[Emma H]

Hi Cecilia,

Your writing is fantastic so no need to apologise!

Before I can provide some advice, I just have a few questions. I know it’s a lot, but the answers will help me get a clearer picture of what’s happening with his sleep.

When you have time, could you please answer these for me?

1. Does he sleep in the same room as you?
2. You mentioned he wakes at 7am in the morning – is this consistent?
3. Can you let me know what time he falls asleep and wakes from all 3 of his naps? So what his nap schedule looks like?
4. Can you please describe what his current nap and bedtime routines are?
5. After completing the routine can you step me through how you settle him to sleep?

6. Is his bedroom cool, dark (dark enough that you can’t read a book) and quiet?

Sorry again for the questions!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Pav,

It’s so good to hear from you again. I can’t believe Rohan is nearly 15 months!

Regarding your question about his nap schedule – at 15 months, many toddlers are starting to transition from two naps to one, though the exact timing varies. Based on what you’ve described, it does sound like Rohan might be approaching that stage. Here’s why:

1. Longer Wake Windows: His current wake windows (3.25/3.5/4) are already on the higher end for a two-nap schedule. If he’s taking longer to fall asleep at bedtime and still seems content during the day, it could be a sign that he’s ready for a bit of a shift.

2. Shorter Night Sleep: Less than 11 hours overnight is on the lower side for his age, and it might be because his total daytime sleep is cutting into his night sleep.

Here are a couple of options to consider:

Option 1: Gradual Transition to One Nap

• Start by slightly pushing his first nap later each day by 15 minutes every 3 days. For example, move it from 9:45 to 10:00, then 10:15, and so on, until it’s around 11:30 or 12:00.
• Or you could just drop that first nap and offer him a nap at 11:30ish/12pm if you feel like he would tolerate that?
• Let him sleep as long as he needs for this nap (up to 2-2.5 hours).
• On days when he seems overtired by bedtime, you could move bedtime earlier (e.g., 6:30-7:00 pm).

Option 2: Adjust the Two-Nap Schedule

If you’re not ready to drop to one nap just yet, you could try shortening the first nap to 45 minutes. This might allow him to take a longer second nap and feel more rested overall. For example:

• Wake him at 10:30 from the first nap.
• Offer the second nap around 2:00-2:15 and let him sleep up to 1.5 hours.
• Keep bedtime consistent at 7:45 or slightly earlier if needed.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind:

• Teething: As you mentioned, teething can make him more tired, so it’s okay to be flexible and adjust based on how he’s feeling each day.
• Trial and Error: Transitions can take a few weeks to settle, so don’t worry if things feel a bit bumpy at first. Watch how Rohan responds and tweak the schedule as needed.
• Total Sleep Needs: At his age, most toddlers need around 12-14 hours of total sleep in 24 hours. If he’s getting close to that range (e.g., 10.5-11 hours at night and 2-3 hours during the day), he’s likely doing just fine.

Do you think he is ready to drop to 1 nap a day?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Thais,

I am so sorry I seemed to have missed your question – so I am very sorry for the delayed reply!

It’s so good to hear that you have made such great progress over the past month and your little one is now mostly sleeping in the crib. You must have put in a lot of work this past month, as that level of improvement is huge!

Regarding your questions, I have answered them below.

Early Wake-Ups

Waking at 5–5:30 a.m. can be tough, especially when your target is 6–6:30 a.m. Here’s what I’d recommend:

• Resettling vs. Starting the Day: If he wakes early, I’d avoid starting the day at 5 a.m. unless absolutely necessary. Instead, try to keep the room dark and calm, and use the pyramid method to encourage him to resettle. If that doesn’t work, nursing him in your bed is okay for now, but try to keep it low-key and avoid stimulating him. The goal is to signal that it’s still nighttime. As you have noticed, though he might struggle to fall back asleep even with a feed because his sleep pressure is low and his body clock is encouraging him to wake. If these early morning wake-ups continue, it might mean that we need to tweak his sleep routine slightly.
• First Nap Timing: If he wakes early, adjust his first nap slightly earlier based on his wake window. For example, if his wake window is 1 hour 45 minutes and he wakes at 5:30 a.m., aim for a nap around 7:15 a.m. This helps prevent over tiredness while keeping the rest of the day on track.

