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Hi Rita,
Andrew told me there was a formatting error, but it’s fixed now which is great!
And it’s even better that you received the message when I originally posted it.
It’s wonderful to hear that you’re already implementing the suggestions, and it really sounds like bedtime is moving in the right direction. The fact that she’s starting to self-soothe and suck her fingers is such a positive step!
Once she fully learns how to fall asleep on her own, you should start to see longer stretches of sleep. Typically, the first stretch of sleep extends first, which naturally pushes that initial overnight feed later and later.
Regarding the 5 a.m. wake-up, it’s absolutely fine to help her back to sleep until her usual wake-up time. For now, I’d focus on:
- Encouraging her to fall asleep independently in the crib at bedtime.
- Taking a moment to pause when she stirs overnight. This will help you determine whether she’s fully awake and needing a feed, or just briefly rousing between sleep cycles or during REM sleep.
If you’re comfortable with it, I’d suggest sticking with this approach for the next two weeks. If she’s still waking at 5 a.m. after that, we can explore some additional tweaks to help her sleep until 6 a.m.
It’s also fantastic that you’ve made adjustments to the nap routine as well!
Does this sound okay?
Emma