[Emma H]

Hi Francesca,

Firstly, congratulations on the arrival of your little one! It sounds like you’re getting to enjoy lots of cuddles which is great!

As your daughter was born 4 weeks early, you would follow her corrected age of 2 weeks when determining appropriate sleep patterns and awake windows. Based on your description, she is doing exactly what’s expected – waking for a feed, having a diaper change, finishing the feed, and then falling straight back to sleep.

At this age, wake windows are very short! But what you should notice is that when she is around 6 – 8 weeks corrected, she will start to stay awake after some of those daytime feeds.

For now, follow her lead and let her sleep when she is showing you her tired signs (or falling asleep while or shortly after feeding). Don’t worry about trying to keep her awake for an hour at this point, as it sounds like that wake window is simply too long for your little one (perfectly normal at this age).

I hope that helps!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Catherine,

Unfortunately, getting sick frequently when starting daycare is very common, and it can make sleep more challenging.

Based on my calculations, your little one is nearly 11 months old. Typically, children don’t drop to one nap until between 12-18 months, most commonly around 15 months. The fact that your daughter is very tired at bedtime on days with only one nap suggests she might not be ready for this transition.

I recommend shifting the timing of her first nap later – from 9am to 9:30am or 10am – to see if this helps her fall asleep and stay asleep more easily. A sample schedule could look like this:

• 7am: Wake
• 9:30am/10am: Nap #1
• 10:30am/11am: Wake (if not awake already)
• 1:30pm: Nap #2
• 3pm: Wake (if not awake already)
• 7pm: Bedtime

It will take some trial and error to determine whether 9:30am or 10am works best for your daughter. Once we establish that, we can adjust the schedule as needed.

Regarding daylight savings ending – in this video I walk you through how to make the shift in the week prior, so your little one continues waking at 7am when the time changes. https://youtu.be/-x1zKGYLcF8

Does that sound okay?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Quraish!

Thank you so much for taking the time to update me – I really appreciate hearing how things have progressed for you!

I’m so sorry the crib naps haven’t worked out as we’d hoped. You’re absolutely right that severe reflux can make independent sleep incredibly challenging, particularly during the day when sleep pressure is lower. It sounds like you’ve found what works for your family right now, and that’s what matters most.

It’s fantastic that the pyramid has helped provide some structure through the 4 month sleep regression! The fact that you’ve maintained fairly consistent night sleep with just one wake-up and an early morning wake is actually really good going, particularly given the reflux challenges.

It’s also great to hear her development is on track!

You’ve done an amazing job navigating a really difficult situation. You’re right that things typically do settle as the reflux improves and their digestive system matures.

Thank you again for sharing your experience. It will be incredibly helpful for other parents facing similar challenges to know they’re not alone!

Wishing you all the best, and I hope the reflux continues to improve.

Emma

[Emma H]

That’s great to hear!

Would aiming for a wake up time of 6:30 – 7am work? That way instead of him waking at 7:15am you just wake him 15 minutes earlier at 7am? That would accommodate the later early morning feed.

Or you could try for a 6:45 – 7:15am wake time.

What do you think?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Pav,

It’s great that you’ve already made these changes to Rohan’s sleep routine, and so nice to hear that he’s waking up so happy from his nap!

Hopefully, his nights improve with the bigger wake windows. But if they don’t, then the next step would be capping his nap at 2 hours.

Let me know how the next week goes!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Julia,

It’s great to hear that Emily has adjusted to the new time zone and the later bedtime. I really hope you’re all enjoying your holiday!

Regarding your question about the morning milk – there’s no strong evidence to suggest that cortisol levels in morning milk would negatively impact her ability to settle at night. If anything, the extra milk might be helping her feel fuller and more content, which could explain why she settles better with it. If you’re concerned, you could try offering milk pumped later in the day and see if it makes any difference. But if the current routine is working, I wouldn’t worry about it.

Now, for the night wakings – waking twice a night at seven months is still quite common for breastfed babies. Many don’t consistently sleep through until closer to nine or twelve months. That said, if you feel the wakings are more habitual than hunger-driven, you could try gradually reducing the amount of milk offered at one of the feeds.

I’d recommend starting with the 11pm feed, as those early night feeds are typically the first ones babies drop (they usually have a longer stretch of sleep at the beginning of the night). In the 4 month regression video in Peaceful Dreams, I step you through how to drop an overnight feed – so it’s definitely worth watching if you haven’t yet, or even as a refresher if you have.

Once Emily has dropped that 11pm feed, you can then move to helping her drop the 3am feed.

Does this make sense?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Pav,

Based on his age and what you’ve described, it does sound like Rohan is ready to drop to one nap.

It’s normal for nap transitions to cause a bit of sleep disruption while he adjusts to the new routine. However, from what you’ve shared, it sounds like Rohan is staying awake for a while when you initially put him down for his nap and at bedtime. This suggests he’s not quite tired enough at these times to fall asleep easily, which means he might be able to manage a longer wake window.