Progress Stall at Bedtime

It’s great that he’s settling so well for naps and most of the night! The hand-sucking agitation and your intervention are common at this stage. Here’s how to approach it:

• Holding His Arms: It’s okay to hold his arms gently as part of the pyramid if it helps him settle. This won’t interfere with self-soothing as long as you’re gradually reducing your involvement over time.
• Pacifier Use: The pacifier for naps likely isn’t causing the hand-sucking at bedtime. At this age, babies explore self-soothing methods like sucking hands or fingers. You might find that with time, he actually prefers to suck his hand or finger to fall asleep.
• Self-Soothing and the 4-Month Sleep Regression: At four months, it’s not essential for him to fully self-soothe yet. The skills you’re teaching now (so to settle to sleep in the crib with minimal input from you) should help him pass through the 4 month regression with minimal impact on his sleep. Just keep using the settling pyramid and see if you can gradually move down the pyramid so that he falls asleep on his own without the patting and the shushing. You might find that he finds it easier to do this during the first nap of the day and at bedtime. For his later naps, you might need to continue patting and shushing him for now.

Schedule Adjustment

Babies typically move to three naps when they’re having 1-2 longer naps (over 1½ hours) during the day.

Could you share his current nap timings? For example:

• First nap: start and wake time
• Second nap: start and wake time
• Third nap: start and wake time
• Fourth nap: start and wake time

This will help me work out if he’s ready for three naps or needs to continue with four for a bit longer.

I hope this helps!

Emma

• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by  Emma H.

[Emma H]

Hi Julia,

You could shift her wake up time later to 8am while your on holidays but this will mean that her bedtime will need to be later to reflect this change. If that works for you and the family then that’s completely fine.

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Pav,

That’s fantastic that bedtime has settled back down after you shorten the first nap. Sticking with this new routine sounds like a great idea.

Also, your plan of moving to one nap when he starts taking ages to fall asleep for bedtime or naps is a good plan. The only other thing that might signal that he is ready to drop a nap is if he starts waking early in the morning.

Does that make sense?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Cecilia,

That’s so good that he fell asleep on his own yesterday for the second nap! The fact that he fell asleep on his own shows that he’s learning the skill and all the changes you’ve made are starting to pay off.

Based on what you’ve written, I just have a few additional suggestions. Because I’d like you to continue with what you’re doing for another week or two, as I do think the changes you have made are helping and he just needs some more time to learn this skill.

Consistent wake up time It’s great that his wake up time is consistent. Continue to keep it consistent as this helps make the timing of his naps and bedtime more predictable.

Nap schedule tweak I was wondering if you’d be happy to adjust his nap schedule slightly so it looks like this:

• 7am – Wake
• 9am – Nap #1
• 10:30/11am – Wake
• 1/1:30pm – Nap #2
• 2:30/3pm – Wake
• 5pm – Nap #3 (30 minutes)
• 5:30pm – Wake
• 8pm – Bedtime

If he wakes earlier from the 2nd nap, just shift his final nap earlier. So if he starts the 2nd nap at 1pm and wakes at 2pm, shift his final nap to 4:30pm and wake him by 5pm. This means he might be awake for 3 hours before bedtime, but you might find with a slightly longer wake window he finds it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Bedtime routine adjustments Based on what you’ve mentioned, your bedtime routine looks like this:

• Sing a familiar calming song
• Quick shower, change nappy, apply almond oil and cream, put on pyjamas
• Close corridor and bedroom doors
• Turn air conditioning on
• Close window shutters while shushing
• Switch on small light and sing night-time lullaby
• Sing lullaby twice while rocking him
• Shush, put him gently in crib and walk out
• Use settling pyramid and feed to sleep if he gets too upset

Here are a few tweaks to consider:

1. Remove the small light The light could be stimulating and make it harder for him to fall asleep. If you do want to keep it on, can you place the lamp behind a piece of furniture?

2. Cool the room earlier
Put the air conditioning on 10 minutes before bedtime to cool the room down, as his core body temperature needs to drop before sleep.

3. Try rocking instead of feeding when he escalates If he does escalate to crying and you need to pick him up, would it be possible to rock him in your arms while walking around the room rather than breastfeeding him?

