[Emma H]

Hi Vivian,

It’s so good to hear you enjoyed the course and you didn’t find my family too much 😂

Your little one will find it easier to fall asleep at bedtime if he is tired, so I recommend you wait until he is tired to put him to bed. Over the next few nights, you can record the time he falls asleep, which will let you know his actual bedtime and what time you should strive for.

For naps, I recommend starting the nap-time routine when he is showing early to mid-tired signs. The main thing is you want to avoid starting it when he is showing late, tired signs. This is because he will just take longer to settle down and then fall asleep (as you will need to calm him down first). The routine is a lot smoother if you start it when he is showing early to mid-tired signs.

It’s great that he has taken to the pacifier. If it does fall out and he cries, try to pause and give him the chance to fall asleep without it. If he continues to escalate, then pop it back in.

When babies first start to have longer stretches of sleep (which can happen around 6 weeks of age), the beginning of the night is the part that stretches first. So they tend to have a longer stretch of sleep at the beginning of the night. A dream feed can interrupt this long stretch of sleep, so I don’t feel dream feeds are necessary.

At this age, when people refer to sleeping through the night, they just mean the baby can sleep for 6 – 8 hours before waking for a feed. It’s not sleeping for 11 – 12 hours without a feed. In saying that, some babies will naturally sleep 10 – 11 hours without a feed, but most babies at this age will wake for 2 – 3 feeds overnight.

If he is still pooping overnight, then it’s important to change his diaper. You would just do this when he wakes for a feed. So when he wakes, you would follow the pattern of unswaddling, feeding, changing his diaper, swaddling, feeding, and then sleeping. You could also talk to the doctor about diaper creams to help prevent nappy rash.

Feeding 2 hourly during the day is fine. You should notice that this will start to lengthen over the next month.

Hope that helps!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi JB & Jackie,

It sounds like you’re doing a great job! It’s so good to hear you had a great night last night.

Regarding your little one’s sleep, just because she is restless throughout the night and there is no pattern, I wonder if it’s due to the milk intolerance and this will resolve once she has been on the special formula for a few weeks. Can you check in with your pediatrician to find out if there is a timeline for this?

It’s great that you have been able to start using the pyramid technique for the morning nap and bedtime, and it’s great that your Nanny is on board, too. Feel free to let her watch this course, too, if you would like. This will help ensure you are all on the same page.

The Baby Merlin Sleep Suit isn’t something I tend to recommend because it is weighted and can pose a safety risk. It’s also not something the AAP recommend due to these safety concerns.

What you’re doing overnight sounds great. If needed, you can use the pyramid technique to help her fall asleep after a feed. But hopefully, she mainly falls asleep during the feed or while you hold her upright for a while due to the reflux. If you do need to settle her to sleep after a feed, you may have more success with the pyramid technique during the first half of the night (as she will be in deeper sleep). For the early morning hours, her sleep will be dominated by REM sleep, so you may need to revert to how you usually help her fall asleep at this point.

Regarding speeding up the maturation of her circadian rhythm, you sound like you are doing everything you possibly can. Unfortunately, she just needs time.

I really hope you have another great night of sleep!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Natalee,

It’s great that you have set up an ideal sleeping environment for your little one. I think it’s a great idea to take a gradual approach and start with the first nap of the day in the crib.

When you say you’re currently getting him drowsy and settled in your arms and then putting him in the crib, are you using the settling pyramid once you place him in the crib? If you are, I would expect that the first few days that you use this approach, your little one will need more help from you to fall asleep, as he is used to napping in your arms and is learning a new way to fall asleep.

In terms of how long to persist with this method, if you have the energy, I would try it for 20 minutes (as it can take babies up to 20 minutes to fall asleep). If he still won’t settle to sleep, then settle him to sleep the way you usually do.

To increase the likelihood of success with falling asleep in the crib remember the following:

– Make sure he is genuinely tired when you offer a nap. Every baby’s sleep requirement over 24 hours differs, so following wake windows alone isn’t always accurate. So remember to combine age-appropriate wake windows with your baby’s tired signs and the general pattern to help you figure out when he needs a nap. I often find that tired signs look very similar to ‘I’m bored’ signs. Sometimes, I find it helpful to switch up the activity or the scenery when you first see the ‘tired signs’ to help figure out if they are tired versus just bored. If he continues to fuss/complain after you have made these changes, then it’s a sign he is tired. If he stops fussing, it’s more likely that he was bored.

– Do a nap routine even if you plan for him to nap in your arms/pram or car. A quick and consistent nap routine will signal to your baby that sleep is coming and it’s time to wind down.

– Remember, any amount of sleep in the crib is a win! You should notice that the naps will get longer as your baby becomes more familiar with sleeping in his crib.

– If he wakes from a nap, you can try resetting him back to sleep, but this can be tricky. That little rest he just had might have taken the edge off his sleepiness, meaning he might not feel tired enough to go back to sleep. So if you’ve been trying to get him back to sleep for about 10-15 minutes and it’s not working, it’s okay to just to end the nap there and start the next wake window.