How would you feel about shifting his nap to 12pm and waking him by 2:30pm, with bedtime at 7/7:30pm?

His routine would look like this:

• 6:30/7am – Wake
• 12pm – Nap
• 2:30pm – Wake from nap
• 7/7:30pm – Bedtime

If you’re happy to give this a go, keep track of how long he takes to fall asleep and whether he cries out more than usual or continues to wake overnight.

It can take up to a week for things to settle down, but if his sleep changes significantly, do let me know.

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Erato,

Thank you so much for answering all my questions! Based on what you’ve described, it sounds like your little one is doing really well and you’re reading his cues brilliantly.

I have a few suggestions which should help him settle better from 3am onwards. But first, something important to note: at this age, we expect to see that first stretch of sleep after bedtime gradually get longer, whilst the gaps between other night wakes become shorter. It does sound like he’s starting to do this, which is great!

Here are some strategies to encourage longer stretches of sleep overnight:

1. Narrow his wake-up time

You mentioned he wakes between 6:30-7:30am. Ideally we want that window to be just 30 minutes – this helps his circadian rhythm mature and leads to more consolidated sleep overnight.

For the next few days, record what time he naturally wakes to identify whether he tends to wake between 6:30-7am or 7-7:30am. Once you’ve identified which 30-minute window suits him best, try to keep his wake-up time consistent within that window.

2. Naps

What he’s doing for naps sounds pretty normal for this age. However, given that he’s waking frequently after 3am, you could try capping his contact naps at 2 hours maximum. This will ensure he feeds more during the day and still needs plenty of sleep overnight.

As you’ve noticed, crib naps tend to be shorter than contact naps. This is because when babies nap on us, we tend to move, shush, or do something to help them fall back to sleep, which extends the nap. This isn’t a problem unless overnight sleep becomes fragmented.

3. Swaddling

Swaddling him with his hands across his chest is completely fine, especially if he prefers this over having his arms down by his side. However, if you find the position of his hands is triggering the sucking or rooting reflex and disrupting his sleep, it might be worth trying arms down by his side instead.

In terms of timing, I’d generally recommend swaddling before rocking him to sleep. The swaddle helps dampen the startle reflex (making the transfer from your arms to the crib easier) and also becomes a sleep cue. Starting with the swaddle on might also make it easier for him to link sleep cycles – if he’s unswaddled when he falls asleep but swaddled when he stirs between cycles, that difference might cause him to wake fully.

That said, if swaddling him after he’s asleep is working well, it’s fine to continue.

One important safety note: when you’re co-sleeping in the early morning hours, make sure he’s not swaddled.

4. Pause

When he wakes overnight, pause and make sure he’s truly awake before you start patting or pick him up to feed. Sometimes babies make noise or move between sleep cycles but aren’t actually awake yet.

Does this sound doable?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Erato,

Welcome! And a huge congratulations on the arrival of your little one!

It’s fine to continue the discussion here.

Capping his naps could help and doing so won’t affect his development. Before you do though, I just have a few questions. So when you have time, can you please answer the questions below:

• Does your little one have a consistent wake-up time? If so what time is it?
• Are you swaddling him with his arms down by his side?
• You mentioned he may sleep for 3 – 4 hours at a time during the day. Is this for every nap or are some naps shorter?
• Can you let me know how many naps he is having per day?
• When he wakes overnight, are you keeping the room dark and following the wake, feed, change, feed, sleep pattern?
• What time does he tend to go to bed at night?
• Based on your have written, it sounds like he might have longer stretches of sleep until 3am (so maybe he wakes every 3 hours) and then after 3am he wakes up every 1 – 2.5 hours. Is this right?
• Are you able to let me know how often he wakes overnight for feeds?
• Is he starting to have some awake time after a feed during the day and as a result you are sometimes able to follow the wake, feed, play, sleep routine?
• How are you currently settling him to sleep?

Sorry for all the questions!

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Pav,

If you can I would recommend you wake him up during that last fight so that he has a a full wake window before bedtime that night. And if he does wake up overnight, then it would be good if you can stay in his bedroom, with the lights low and just read him books or do low stimulation activities until he is tired again. Hopefully, it isn’t long. Within a few days to a week though you should start to notice that he starts sleeping well again overnight as he gets used to the new time zone.

I hope that makes sense.

Emma

[Emma H]

No worries. Let me know how it goes.

Emma

[Emma H]

Hopefully it helps!

[Emma H]

Hi Aistė,

Thank you for answering my questions. It sounds like your little one is doing well with weight gain and you’ve set up a great sleep environment.

Here are a few things you can try to help her settle back to sleep after her 11pm feed:

1. Consistent wake-up time Something that could help is starting to wake her up at a consistent time in the morning. This will help in the maturation of her circadian rhythm and can help to encourage longer stretches of sleep overnight. Ideally, this wake-up time occurs within a 30 minute window. So for example 7am – 7:30am.

