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Hi Gabriela,
How have the last few days been going?
From what you’ve written, it sounds like introducing the bottle after breastfeeding might have helped your little one settle into the wake-feed-play-sleep routine during the day—does that sound right?
I’m also curious, has putting the sleeping bag on outside of the bedroom made it easier for her to go into her room without crying as much?
It’s fantastic that you’ve been able to establish a consistent wake-up time and reduce the movement needed for her to fall asleep. These are big wins!
The next step I’d suggest is transitioning from settling her in your arms (while standing still) to laying her in the crib and using the settling pyramid. Do you feel ready to give this a try for the first nap of the day?
The other thing you mentioned is that she naps for about 30 minutes in the crib but sleeps much longer when she’s on you. This is actually quite common at this age, as many babies wake after one sleep cycle (30–45 minutes) because they haven’t yet learned how to link their sleep cycles independently.
One approach to help her nap longer is to gently assist her in linking those cycles. If you enter the room just before the end of her first sleep cycle, you can replicate the conditions that helped her fall asleep in the first place. For example, if she falls asleep in your arms while you’re shushing or patting her, you can quietly re-enter the room and start shushing or patting her again as she stirs. This can help guide her back to sleep before she fully wakes up. I go into more detail about this in the catnapping video in Peaceful Dreams, which might be worth revisiting for additional tips.
The reason she likely sleeps longer on you or in a carrier is that you’re naturally soothing her back to sleep as soon as she stirs—whether it’s through movement, shushing, or patting. This continuous, subconscious soothing allows her to transition between sleep cycles without fully waking up.
However, it’s important to note that while naps on you or in a carrier might last longer, the quality of sleep may not be as restorative as when she’s in her crib. When babies sleep on us, they’re often in a state of “habituated” sleep, meaning they’re trying hard to stay asleep despite being partially roused by noises, movements, or other disruptions. It’s like if you were napping on the couch in a busy living room, with people walking around, talking, or laughing. You might doze on and off but wouldn’t feel as rested compared to sleeping in your quiet, dark bedroom.
Encouraging her to nap in her crib, where the environment is cool, dark, and quiet, can help her achieve deeper, more restorative sleep. While her naps might be shorter at first, they will likely improve in both duration and quality over time as she learns to fall asleep and stay asleep in her crib.
Emma