I hope that answers your question!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Anastasia,

You can totally keep going with contact naps. Those cuddles while they sleep are so precious!

Just make sure if you plan to let your little one sleep on you, you still do the pre-sleep routine and make sure that last step is calming (e.g you might sing a lullaby while you hold him in your arms). By completing the pre-sleep routine before he falls asleep, you will be creating a sleep cue for your little one and this sleep cue can then be used when you want him to nap in a crib or a safe sleep space.

Also if you feel up to it, I would recommend give him 1 opportunity a day to practice falling asleep in the crib or sleep space. The morning nap will always be the easiest. By doing this you’re allowing him to develop the skills necessary to fall asleep independently (with you applying the settling pyramid of course!).

Enjoy those cuddles!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Nicola!

It’s so lovely to hear you loved the course. I’m always nervous when I first release a new course or a video as I never know if parents will find it helpful. So it’s honestly great to hear that you loved it!

It sounds like your little one has a great routine (except for the early morning wakes, of course). I don’t know if it helps, but you might find it comforting to hear that early morning wakes are quite common at this stage. You can do things to push those early wakes to between 6 and 7 am.

So that I can give you the correct answer, I have a few questions. When you have time (I know how busy life can be with a baby, so there is no rush), can you answer the questions below?

1. How do you get your little one to fall asleep during the day and for bedtime?

2. Do you have a routine that you do? If so, what’s the final step of the routine?

3. Does he use a pacifier?

4. Where does he sleep overnight?

5. Is there anyone else in the room? If there is, do they snore/are they a noisy sleeper?

6. At the early morning wake (4.30am—5:30am), is the house generally quiet? Is someone up getting ready for work? Are there animals in the house?

7. When he wakes for that 4.30/5 am feed, does he fall back to sleep if you hold him in your arms? Or does he stay awake and is ready to start his day?

8. When you feed him at 4.30/5am, do you have a light on in the room/is there some light creeping into the room, or is it dark (so dark enough that you can’t see your hand if you were to hold it in front of your face)?

9. For the 4.30am – 5am feed do you change his diaper or burp him after the feed?

10. What do you do if he stays awake after that early morning feed? Do you turn on the lights and start your day – so get up and have breakfast, or do you stay in the room and keep it dark until a set time?

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to understand what is going on before I provide possible reasons for the early morning wake and solutions.

Thanks

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Jackie & JB,

Thanks so much for your lovely feedback. I love hearing that you are enjoying the course and the live demonstrations. Hopefully, my older kids weren’t too loud in some of the videos 😂

Regarding your question about catnapping and feedings. At this point, if your little one is following the wake, feed, play, and sleep pattern (which it sounds like she is), I would recommend offering her a feed when she wakes up from her nap. You will find that as she naturally starts to have longer wake periods between naps, the timing between the feeds will increase.

So I wouldn’t be concerned about feeding closer together at this point, as I expect that by the time she is 4 months of age, her wake window will be around 2 – 2.5 hours, which means you might be back to feeding her every 3 – 4 hours.

I hope that helps!

Emma

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Emma H.

[Emma H]

Hi Vivian,

Sorry for the confusion. When I refer to bedtime, I am talking about the time you place your little one in the crib or sleep space to fall asleep.

When you said that your little one’s bedtime is currently 9 pm, I took this to mean that he is in the crib falling asleep at that time. Hopefully, that’s correct.

You can encourage your little one to have an earlier bedtime, so shift it from 9pm to 7pm. You do this by gradually shifting the bedtime 10 – 15 minutes earlier every 2 -3 nights. This will also mean that you will need to start his bedtime routine 10 – 15 minutes earlier.

So, for example, if you have a bedtime routine that takes 15 minutes, it might look something like this:

– Night 1,2,3 – you start his bedtime routine at 08:35 pm and his bedtime (so the time you lay him in the crib) might be 08:50 pm

– Night 4, 5, 6 – you move his bedtime routine earlier by 10 minutes and start it at 08:25 pm and lay him down in his crib at 08:40 pm

– Night 7, 8, 9 – you move his bedtime routine earlier by 10 minutes and start it at 08:15 pm and lay him down in his crib at 08:30 pm

You continue doing this until you reach 7 pm bedtime.

It is possible to make this process quicker by shifting it earlier, 15 minutes at a time instead of 10 minutes. You will just need to be guided by what your baby can cope with. For some babies, the 15-minute shift is just too big, and 10-minute shifts work better.

Regarding the catnaps, my preferred method is to just go with it and work on those foundational skills in the meantime.

I hope that’s a little clearer.

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Anastasia,

It’s great that you have completed the whole course. I hope you have found it helpful.

It’s also great to hear that your little one is sleeping well at night and has already fallen into the pattern of sleeping, eating, and sleeping overnight.