If you can switch to this, it’ll be easier to gradually slow down the walking so you’re standing still before he falls asleep (this gets him used to falling asleep without movement).

The other option is to offer a feed but stop once he’s calm, then move to walking around the room whilst shushing and patting his bottom. If he stays calm, stop walking and just continue shushing and patting, then gradually stop the patting and just shush, then stop shushing so he falls asleep in silence without movement.

This makes it easier to transition to the settling pyramid when he’s ready. You can try this tweak with daytime naps too.

I do think that once he learns to fall asleep on his own, those frequent overnight feeds will naturally start to drop off as he’ll be able to link sleep cycles without needing to breastfeed back to sleep.

Does this sound okay?

Emma

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  Emma H.

[Emma H]

Hi Meaghan,

It’s fine to continue in this thread.

Just to clarify I have a few additional questions:

• Am I right in assuming that your little one sleeps well in the crib overnight but it’s just the day naps which are challenging?
• You mentioned that when he sleeps in the crib he naps for 30 minutes but when you are holding him in your arms he naps for 1.5-2hrs. Based on this am I right in assuming that he does fall asleep in the crib for naps? If he does fall asleep in the crib how are you getting him to fall asleep?
• When you plan to let him nap on you or in the pram are you doing a nap routine before hand? So do you sing the lullaby?
• When you are planning to let him sleep on you are you holding him in your arms or wearing a baby carrier? Also, are you moving around or standing still?
• Have you been able to narrow his wake-up time down to a 30 minute window?
• Is he having 4 – 5 naps per day?

Sorry for the additional questions.

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Thais,

That’s great to hear that the new nap schedule sounds okay!

Regarding your question – it’s absolutely fine if the first and third naps are the longer ones for him. This just might mean the timing of the third nap happens a little earlier (since the second nap is short).

The important thing is that he wakes from that final nap of the day by 4/4:30pm. This ensures he has a long enough wake window before bedtime so his sleep pressure builds up enough for him to fall asleep and stay asleep.

What can happen if that final wake window isn’t long enough is he might fall asleep initially but then wake 30-45 minutes later. This is because he was tired enough to fall asleep but not tired enough to stay asleep.

Does that make sense?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hey Meaghan,

They are constantly changing! 😂

Look forward to helping you tackle the latest development in the new thread

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Pav,

Since you mentioned that he’s quite happy to stay awake for 4 hours and you think he’s ready to drop to 1 nap a day, you could just push that first nap back to occur at 12pm – so the new routine would look like this:

• 7am – Wake
• Skip the morning nap completely
• 12pm – Offer his one and only nap
• 2-3pm – Wake naturally from nap
• 7pm – Bedtime

Do you think this would be too big of a jump for Rohan?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Julia,

It’s so good to hear her sleep settled after the transition to having both arms out.

In regards, to jet lag it can be so tricky for little ones, especially with such a big time difference! It’s completely normal for Emily to struggle with this adjustment, but there are definitely things that you can do to help her reset her internal clock and get back to those longer stretches of sleep.

Here’s what I’d recommend:

1. Start the Day at the Same Time Each Morning (Local Time)

• Aim to wake Emily between 6:00 and 8:00 am local time in Malaysia, even if she’s had a rough night. This consistency will help her body adjust to the new time zone. Ideally you would want to narrow this wake up time to a 30 minute window so if you can do that, then that’s what I would recommend.
• Once she’s awake, expose her to as much natural sunlight as possible. Sunlight is one of the most effective ways to reset her circadian rhythm.

2. Keep Nighttime Calm and Dark

• When she wakes at night, keep the lights dim and avoid stimulating activities. This will reinforce the idea that nighttime is for sleeping, not playing.
• If she’s struggling to settle, you can use soothing techniques like patting, shushing, or rocking, but try to avoid engaging too much or creating new sleep associations.

3. Cap Daytime Naps

• While she’s adjusting, she might want to sleep for long stretches during the day, but try to limit her naps to no more than 2 hours each and try to keep that 3rd nap as a catnap (short nap). This will encourage her to consolidate more of her sleep overnight.
• If she’s waking after 30-45 minutes at night, it’s likely because her body still thinks it’s daytime in the UK. Shortening her daytime naps will help shift more of her sleep to nighttime.