2. Cap daytime naps You mentioned she naps for 2.5 hours during the day. Try waking her after 2 hours. This gives her more awake time during the day, which might encourage longer overnight sleep.

3. Consider skipping the burping You mentioned you feed her, burp her, then feed her again. Something you could consider trying is skipping the burping to see if she settles back to sleep more easily. If she stays settled, you can continue without it. If it makes no difference and she remains unsettled, go back to burping.

4. Pause before responding When she stirs overnight, pause to check if she’s truly awake. If she’s fussing but there are pauses between call-outs, wait and watch. This gives her a chance to fall back to sleep if she’s just in Active Sleep, which is when babies are often very noisy.

5. Consider your bedtime If you’re room-sharing, you might accidentally wake her when you enter the bedroom. If you notice she wakes when you come in or shortly after, try shifting your bedtime earlier or later to avoid disturbing her.

Do these suggestions sound possible?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Pav,

There are really a few subtle signs that it might be time to drop a nap. These include:

• Waking earlier in the morning than usual
• Nap times being pushed back
• Naps becoming shorter than usual
• Later bedtime
• Waking up during the night and staying awake for a few hours before going back to sleep

So if you notice any of these signs and it persists and Rohan isn’t sick then it might be a sign it’s time to drop to one nap per day.

In regards to travelling back to Brisbane and managing jet lag it’s great that you have planned the trip so that he might nap for the first stretch and then sleep for the second stretch. I have a few suggestions to make the transition a little easier.

During the Flight:

1. Stick to a Simplified Routine: Since you’re aiming for Rohan’s nap during the first flight and night sleep on the second, try to replicate his usual nap and bedtime routines as much as possible.

2. Offer Opportunities for Movement: Between flights and during the stopover, let Rohan stretch, crawl, or toddle around as much as possible. This will help burn off energy and make it easier for him to settle during the longer flight.

3. Stay Flexible: While you’ve planned for his nap and night sleep, be prepared for some unpredictability. He might take a little longer to fall asleep (because it’s a new environment and it’s often busy and distracting for them).

Upon Arrival in Brisbane:

1. Start the Day Between 6:00 and 7:00 am Local Time: This will help reset his internal clock. If he wakes earlier than 6:00 am, keep the lights dim and activities calm to signal it’s still nighttime. Once it’s time to start the day, get him into natural sunlight as soon as possible – this is key for adjusting his circadian rhythm.

2. Manage Nap Lengths: Initially, he might want to sleep for long stretches during the day due to the time difference. Avoid letting naps go over 2 hours to encourage longer stretches of sleep overnight. Time his last nap so there’s a full wake window before aiming for bedtime around 7:00–8:00 pm local time.

3. Stick to Familiar Routines: Use his usual nap and bedtime routines to signal that it’s time to sleep, even in the new environment. This consistency will help him feel secure and adjust more quickly.

4. Turn the Lights Down Before Bedtime: An hour or 2 before bedtime, turn down the lights in the house or switch to lamps. Bright lights can suppress melatonin production, which is the hormone that makes us feel sleepy, so reducing light exposure in the evening can make a big difference in settling him more easily.

5. Expect Nighttime Wakes: It’s normal for jet lag to cause wakeful periods at night. Keep the lights dim, avoid stimulating activities, and help him settle back to sleep as soon as he seems ready.

Typically, it takes 1 – 2 weeks to adjust to the time difference – especially when it’s so significant.

Does that make sense?

Emma

[Emma H]

Hi Cecilia,

The last few days sound like they’ve been really tough. Has it continued, or has it settled down so you’re now able to lay him down in the crib after he falls asleep in your arms?

If it’s still challenging, I have a few questions:

• Is his first nap still longer than the others?
• Do you find it easier to lay him down for this nap and possibly bedtime?

I’m wondering if a more gradual approach might work better for you. Instead of laying him down in the crib and then moving back up the settling pyramid before feeding him to sleep, you could try this:

Complete the bedtime routine as usual, but instead of laying him down in the crib, rock him in your arms while patting and shushing. Then gradually:

1. Stop rocking so you’re standing still, just patting and shushing
2. Stop patting so you’re only shushing while holding him
3. Let him fall asleep in your arms with just the shushing

The goal is to break the pattern of feeding him to sleep. This approach still allows rocking, but reduces the movement and sound so he learns to fall asleep without constant motion. This will make the transition to settling in the crib easier later.

You could start with just the first nap and bedtime. If it feels overwhelming, that’s absolutely fine – but if you feel you can do it for all naps, that’s great too.

You mentioned he’s getting heavy and rocking him is challenging. Do you have a rocking chair or exercise ball you could use? Either option provides movement without needing to hold and rock him in your arms. You can then gradually stop the rocking in the chair or bouncing before he falls asleep.

Does this feel more manageable?

Emma