. For example, let’s say your baby gets a cold, and for the next week, every time they need to go to sleep (for naps and bedtime), you rock them in your arms until they fall asleep. If you do this, your baby will likely learn that they need to be rocked in your arms to fall asleep. In this situation, you will need to help your child relearn how to fall asleep while lying in their crib instead of being rocked in your arms.
You can use the settling pyramid at any age. In fact, just recently, I used this approach with a 13-month-old.
If you want to leave the room when you’re just watching and listening, that is okay. Some children over four months can get distracted and distressed if their parents are in the room. So, stepping out of the room may make it easier for these children to fall asleep. But if your little one signals to you that they need your help, go back into the room and move up and down the pyramid to provide them with the support they need.
Regarding your question about when the 4-month sleep regression typically ends, it doesn’t! The 4-month regression happens because your baby’s sleep has matured and this is a permanent change. They’re now cycling through 4 stages of sleep and may wake following one sleep cycle. Although the cause of the 4-month regression never ends, there are things that you can do to help your little one have longer naps during the day and sleep for longer stretches overnight. If you’re interested, these strategies are outlined in the pdf titled ‘The Complete Guide to Managing the 4 Month Regression’.
I recommend waiting until the early to mid-tired cues before putting him to bed. If you wait until the late tired cues, you may need to spend longer calming him back down before he is ready to lie down. Starting the routine when you see early to mid-tired cues will generally make it quicker and smoother.
Unfortunately, there is no specific age at which babies start to sleep for 10 – 12 hours overnight without needing a feed. It depends on the child and whether or not they’re breastfed or formula-fed. As a rough guide, bottle-fed babies can generally start having their night feeds phased out from around 6 months of age. Breastfed babies will often continue to wake for overnight feeds up until 12 months of age. But it can certainly happen earlier than this. It just depends on the baby.
Most babies over three months old need about 10 – 12 hours of sleep overnight. So, your eventual goal would be to have them sleep overnight without a feed for 10 – 12 hours. But as I just mentioned, this can take some time.
It sounds like your baby’s bedtime falls within a 30-minute window, which is fantastic, especially for his age! Even though his bedtime is not an exact time, falling within the same 30-minute window is what you aim for. To encourage him to continue to do this and help in the maturation of his circadian rhythm, I would recommend that you wake him up at the same time in the morning.
I hope that helps!
Emma