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Hi Kathleen,
I’m so glad you enjoyed the course!
Here are answers to your questions:
When to Start the Settling Pyramid: You can start using the settling pyramid when you notice that your baby has a bit of awake time after a feed. This usually appears as a wake, feed, play, sleep pattern: she wakes from a nap, feeds, stays awake for a little playtime, and then gets ready to sleep again. This pattern often starts to show up sometime after 6 weeks. Early on, this won’t happen in every wake window—sometimes she might just wake, feed, and fall right back to sleep. In those cases, there’s no need to apply the settling pyramid. But whenever she stays awake after a feed, you can begin using it to help her wind down and settle to sleep.
Waking at Night for Feeds: There are a couple of things to keep in mind here:
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Around 6-8 weeks, your baby’s natural sleep rhythm will start influencing her sleep more. One common change is a longer stretch of sleep at the beginning of the night. Instead of waking every 3-4 hours, she might start sleeping for 5 hours or more before her first feed. Encouraging this longer initial stretch of sleep is helpful, as it usually becomes the stretch that lengthens as she grows, allowing her to sleep for longer periods at night.
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In general, most healthy newborns will naturally wake up when they’re hungry and get the milk they need. If your little one is feeding well, gaining weight steadily, and following her growth curve, it’s usually fine to let her sleep and feed her when she wakes up on her own during the night. Of course, it’s always best to check with your doctor to ensure this approach is safe for her specific needs.
If your doctor gives you the green light, one thing to keep in mind if you’re breastfeeding is to monitor your milk supply. Sometimes, fewer night feedings can affect supply, so just be mindful of any changes there.
Hope this helps!
Emma -