Reply To: Multiple night feeds (and very early wake time) – 5mo

[Emma H]

Hi Jill,

It sounds like your little one might be used to falling asleep during a feed, and when he transitions between sleep cycles, he wakes fully and searches for that same comfort to fall back asleep. The 4–7 a.m. stretch is often harder because his sleep pressure is much lower (after already sleeping for about 7 hours), and his circadian rhythm is naturally encouraging him to wake up.

To help make nights more manageable, I have a few questions that will help me better understand his routine. When you have a moment, could you please answer these?

1. Does he have a set wake-up time? If so, what time is that?
2. You mentioned using the settling pyramid for naps—have you been able to continue with it, and how’s it going?
3. How are you currently settling him to sleep at bedtime?
4. Can you share what his nap and bedtime routines look like?
5. Does he use a pacifier to fall asleep?
6. Does he share a room with anyone?
7. Where does he sleep at night?
8. Is his bedroom dark enough that you couldn’t read a book, cool, and quiet?
9. When he wakes overnight, are you following the wake-feed-sleep routine? For example, no nappy changes (unless necessary) and keeping the room dark during feeds?
10. You mentioned his 45-minute naps are going well. How many naps is he having during the day, and what time does his last nap usually end in relation to his 7 p.m. bedtime?

Sorry for all the questions!

This information will help me get a clearer picture of what might be causing the difficulties and how to improve things for both of you.

Emma