At this age, shorter naps are extremely common. This is mainly due to two reasons:

1. Sleep pressure guides when your little one needs to nap, and he will continue to sleep until something else demands his attention or he is no longer tired.
2. Your little one spends 50% of their time asleep in active sleep (a type of REM sleep). This lighter sleep phase is easily disturbed by temperature changes, loud noises, and sudden movement. Therefore, the naps can be accidentally cut short these things. Plus, we can accidentally wake them up if we misinterpret their movements and sounds during active sleep as being awake.

The good news is that your little one is getting a good amount of sleep over 24 hours. Given that catnapping is extremely common at this age and he is getting a good amount of sleep, I recommend just letting it be and going with the catnaps.

At this age, it’s important to work on the foundations for great sleep, as these will help your little one nap for longer if he needs a longer nap (by reducing the chances of waking him up prematurely) and help him learn to fall asleep independently (which will take a lot of practice and time, as it’s a skill he needs to learn).

These foundations include:

1. Creating a sleep environment that is conducive to sleep – so cool, dark and free from sudden loud noises.

2. Pausing when he initially stirs during his naps to ensure that he is truly awake and not in REM sleep or cycling between sleep cycles.

3. Helping him learn to fall asleep independently (by learning this skill he will have the ability to link sleep cycles when he is developmentally ready to between 5 – 6 months).

4. Combining wake windows with tired signs and his general pattern to put him to bed when tired and ready for sleep.

5. Having a set – wake up time.

6. Swaddle him for sleep if you’re willing to (this will reduce the startle reflex and encourage him to sleep longer).

Plus the other strategies mentioned in the course.

I hope this helps!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Anastasia,

I love that you are here too!

It’s great that you have figured out that your little one finds the pacifier soothing during the fussy period, and it helps him fall asleep.

Regarding your question about whether I recommend taking it out while helping him fall asleep – there are two times when I would consider this.

The first situation is if your little one spits out the pacifier on going to sleep, making it challenging to fall asleep. The second situation is if he spits it out during sleep, and this causes him to wake up more than expected at this age.

If this is happening with your little one, you can try this technique:

1. When your baby is tired, let him suck on the pacifier while you complete the pre-sleep routine.

2. At the end of the pre-sleep routine, lay him in his crib with the pacifier still in his mouth.

3. Then, use the settling pyramid to help him fall asleep.

4. Just before he drifts off to sleep, gently remove the pacifier by placing your little finger between the pacifier and the corner of his mouth. This breaks the seal and allows you to pop the pacifier out of his mouth.

5. For some babies, this works, and they fall asleep without the pacifier. But for other babies, this may cause them to stir more (at which point you use the settling pyramid to help them fall asleep), and for others, it causes them to wake up fully.

If you try this technique a few times and your little one continues to wake then you have a few options:

Option 1: Continue to use the pacifier and pop it back into his mouth when needed. With this option, there may be a point where you don’t have the energy to do this anymore, as it happens too frequently. And you may decide to remove the pacifier completely or just use it at the start of your baby’s pre-sleep routine.

Option 2—Continue to use the pacifier for the fussy times during the day and at the start of the pre-sleep routine, but stop using it for sleep. In this situation, you would use the pacifier at the start of the pre-sleep routine but remove it just before you lay him in the crib. Then, use the settling pyramid to help him learn to fall asleep without the pacifier.

If you wish to continue using the pacifier, I wouldn’t worry about popping it back in when it falls out during deep sleep. By not popping it back in you’re giving him the chance to learn to link cycles without it. This will be easier for him to achieve at the beginning of the night because he will be starting to have longer stretches of sleep at the start of the night very soon (if not already), and we don’t want to become reliant on the pacifier to link sleep cycles.

I hope this helps!

Emma

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Emma H.

[Emma H]

No worries at all. Good luck and if you’re happy to, let me know how you go!

[Emma H]

That’s great!

[Emma H]

No worries!

[Emma H]

That’s a great win!

[Emma H]

Hi Jaime,

You can continue with your pattern of wake, play, feed, play, and then sleep if you feel that is giving your little one more time between feeds and leading to larger feeds. The main thing is to separate the feed from the nap. This reduces the chances your little one will fall asleep while feeding and develop a sleep association with feeding.

It’s also a good idea to schedule the feed more than 30 minutes before nap time. This is because there’s a bowel reflex that occurs around 20 – 30 minutes after eating. So by scheduling the feed more than 30 minutes before nap time, you’re reducing the chances your little one will need to poop when you’re trying to settle them to sleep or during sleep (which will lead to them having a shorter nap).

Have you had a chance to watch the video on managing catnaps? In it, I give some strategies for overcoming the catnapping phase.

Once your little one starts to extend their naps, you might want to change the pattern to wake, feed, play, and then sleep, as the time between the feeds will be longer.

I hope that helps!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Jaime,

Nope! Do continue using it during his fussy period while he is awake and playing. As sucking is extremely soothing for them at this age.

Emma