4. Time the Last Nap Carefully

• Make sure her last nap ends with enough time for a full wake window before bedtime.

5. Stick to Your Usual Bedtime Routine

• A consistent bedtime routine will signal to Emily that it’s time to wind down, even in a new environment.

6. Be Patient with Nighttime Wakes

• It’s normal for jet lag to cause wakeful periods at night. When this happens, keep things calm and quiet, and help her settle back to sleep as soon as she seems ready.
• Avoid turning on bright lights or engaging in play, as this can reinforce the idea that nighttime is for being awake.

7. Gradual Adjustment

• If Emily is really struggling to adjust, you could try shifting her schedule gradually by 15-30 minutes each day until she’s fully aligned with the new time zone.

It might take a week or two for her to fully adjust, but with consistency and a bit of patience, she’ll get there!

Does this sound okay?

Emma

[Emma H]

No worries Györgyi.

Please let me know how you go!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Thais,

Thanks so much for letting me know what your schedule looks like. It sounds like last night was a little better which is good!

Based on what you’ve mentioned, I think we need to shift his circadian rhythm back a little so that wake up time moves closer to 6am.

Here are a few things you can do:

1. Keep the bedroom dark until 6am If there’s any light coming into the bedroom (from windows, under the door frame etc) it can signal to your little one’s brain that it’s time to wake up. Tomorrow morning when he wakes at 5 or 5:30am, have a look around the room to see if there’s any light getting in. If there is, try to block it.

2. Check for environmental noise See if there’s any street noise at this time that might be waking him. If there is, try to mask it with white noise. Also consider if you or your husband snore – this might be causing him to stir too.

3. Stretch his wake windows It sounds like he’s taking 2 long naps during the day which is great! I was wondering how you think he would go if you stretched his wake windows slightly? So the first wake window might stay at 2 hours, but the next few could be slightly longer.

For example, his routine might look like this:

• 6am – Wake
• 8am – Nap (long nap)
• 9:30/10am – Wake
• 11:30am/12pm – Nap (long nap)
• 1/1:30pm – Wake
• 3:30/4pm – Nap (catnap)
• 4/4:30pm – Wake
• 7/7:30pm – Bedtime

Do you think he would tolerate this schedule? If so, are you happy to try it for 4 days and let me know if his morning wake up time has started to shift later?

I wouldn’t expect this change to be instant, as his body clock needs time to adjust – typically, you start to notice changes after the 3rd day.

Something else to keep track of is the time he falls asleep at bedtime. If this is significantly later than 7/7:30pm with this schedule, we might need to shift his bedtime back. Ideally, we’ll end up shifting his first nap closer to 9am and his other naps back as well.

Does that make sense?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Catherine,

When babies transition to 2 naps per day, the first wake window is typically the shortest, with each wake window getting progressively longer. The final wake window before bed is usually the longest.

A typical 2-nap schedule looks like this:

• 7am – Wake
• 9am – First nap
• 10:30/11am – Wake
• 1pm – Second nap
• 2:30/3pm – Wake
• 7pm – Bedtime

Wake windows:

• Before first nap: 2 hours
• Before second nap: 2½ hours
• Before bedtime: 4 hours

Has your little one started having longer first naps?

Regarding illness – just let her sleep when she needs it. Rest is the best medicine!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Györgyi,

Based on what you’ve shared and his age, I think he’d still benefit from a 3-nap schedule. Babies typically move to 2 naps between 6-9 months, usually once they’re having 2 longer naps (around 1-2 hours each). Since his first nap is quite short, what do you think about trying this routine:

• 7am – Wake up
• 9am – First nap
• 9:30/9:45am – Wake
• 12pm – Second nap
• 1:30pm – Wake
• 4pm – Third nap
• 4:30pm – Wake
• 7pm – Bedtime

To make this work: You might need to adjust your carrier walks – either start a bit earlier or make them slightly shorter. The goal is to begin his nap routine after he’s been awake for 2 hours 15 minutes.

Also, if you follow this schedule and he’s still asleep at 9:30/9:45am, let him continue sleeping but wake him by 10:30am at the latest.

If this happens:

• Second nap would be around 1pm, finishing around 3pm
• Skip the third nap completely
• And move bedtime to 6:30pm

Does this sound doable?

Emma