Thanks Emma!

Yes it’s definitely a trial and error. When he was in the thick of the catnapping phase (sometimes 3-4 x 30 min naps during the day), he’s often more unsettled/overtired and I often put him to bed early, between 5.30 – 6.30pm and surprisingly he can sleep 12.5-13.5 hours until 7am the next morning! This happened quite often, a few…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thank you so much for the explanation 🙂 I have tried all of your suggestions and he is now linking sleep cycles for some of his naps. He even had a 2 hour nap today, which is very rare (even since he was a newborn!). I lengthen his wake windows and it has worked well for us.

Should I cap naps at 2 hours? I did that today and he…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your suggestions, I’ve tried them all and he can now sleep on his tummy. He still gets frustrated sometimes when he wakes from his tummy. Also, I was wondering if scream-crying before naps is normal? It’s a recent thing – he never used to scream-cry, only fuss before naps. He also scream-cries during the day too now…

Read more

Hi Emma,

My now 20-week old baby has started to roll from back to tummy, but lately is has greatly disrupted his naps. He was previously catnapping quite well on his own, sometimes with a pacifier. However, he often rolls over at the start of the nap and scream-cries, I can’t use the settling pyramid because the crying escalates too much. As…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your answers 🙂 I have a couple more side questions:

I find that my baby recently does not need a pacifier to sleep anymore. Previously I use the pacifier for the start of his naps and bedtime, but now he prefers to suck his thumb. Are there drawbacks to thumb sucking, will it damage his thumb and how do I get him to stop?…

Read more

Hi Emma!

Thank you so much, it does clarify things for me 🙂 I’ll try lengthening his wake window before bedtime and see how I go.

Does it count as a false start if he wakes after 1 sleep cycle every night but just needs a rock/cuddle and shush to fall back asleep and stays asleep until the next morning? He never wakes for a full wake window…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your suggestions. I wonder if you can share your perspective on false starts, as there is so much information in the internet about it. What counts as a false start? If they just wake up crying after 1 sleep cycle and resettle soon after, does that count as a false start?

Today my mother in law helped with some of his naps,…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Sorry to hear that your kids have been sick! Handling one healthy baby is hard enough, let alone 3 sick ones 🙁 Hope you haven’t been unwell yourself.

His daily schedule looks roughly like this (with 30-minute variations):

• 7 am – wake, 1st feed
• 8.30 – 9.15 am – nap 1
• 9.15 am – 2nd feed
• 11 – 11.45 am – nap 2
• 11.45 am – 3rd feed
• 1.30 – 2.15 pm…

Read more

Hi Emma,

I hope you’re having a good week!

He now only has 5 feeds a day, with one feed upon waking from his last nap around 5pm and no more before bedtime, before I notice that when I did the 2 feeds before bed he didn’t feed much during the last bedtime feed and is more unsettled (he is quite gassy/refluxy and spits up a lot).

My question is,…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thank you for the daylight savings tips and the video link! My baby is now 16 weeks old, didn’t realise it’s been 2 weeks since I started asking you and he has now progressed to a better routine now.

Is it possible to do a 1 hour shift rightaway rather than a 15 minute shift?

Yesterday he woke up at 6am but because we were out at…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your help!

Should I just wait for him to wake naturally within the 30 minute window or stick to the same time each morning?

For daylight savings, if his current routine is 7am-7pm and it shifts to a 6am wake time, won’t his bedtime be 6pm?

You’re right, his last nap finishes around 4.30pm. I find that I can’t get him to…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your help! The 2 feeds are very close together (1 hour apart) and I find that my baby needs a long time to settle from a feed due to multiple burps and gassiness. Sometimes during the initial night wakings he would cry and is inconsolable until he burps. In this case would you recommend just doing 1 feed?

What are your…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your reply! Does that mean I can exceed the awake time before bedtime?

Also, I find that he wakes up crying every hour after bedtime for about 2 hours, and then settles to sleep through the night until the next morning. When he wakes it doesn’t take very long to resettle him. I wonder why this might be the case?

When do…

Read more

Hi Emma, hope you had a good easter break!

For the past few nights I can’t get a consistent bedtime for my now 16-week old baby, it ranges from 6.30-8pm as it depends on his awake times and naps. I notice that he will only do 4 naps, around 2x 45 min and 2x 30 min naps, he won’t do another nap when I tried. This means that his last wake time is…

Read more

Hi Emma,

What are your thoughts on overtiredness leading to hyperactivity? My 15 week old baby doesn’t show tired cues at the end of the day and could stay awake for up to 3 hours. I tried to put him down to sleep before the 2 hour mark but he would not settle for an hour, just kicking his legs and moving about in his cot. He is a very active…

Read more

Hi Emma,

The same thing happened again today 🙁 He cried terribly after 1 sleep cycle. He did not show any tired cues from 3.45pm onwards, so I decided to feed him at 6.45pm, where he then fell asleep despite my efforts to wake him up. He even slept through a diaper change. He then woke up at 8pm and cried terribly. I am not sure what to do…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Your replies are always so helpful, thank you!

Yesterday my now 15 week old was suddenly so awake and resisted naps, even the morning nap. During the day he was awake for 1.75 to 2.5 hours at a time, previously just 1.25 to 1.5 hours the week before! He dropped 2 naps, from 6 naps to 4 naps, 2x 45 min and 2x 30 min naps. Should I…

Read more

Hi Emma,

How do you suggest we go about settling baby to sleep when they are teething and sick?

Also how do we know when they are ready to drop a nap or feed?

I notice that my baby always needs 7 feeds a day, if I miss one he won’t be able to sleep through the night. However some nights his bedtime does not fall within the same 30 minute window,…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Your family is great to watch! I appreciate that I can watch a live example of how you put your baby to sleep.

I was wondering if the settling pyramid is a form of sleep training, and if so then does it mean that I would not need to sleep train my baby in the future? And until what age does the settling pyramid apply?

For ‘watch and…

Read more

Thank you for the clarity! I thoroughly enjoyed your course and it’s nice to see your little one too 🙂

Should we wait until he is tired before putting him in his crib for bedtime?

For naps, when should we start the naptime routine – when he’s showing early, mid or late tired cues?

My baby is also using a pacifier to sleep and as part of naptime…

Read more

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your reply!

Does bedtime mean when he’s already asleep or when we start the bedtime routine? If the bedtime is 7pm, does it mean that we do the feed-sleep routine starting at 7pm and he sleeps at say 8pm, or we aim to have him asleep by 7pm?

Regarding catnaps, since it is normal as you mentioned in your videos, is it alright…

Read more

Hi Emma,

My baby boy is 14 weeks old and currently sleeps at around 9pm and wakes around 4.30am or 6.30am, during which we will give him a feed. He wakes at night sometimes due to poos. I was wondering how we can move his bedtime earlier, aiming for 7pm eventually? He catnaps during the day but has never been one to take long naps. He has…

Read more