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Hi Jaime,
It’s great to hear that the soothing techniques worked well initially for your baby.
Unfortunately, at seven months old, babies often experience many developmental changes that can impact their sleep, including separation anxiety, teething (which should only be temporary), and major milestones like learning to crawl or stand.
The strategies in the course and the settling pyramid still work for babies beyond 6 months of age. I successfully used the settling pyramid with a 15-month-old (used to being rocked to sleep) to fall asleep in her crib on her own.
The main difference at 7 months is:
– They generally adopt a 3-nap schedule, with the timing of these naps being relatively predictable.
When they’re on a 3-nap schedule, they may stay awake for 2 – 2.5 hours before needing a nap. Generally, the amount of time they can stay awake is often shorter earlier in the day and longer later in the day.
– Bedtime and wake-up times are consistent, occurring in the same 30-minute window.
– Nighttime feedings may vary depending on whether you are breastfeeding or formula-feeding. Breastfed babies might still wake for a feed, whereas formula-fed babies might not.
With your little one, I recommend you continue implementing the strategies in the course:
– Keep the sleeping environment cool, dark, and free from sudden loud noises.
– Combine age-appropriate wake windows with his tired signs and the general pattern of wake, feed, play, and sleep.
– Continue doing the bedtime routine, but you can tweak it slightly. Sometimes, babies develop associations with certain parts of their bedtime routine that can trigger distress if they anticipate what comes next. Plus, as babies grow, they sometimes need a longer wind-down period before they’re ready to sleep. Changing the order of the routine or adding another activity might reduce his reactivity. For example, you might read him a short book as part of the bedtime routine. So his new bedtime routine might start with feeding him in a well-lit room, walking into the bedroom, putting on the sleeping bag, turning off the lights and closing the blinds, turning on the white noise, reading him a bedtime story, and then singing him a song before laying him down in his crib.
– You could use the settling pyramid to help him fall asleep when he is lying down in the crib. If you find that he protests a lot and you feel that staying in the room is too confusing for your little one and upsetting him more, you could consider laying him down in the crib and then leaving the room and do the watch and listen step while watching him on the monitor. So what I did with my daughter in the video titled Live Example: Reading Cues at 5 Months of Age.
I hope this helps,
Emma