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Hey Jackie and JB,
It’s so good to hear you’re seeing some improvements in your LO’s sleep. I hope they continue and you all get more sleep!
Under 4 months of age, there isn’t really a nap schedule. Naps times and lengths vary. After 4 months a nap schedule may start to emerge if you wake your baby up at the same time every morning. When you have a consistent wake-up time, the first nap of the day tends to occur around the same time. For example, if your baby wakes at 7 am and stays awake for 2 hours then that first nap of the day will start to occur at 9 am. Once that first nap time becomes consistent the second nap time starts to become consistent and so on. By 6 months of age, your baby should have a consistent nap schedule in regards to the time they go to sleep and how long they generally nap for.
When they’re having growth spurts what you will notice is they feed more during the day, as well as night. If you notice they are just feeding more at night then it’s likely not a growth spurt. Sometimes this might be occurring because your LO is getting distracted during the day and having smaller feeds (this tends to happen as they become more aware and interested in the world around them, so they start to feed more overnight. If this is the case, try feeding your LO in a distraction-free room (or a room with fewer distractions) during the day to ensure they have a full feed. If it is a growth spurt it’s ok to feed them. Just make sure you are continuing to help them learn to fall asleep on their own (using the settling pyramid) for their naps. What you want to avoid is falling into the habit of feeding them off to sleep for all naps and bedtime.
The timing of when you go out really depends on you and your little one. If your little one can fall asleep out and about (for example in the baby carrier) then you can go out when it’s nap time. As they get older and the nap times become more consistent (so around 6 months of age) it’s often easier to time outings with wake windows.
I hope that helps!
Emma