Reply To: New Frequent Wakings

[Emma H]

Hi Maddie,

First off, I want to say you both have done an amazing job helping your little one learn how to fall asleep in her crib. Just 13 days ago, you began the ‘watch and listen’ step outside the room and successfully settled her to sleep in her crib for her nap for the first time. Now, she is taking most, if not all, of her naps in her crib and settling to sleep using the settling pyramid for both naps and bedtime.

It’s fantastic that her naps have started to lengthen again too!

Since this ability to fall asleep in her crib for naps and bedtime is new, she might need a bit more time to get used to it before she starts dropping the overnight feeds. However, it does sound like she’s making progress, especially with that six-hour stretch of sleep the other night, which she hasn’t done since the beginning of April.

I still expect that with a bit more time, she will naturally start to reduce her overnight feeds. To help her along, you can try the following:

1. Complete the Watch and Listen Step Outside the Bedroom:

   • Are you still completing the watch and listen step while you’re outside the bedroom? If not, it might be worth trying this again now that she is comfortable being placed in the crib after the sleep routine.
   • Remember, if she calls out but there are pauses between the call-outs, this doesn’t necessarily mean she needs you. It could be her way of saying, “Hey, this is different!” or her way of settling to sleep. Babies can take up to 20 minutes to fall asleep, so if she calls out but there are pauses, give her the space to fall asleep without you in the room.
   • However, if she calls out and there are no pauses, that indicates she needs you. At this point, enter the room and move up the settling pyramid. Ensure you move back down the pyramid so she completes the last step of falling asleep on her own.

2. Use the Settling Pyramid for the First Third of the Night:

   • Babies often start to have longer stretches of sleep in the first third of the night because this period primarily consists of deep sleep (NREM Stage 3/4). As the night progresses, sleep is dominated by lighter sleep stages (NREM stage 2 and REM sleep). This is the part of the night that we want to first reduce the feeds and help her fall asleep using the settling pyramid instead.
   • When she goes to bed at 7:30/8pm and wakes anytime before 12am, pause and watch her on the baby monitor to see if she is truly awake or just transitioning between sleep cycles. If she is awake, go in and use the settling pyramid to help her fall back to sleep.
   • For wakes in the first third of the night, consider asking your husband to settle her. She may find it easier to fall asleep without a feed if she can’t smell your breastmilk. You might also consider temporarily moving out of the bedroom for a few nights to avoid her smelling the breastmilk. If this isn’t possible, or you prefer to settle her to sleep, that’s completely fine.
   • If you don’t feel up to this, you could continue to feed her for the next few weeks and see if she naturally starts to have longer stretches of sleep at the start of the night. If after a few weeks, she continues to wake, you can implement this step then.

3. Consider Your Bedtime:

   • Since she is sleeping in your room and tends to wake every 1 1/2 – 2 hours, think about the time you and your husband go to bed. The noise of you entering the room, getting ready for bed, and getting into bed may accidentally rouse her from sleep.
   • For example, if she falls asleep at 8pm, she might enter a lighter sleep stage and briefly wake around 9:30/10pm. If you or your husband go to bed around this time, you might accidentally wake her. You might need to adjust your bedtime to avoid this.

I hope this helps!

Emma